Category Archives: water conservation

Twelve planning lessons from Durango, Colorado

There are few cities in this country that can grasp your heart and soul as quickly as Durango, Colorado. From the moment of arrival, the city quickly absorbs you into its charming aura. It may be the snow-capped mountains drenched … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, adaptive reuse, Advocacy, Alternative transportation, Animal rights, Animals, archaeology, architecture, art, bicycling, bike sharing, Biking, branding, business, charities, cities, civics, civility, climate, climate change, colleges, commerce, Cuisine, culture, diversity, downtown, economic development, Economy, ecosystems, education, entertainment, entrepreneurship, environment, fitness, fun, geography, Geology, government, health, hiking, historic preservation, history, homelessness, Housing, humanity, inclusiveness, infrastructure, land use, Maps, marketing, Mining, mountains, Native Americans, natural history, nature, Passenger rail, peace, pictures, place names, placemaking, planning, politics, pollution, psychology, rail, Railroads, recreation, revitalization, rivers/watersheds, schools, Science, social equity, spatial design, Stairway networks, Statistics, sustainability, third places, topography, toponymy, tourism, Trade, traffic, trails, transit, transportation, Travel, urban design, urban planning, walking, water conservation, water trails, Wildlife, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ten planning lessons from our national parks

Provided below are ten planning lessons garnered from having the honor and pleasure of visiting countless national parks, monuments, historic sites, battlefields, lakeshores, seashores, trails, and preserves across our nation. The lessons are not necessarily presented in order of importance, … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, Alternative energy, Alternative transportation, Animals, archaeology, architecture, art, Astronomy, bicycling, bike sharing, Biking, branding, Bus transportation, Cars, charities, Cities, civics, climate, culture, deserts, diversity, economic development, ecosystems, education, electric vehicles, energy, entertainment, Environment, EVs and hybrids, family, fitness, geography, Geology, government, Green roofs, health, hiking, historic preservation, history, land use, mountains, natural history, Nature, parking, placemaking, planning, politics, recreation, rivers/watersheds, solar, spatial design, sprawl, sustainability, third places, topography, tourism, traffic, transit, Transportation, Travel, Uncategorized, urban planning, walking, water, water conservation, water trails, waterfalls, Wilderness, Wildlife, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Albuquerque is a national leader in water conservation

As relatively new residents of New Mexico, we have been quite impressed by the water conservation efforts in the Albuquerque area. Even before arriving, we were planning on removing the remaining turf grass in the yard and replace it with … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, cities, civics, climate, climate change, deserts, ecosystems, environment, geography, government, history, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, natural history, nature, planning, rivers/watersheds, Statistics, sustainability, topography, urban planning, water, water conservation, weather, xeriscaping | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The buzz about America’s “bee-friendly” cities

Communities representing 37 states and the District of Columbia are listed beelow as designated “Bee City USA” members. Unfortunately, there are also 13 states without any city members including Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, agriculture, Animal rights, Animals, cities, civics, civility, climate, climate change, culture, ecosystems, education, environment, Food, government, health, insects, land use, landscape architecture, natural and organic foods, natural history, nature, planning, Science, seasons, spatial design, States, Statistics, sustainability, tourism, Travel, urban planning, water, water conservation, Wilderness, Wildlife, xeriscaping, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

New Mexico’s protected wildlife areas along the Rio Grande

As one of the corridors making up the Central Flyway, the Rio Grande Valley through New Mexico is host to a vast array of migrant birds flying seasonally through the state to breeding grounds further north or wintering areas both … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, Animals, archaeology, civics, climate, culture, deserts, ecosystems, environment, geography, Geology, history, lakes, land use, Maps, mountains, natural history, nature, pictures, place names, placemaking, planning, recreation, rivers/watersheds, Science, Statistics, sustainability, topography, tourism, trails, Travel, urban planning, water, water conservation, water trails, Wilderness, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ten planning lessons from the death of Mountain Lion P-22

Source: Steve Winter of National Geographic via bbc.com and reddit.com The tragic death this weekend of Mountain Lion P-22 in/near Los Angeles’ Griffith Park struck a somber chord within me, much like the euthanized death of a neighborhood-roaming black bear … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, Animal rights, Animals, architecture, Cars, charities, cities, civility, climate, climate change, culture, ecosystems, engineering, environment, geography, Geology, government, health, Highway displacement, highways, hiking, history, humanity, infrastructure, land use, mountains, natural history, nature, opinion, Pets, pictures, placemaking, planning, recreation, rivers/watersheds, spatial design, sprawl, Statistics, sustainability, topography, toponymy, tourism, transportation, Travel, urban design, urban planning, water, water conservation, water trails, Wilderness, Wildlife, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Places that pay you to “kick your grass” goodbye!

After we moved to New Mexico this summer, one of the first steps we took was to have the grass lawn portions of our yard removed and replaced with xeriscaping that is more appropriate for a High Desert environment. We … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, cities, civics, climate, climate change, culture, deserts, ecosystems, environment, geography, government, health, Housing, infrastructure, land use, landscape architecture, natural history, nature, planning, rivers/watersheds, Statistics, sustainability, topography, urban planning, water, water conservation, xeriscaping | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ten+1 planning lessons from Maharishi Vedic City

The Vedic/Vastu planned and designed community of Maharishi Vedic City in southeast Iowa offers a number of interesting and insightful lessons for planners. Here are the ten primary lessons from researching and visiting this unique sustainable city: 10/7/22 Addendum – … Continue reading

Posted in agriculture, Alternative energy, Alternative transportation, architecture, cities, civics, civility, climate change, culture, ecosystems, environment, geography, health, history, Housing, humanity, inclusiveness, infrastructure, land use, natural history, nature, placemaking, planning, product design, recreation, Renewable Energy, social equity, solar, spatial design, sustainability, urban design, urban planning, water conservation, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

15 years after the tornado – Planning lessons from Greensburg, Kansas

May 4, 2007, will always remain a pivotal day in the history of Greensburg, Kansas. On that day, much of the city of Greensburg was obliterated by a EF5 category tornado. Thankfully, most residents survived the tragedy due early and … Continue reading

Posted in Active transportation, adaptive reuse, Advocacy, Alternative energy, Alternative transportation, architecture, art, bicycling, bike sharing, Biking, book reviews, books, branding, business, charities, cities, civics, civility, climate, commerce, culture, downtown, economic development, Economy, ecosystems, education, energy, environment, geography, government, health, Health care, history, Housing, humanity, infrastructure, land use, literature, nature, pictures, placemaking, planning, politics, recycling, Renewable Energy, revitalization, Small business, solar, spatial design, Statistics, sustainability, technology, topography, tourism, Trade, transportation, Travel, Uncategorized, urban planning, volunteerism, walking, water, water conservation, weather, writing, zoning | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Is Burning Man making a mistake at Fly Ranch?

I’m torn. A part of me wants to travel this very minute to Fly Ranch and experience the scenic landscapes on this lovely site, while also visualizing the various art/sustainability projects taking place there. On the other hand, the site … Continue reading

Posted in Advocacy, Alternative energy, architecture, art, branding, charities, civics, climate, climate change, Communications, culture, deserts, diversity, economic development, ecosystems, education, environment, food systems, futurism, geography, health, historic preservation, history, humanity, land use, Maps, Native Americans, natural history, nature, opinion, pictures, place names, placemaking, planning, pollution, recreation, Renewable Energy, social equity, spatial design, sustainability, technology, topography, tourism, Travel, visual pollution, water conservation, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment