tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-263308802012-01-30T12:59:05.141-05:00design, strategy, and values for a world of limitations<br> —a weblog by robert a. seeley</br>rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.comBlogger1021100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-86340053061136145942011-12-10T10:56:00.001-05:002011-12-10T10:58:03.850-05:00

We dance round in a ring and suppose,But the Secret sits in the middle and knows.—Robert Frost A few weeks ago I watched a video of the planet Jupiter from the Pic du Midi observatory in France. The clarity of the film and the sheer beauty of the planet left me feeling awestruck, small, humble, and proud of my species all at the same time.We will probably never know all the secrets of Jupiter. It

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-45174054406767960742010-12-09T17:30:00.001-05:002010-12-09T17:30:00.510-05:00

Every year at this time the days grow shorter. We celebrate the end of the year with light—the Menorah, the Christmas tree, even the strings of lights on our porches—because we know that light will grow in the new year, and in the end, darkness will not prevail. This year it has been harder than ever to see light and hope. The financial crisis continues, and millions are suffering. Yet our

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-21186333105244465212010-06-10T11:35:00.002-04:002010-06-11T17:32:22.244-04:00

At a recent PEN World Voices forum on climate change, the Norwegian novelist Jostein Gaarder proposed an expansion of the ethic of reciprocity (the Golden Rule) to include the effects of our actions on future generations. A video of his presentation will be found in Andrew Rivkin's Dot Earth blog (Warning: the video is 1 hour 35 minutes long).Gaarder's presentation is timely. The Golden Rule is

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-51103079439985325932010-05-07T13:00:00.001-04:002010-05-07T13:00:03.700-04:00

Andrew Revkin's New York Times blog, Dot Earth,has an excellent article on the implications of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The article looks at the future of oil, the spill itself, and policy changes that will need to be made.The article will be found here.Well worth reading.

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-5024926397975562622010-04-08T11:25:00.007-04:002010-04-09T10:03:51.866-04:00

The shopping district in our neighborhood has two main streets. Germantown Avenue, the older of the two, follows an old Indian trail (later a turnpike) starting from the oldest part of the city and meandering through Northwest Philadelphia and into suburbs that were once countryside. Its shops are struggling or abandoned in many places now, but it was once a major retail center in many of the

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-79024619502100620142010-03-05T15:18:00.000-05:002010-03-05T15:24:28.852-05:00

The City Fix, an excellent blog on sustainable cities, has inaugurated a new Friday series "highlighting the newsy and noteworthy" stories about cities that appeared in the past week. The series will cover five general themesMobility;Quality of life;Environment;Public space, andTechnology and innovationThe first two in the series are full of useful links:February 26: Driving on the Rise,

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-2914654975302748412010-02-28T12:30:00.002-05:002010-03-01T21:02:47.132-05:00

Throughout the Winter Olympics, energy companies have been busy selling themselves to viewers. From the sheer volume of the advertising, one might think the United States was about to abandon fossil fuels entirely and that oil, gas, and coal were fighting a rearguard action.Some of the ads, like those praising "clean coal" and linking it to national security, are simply misleading. "Clean coal"

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-71829271868983544832010-02-14T11:40:00.004-05:002010-02-19T08:17:28.564-05:00

It has been snowing in Philadelphia—a lot. Since February 5, the city has had over 40 inches of snow from two blizzards in rapid succession. Just before Christmas, the city got nearly 24 inches. Altogether, the winter of 2009-2010 has set a new record for snowfall in the city, with just under six weeks until the official beginning of spring.Philadelphia is not the only city with record snowfalls.

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-11401433752664708652009-12-09T12:53:00.001-05:002010-02-28T12:27:23.867-05:00

In difficult and frightening times, it is often helpful to return to first principles. How are we to live? How shall we act toward our neighbors—those who are next door, and those who, in a world of instant communication, are thousands of miles away? Few have answered these questions more compellingly than the prophet Micah. We are required, he wrote, to do justice; to love mercy; and to walk

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-14283636245889603512009-09-09T12:45:00.002-04:002009-09-09T12:45:00.662-04:00

Climate change, with its disruption of traditional farming and living patterns, its effects on food and water supplies, and its economic repercussions, has always posed a strategic threat to all nations. The world's dependence on fossil fuels has also been a problem in its own right, regardless of its effects on the environment. Commentators, including some in the Pentagon, agree that ignoring

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-9392759019032765042009-08-27T09:50:00.003-04:002009-09-02T10:22:03.168-04:00

Buildings and transportation are the sectors of the U.S. economy that generate the most greenhouse gases. Refitting our houses, public buildings, and neighborhoods to make them sustainable will take time. It will create new industries and jobs, but it is a long-term, not a short-term solution.Transportation is both a long-term and a short-term problem. The Cash for Clunkers program, which

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-61290251218777019342009-08-11T09:20:00.001-04:002009-08-11T09:20:00.306-04:00

The City Fix has a good roundup of reporting on the environmental effects of the popular "Cash for Clunkers" program. The conclusion? That the program will have little or no effect on overall emissions.The clearest presentation of the arguments is in a Washington Post article by Lee Schipper, founder of EMBARQ, and his colleagues.On the evidence so far, the program is helping car dealerships a

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-74694591969012181472009-07-23T11:00:00.005-04:002009-07-24T09:54:00.550-04:00

The climate change bill that passed the House earlier this month is predictably full of compromises. Climate change deniers, of whom Congress has more than its full share, wanted no bill at all. House members who supported the bill were under pressure from energy companies, mining interests, and car manufacturers to preserve jobs and industries. The result was a cap and trade approach to

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-34071215531260294672009-07-17T18:20:00.000-04:002009-07-17T18:27:12.694-04:00

The City Fix reports that Zazcar, a Brazilian company,has launched a car-sharing service in Sao Paulo. Sao Paulo thus becomes the 1,000th city in the world to have a car-sharing service, and the first in Latin America.

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-90421837397260612102009-07-02T15:15:00.001-04:002009-07-02T15:15:00.965-04:00

The City Fix reports that a Portland, Oregon, firm has begun producing streetcars—a type of transit vehicle not produced in the U.S. for 60 years, yet common in many other developed countries.The posting includes links to United Streetcar, the manufacturer, and its parent company, the Oregon Iron Works. Also included is a link to a history of streetcars in the U.S.Those who think the bankruptcy

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-32252055972959679602009-06-17T12:47:00.003-04:002009-06-19T10:00:58.899-04:00

A few weeks ago, I had a business appointment in Springfield, Pa. From my neighborhood to my appointment in Springfield it is just under 15 miles. There is no practical public transit route, so I reserved a car from PhillyCarShare for the journey.Google Maps was handy for finding a route, but its estimate of travel time was, to put it mildly, overoptimistic. The computer estimated a 27 minute

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-58663097900173553212009-06-10T09:30:00.003-04:002009-06-10T09:30:06.408-04:00

The City Fix, an excellent blog on cities, has just posted two major articles on transportation policy. One, Call for Wholesale Reform, Not Just Reauthorization, of Transportation Bill, is particularly timely with so much stimulus money going to infrastructure repair. The second posting is a summary and link to a good overview of transportation policy posted on the WorldChanging blog.Both items

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-68835311316317625172009-05-14T09:28:00.002-04:002009-05-16T07:35:00.835-04:00

The May 12 New York Times blog, Room for Debate. features "Car-Free in America?", a wide-ranging and enlightening discussion on whether, and how, the developed world can reduce or eliminate its heavy dependence on private automobiles. The issue is particularly important in the United States, where most households support more than one car, walkable suburban neighborhoods are unusual, and public

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-27946133265374178672009-03-11T12:40:00.010-04:002009-04-21T10:00:14.672-04:00

First in an occasional series on the ethics and practicalities of mobility.How, in a finite world, can we get from here to there? Should we even be traveling at all? How much, and how freely?For most of us most of the time, broad questions like these do not come up. We worry about getting to work, keeping the car fueled and running, getting to the train on time, and similar problems. Underlying

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-35588055804499926452009-02-04T08:07:00.004-05:002009-02-05T09:52:13.880-05:00

Alison Arief has now posted a followup note on the suburbs in her By Design blog. Based partly on comments from readers, it is enlightening not only for Arief's analysis and resource recommendations, but for what it reveals about the attitudes of urban dwellers toward suburbanites and vice-versa.Since the suburbs as they now stand are becoming less viable every day, it is up to all of us to find

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-65867932639747720972009-01-19T11:59:00.003-05:002009-02-05T09:51:53.404-05:00

The American suburb—fuel-intensive, automobile-based, and without walkable neighborhoods—is coming to the end of its useful life. Rising fuel costs and the collapse of the mortgage market mean that some planned developments will not proceed, some developments that have begun will never be finished, and many suburban residents will have to move to smaller and less expensive houses.Those who, like

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-85880078239764427912008-12-13T09:00:00.000-05:002008-12-13T09:00:00.958-05:00

This is a time of paradox in our lives. For all of us, in the United States and around the globe, it is a season of hope—for change and for a better day to come. The recent election, though not the ultimate victory over our tragic past, has moved us many steps closer to the beloved kingdom that, each in his or her own way, we all seek.Yet this is also a time of near-despair. Our livelihoods and

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-40083215676577840502008-12-12T10:05:00.002-05:002008-12-12T10:07:20.880-05:00

Just over two years ago, I posted a three-part series on a proposal to build a ten-story parking lot (instead of the originally proposed condominium) in the heart of Philadelphia's downtown. The series can be found at "Design for What," Part I; Part II; and Part III.In the intervening two years, the developer has found enough tenants to justify building the full condominium, and the building's

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-78244548654538989072008-12-11T13:07:00.007-05:002008-12-16T15:38:58.641-05:00

President-elect Obama's economic recovery program includes a great deal of funding for infrastructure repair and green development. Herewith a few suggestions for infrastructure repair that would also be green development—and good strategy as well.Rebuild the Railroads: The United States was once the leader in developing railroads. Now, as its rail system has been allowed to decay, it has fallen

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-2066468130277363552008-11-21T08:30:00.003-05:002008-11-21T08:30:01.094-05:00

Alison Arieff's latest By Design column gives a good summary of possible solutions to the problem of water. Well worth reading.

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-10026000312634583532008-11-20T10:30:00.002-05:002008-11-20T11:06:44.656-05:00

As anyone who follows the news knows, the United States automobile industry is in trouble. Sales are down, particularly among sport utility vehicles (SUVs), which appeared to save the industry for a few years and are now killing it. So the Big Three, Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors, are seeking a government loan. Ford claims that it has enough cash to keep going, but supports the bailout

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-40161785577266246942008-11-17T13:30:00.002-05:002008-12-12T09:51:22.939-05:00

If you set out to deliberately build an unsustainable retailing structure, you could hardly do worse than the big box store. Unattractive, surrounded by acres of parking lots, and closed off from the outside world, the big box store comes close to violating every rule of sustainable and beautiful building. It is a sad legacy of the move to the suburbs.It becomes even worse when it fails. Stores

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-87777029747700095712008-10-06T12:18:00.003-04:002009-08-10T10:27:41.791-04:00

Climate skeptics set great store by the argument that science has not "definitively proved" that human actions are the cause of global warming. The chief problem with this argument is that it goes against the scientific consensus and the evidence, but there is another criticism, less-noted but equally compelling: It does not support the policies that the skeptics think it does.Skeptics, among

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-45849102999554754712008-09-22T11:55:00.003-04:002008-09-22T13:45:08.660-04:00

Amid all the commentary on the housing bubble and the banking crisis of 2008, few have asked what kind of houses and communities the real estate boom was helping to create. This is not surprising; the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the threat to the U.S. and world financial system, and the Bush Administration's bailout plan have pushed all such questions into the background.It is important, however

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-76282588640549268522008-09-17T10:34:00.000-04:002008-09-17T10:50:03.104-04:00

For those who missed it, there is an excellent article by Andrew Martin in the May 18 New York Times on how U.S. consumers, supermarkets, and the food distribution system waste food (about 1 pound per day per person). The photo above, which accompanies the article, gives readers a feel for the scale of the waste.The demand for grain for biofuels, it appears, is only one among many reasons for

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-20499158155472036512008-09-16T15:06:00.004-04:002008-09-17T10:04:08.186-04:00

For just over a year now, I have been using a Toyota Prius from PhillyCarShare (see my short description) when only a car would do the job—for hauling items too heavy for a hand cart, a long trip to a place with no public transit, and similar tasks.The Prius is unquestionably a fine piece of engineering. On a 200-mile trip with city and highway driving, it averaged about 45 miles per gallon of

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-6393734014997203882008-09-11T15:53:00.003-04:002008-09-11T16:52:05.931-04:00

It is the seventh anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. In the places where the attacks took place, in a field in central Pennsylvania, and throughout the country, Americans will remember those who died in the attacks. This is fitting and proper, even for those, like me, who disagree with the strategy and tactics of the military operations, the

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-2175827581111156052008-09-09T17:32:00.004-04:002008-09-10T07:39:10.053-04:00

The latest post in Andrew Revkin's New York Times blog, Dot Earth, reports on a new manifesto from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, a network of conservation groups. The book, Transition to Sustainability: Towards a Humane and Diverse World,says wildlife groups need to help encourage communities to shift mindsets, not just park boundaries. One goal should be helping to

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-26819264221871968402008-09-03T11:52:00.003-04:002008-09-03T11:57:13.817-04:00

Brief notes from three weeks in England. More will follow on one of them.North and South: The biggest and most entertaining flap during the three weeks I was there came when Policy Exchange, a favorite think-tank of Conservative Party leader David Cameron, published a study declaring that nearly all major cities in the North of England were failures and that the best idea for residents of the

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-69950644293209584562008-08-01T18:55:00.001-04:002008-08-02T09:11:01.386-04:00

Older, walkable neighborhoods are, as I argued in another posting, good for the environment and the sense of community. Now a study from the University of Utah, described in Tara Parker-Pope's New York Times "Well" blog,shows that older neighborhoods may also be good for one's health. Walkable neighborhoods encourage residents to walk—to the store, to the library, to a neighbor's house, and to

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-80799151350647472752008-07-29T15:09:00.009-04:002008-07-31T14:59:20.119-04:00

The July 29 edition of the New York Times includes an article on recyling in Houston, TX, that gives a capsule demonstration of how we got into our environmental mess, and the barriers to fixing it.Houston recycles 2.6 percent of its waste, as compared with other cities like San Francisco (69 percent) and New York (34 percent). As many as 25,000 Houston residents have been waiting ten years for

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-40701603406307249132008-07-26T08:37:00.003-04:002008-07-26T08:39:53.879-04:00

Walkscore.com has released its list of the ten most walkable cities in the United State, including a couple of surprises. The list, in order, is:San Francisco, CANew York, NYBoston, MAChicago, ILPhiladelphia, PASeattle, WAWashington, DCLong Beach, CALos Angeles, CAPortland, ORThe site evaluated 40 cities using its walkscore calculator. At the bottom of the list, from least walkable to slightly

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-90218931134214581552008-07-22T15:40:00.003-04:002008-07-28T09:00:59.652-04:00

A little over 18 months ago I posted a critique of President Bush's State of the Union message and its emphasis on increased use of biofuels, particularly ethanol. Unfortunately, the posting lumped ethanol with biofuels made from wood. This was incorrect, as commentator sverdalov reminded me:Please do not insult those working on the development of wood to biofuels (ethanol is the presidents

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-40909623927840227722008-07-22T11:15:00.018-04:002008-07-25T08:51:42.495-04:00

Carbon offsetting, in which individuals, households and corporations "offset the carbon emissions [their] lifestyle generates by funding projects that reduce carbon emissions" (Consumer Reports, March 2008), have become increasingly popular lately. Offsetting seems to offer an accessible way to reduce emissions beyond what is possible by individual conservation alone. In principle, it is a

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-7810901913653606452008-07-15T17:42:00.002-04:002008-07-28T09:28:56.818-04:00

Official Washington is buzzing with proposals that allegedly would help to bring down fuel prices. The most loudly proclaimed, probably because they make good rhetoric, are permitting offshore drilling for oil, cracking down on oil futures speculators, and giving motorists a "holiday" from federal gas taxes.All of which sounds good and would achieve precisely nothing. Or worse than

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-59793970342285496682008-07-11T17:54:00.002-04:002008-07-17T11:01:45.294-04:00

Judith Warner's New York Times blog, "Domestic Disturbances," has a very funny posting on the family's Land Rover, which now sits in the garage except for trips to the local Metro stop, the supermarket, and the gas station—all less than a mile each way.Warner's speculations about the ways the family might actually use the Land Rover in future are hilarious. A good, short read with a serious point

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-56444529614146469392008-07-09T10:41:00.001-04:002008-07-17T14:56:12.727-04:00

In contrast to 2007, when the Group of 8 failed to reach agreement on cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, the G8 Summit this year issued a statement calling for a 50% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. This sounds important, but in fact the situation is not much different from 2007. The goal for cuts is too small, the statement is not binding on member nations, and the agreement does not

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-58372299329303768672008-06-24T16:54:00.010-04:002008-11-21T08:28:23.292-05:00

It is curious how much two disasters can have in common.The most recent, the midwestern U.S. flood of 2008, is an affliction on a scale that is difficult to comprehend. The second, much smaller but catastrophic nonetheless for those affected, is the almost annual river flooding in Bucks County, PA.The common element for both is the way that misguided (or nonexistent) land use planning helped pave

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-40442741945665723452008-06-09T13:22:00.009-04:002008-07-28T09:28:56.819-04:00

Everybody in the United States is in a lather about fuel prices. Airlines are scrambling: they are cutting service (for which read personnel), charging for services that once were free, and passing fuel surcharges through to customers, just to avoid losing money. Two of the three candidates for U.S. President advocated a summer Federal gas tax "holiday" which, economists universally pointed out,

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-20706447567420682942008-06-03T18:14:00.002-04:002008-07-17T14:56:12.728-04:00

The Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act will mark the first time that a climate change bill has been debated in the Senate since 2005. Kate Sheppard of Gristmill gives a good summary of the bill, its history, and its strengths and weaknesses. It is not the strong bill that we need, but it at least acknowledges that there is a problem. Sheppard's lucid summary is well worth reading.Postscript

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-82070213882332364142008-05-09T15:01:00.007-04:002008-08-01T18:57:23.368-04:00

We live on a block and in a neighborhood full of old houses. Most of the houses on our block have three stories; some, like ours, share a wall with another house. Others stand alone. The houses around the corner are all classic Philadelphia row houses—one of the most efficient house designs ever devised.On our block, the houses differ in design, in distance from the street, and in other ways, but

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-86209528983799481192008-04-10T10:59:00.003-04:002008-07-17T14:59:21.219-04:00

Urban sprawl—the uncontrolled growth of automobile-driven suburbs—has increasingly been recognized as a form of blight. It destroys vital farmland to create tract house developments miles from work, shopping, and even good walking areas. Suburban shopping districts cling to the edges of the highway, each store with its own parking lot, or close themselves from the outside world in shopping malls

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-32422924070287660562008-03-14T15:31:00.003-04:002008-07-17T11:01:45.295-04:00

The City Fix, an excellent web site on urban issues, reports that the worst automobile traffic in the world is in Bangkok, Thailand. In a world that includes Los Angeles, Houston, Mumbai, and Peking, this comes as somewhat of a surprise. But it probably should not. According to the report, the Bangkok authorities have made the situation even worse by, in effect, subordinating all planning and

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-41395443554640735132008-02-21T17:50:00.004-05:002008-07-17T14:50:57.403-04:00

There are a lot of things to dislike about the American suburbs. There is no streetscape; the houses all look similar; the houses are too big and cheaply built. Suburban planning and design, which assume abundant cheap fuel and no climate change, are among the more important causes of the outlandish American carbon footprint.But the most annoying problem with the suburbs is simpler to state and

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-18197006118245411962008-02-19T15:37:00.001-05:002008-07-17T14:59:21.219-04:00

Allison Arieff's latest posting in her blog for the New York Times ("Is Your House Making You Look Fat?") is a sharply-written essay on how to design houses for lower environmental impact, greater sense of community, and better health for those who live in them.Well worth reading.

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-40250641392724071982008-02-08T14:41:00.001-05:002008-07-17T14:49:05.915-04:00

Biofuels from corn and other crops, which were supposed to be the silver bullet that would fuel cars without affecting climate change, are actually a worse source of greenhouse gases than fossil fuels, according to a report in the New York Times. Two recent studies published in the journal Science looked at the overall greenhouse gas effect of biofuels—including emissions from the production

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-60183592742632821972008-01-29T14:45:00.000-05:002008-07-17T14:51:16.362-04:00

Coal-fired plants are a primary source of electricity in the United States, China, and many other countries. There are proposals in the U.S., including one in Pennsylvania, to manufacture liquid fuel from coal because there is a lot of coal in the ground, and synthetic fuels would lower U.S. dependence on Middle East oil.Coal, that is, is central to industrial society as we now know it. But it

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-5373930504425872822008-01-18T15:45:00.000-05:002008-07-17T14:56:12.728-04:00

The French mathematician Blaise Pascal suggested in his Pensees that believing in God is a better "bet" than not believing. This is Pascal's Wager, which. . . posits that it is a better "bet" to believe that God exists than not to believe, because the expected value of believing (which Pascal assessed as infinite) is always greater than the expected value of not believing. (Wikipedia)Those who "

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-56284913581000011752007-12-15T11:20:00.001-05:002008-07-17T11:00:15.283-04:00

In the past few years we have learned a great deal about what divides us. Our politics is bitter and partisan. Our churches, mosques and synagogues are split-sometimes lethally-over issues of doctrine, tradition, and practice. Even our popular culture caters to a fragmented, disunited world.This is not all bad. We are diverse, and our diversity can strengthen us and make us richer and more

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-77304192348592088432007-11-15T10:25:00.000-05:002008-07-28T09:28:56.819-04:00

One of the standard arguments against cutting greenhouse gas emissions—cited by opponents ranging from right-wing talk show hosts to the Bush Administration—is that making the necessary changes will damage the U.S. economy. Supporters of change often point to the economic opportunity offered by investment in green technologies and refitting our society for the future to argue that the opposite is

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-86008156407865766812007-11-09T17:25:00.000-05:002008-07-17T14:59:21.220-04:00

Cities have a bad reputation. It is in the city that crime rates are high and the streets are dark and forbidding. In modern mythology, the city is the place of Metropolis, Batman, the Godfather gangs, shootouts, drug lords, and the nightmare landscape of Escape from New York. It is a terrible, inhuman place, a place to leave for the clean air and safe surroundings of the countryside.There is a

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-55270897373103939032007-10-24T09:57:00.000-04:002008-07-17T10:40:19.704-04:00

The Maine coast, where we spent a month this summer, is a place of heartbreaking beauty—quiet coves, massive rock formations, silent woods, osprey nests, and hills with views of Nova Scotia and Massachusetts. Even in fog, it resembles a painting of an ideal world.A closer look, however, reveals a more troubling picture.To be fair, Maine is one of the most environmentally conscious of states.

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-37801579853332985922007-07-17T17:40:00.000-04:002008-07-17T14:59:21.220-04:00

It's surprising how simple changes and common sense ideas can move us—more than we might have imagined—toward sustainability. The best-known example is the compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL), which could prevent millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions if it came into widespread use. CFLs have other virtues: they last far longer than conventional incandescent bulbs, and they use far less

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-8239559411254837442007-07-02T17:10:00.000-04:002008-07-17T11:01:45.296-04:00

The City of Santa Monica, CA, has outdone itself. Behold its newest civic treasure—a "fully sustainable," solar powered parking garage. Or so the city's brochure argues:The six-story, 882-space structure at the Civic Center features photovoltaic roof panels, a storm drain water treatment system, recycled construction materials and energy efficient mechanical systems.The $29 million

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-6214533756381555332007-06-18T14:54:00.000-04:002008-07-17T14:56:12.729-04:00

The recently-concluded summit of the Group of 8, which was once, but no longer is, a gathering of the world's major economic powers, was strange from nearly any perspective. Only six countries were present at the opening dinner. The Presidents of the United States and Russia got into a dispute about proposed U.S. deployment of a missile defense system in Eastern Europe. The President of the U.S.

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-88215596388978859212007-06-06T14:48:00.000-04:002008-09-11T16:52:34.050-04:00

Every now and then we should pause to remember that our heavy dependence on fossil fuels isn't just choking us to death, warming the planet, and threatening the polar bear. It has caused us to make policy decisions and strategic blunders that have made the world less safe and much of the world's population less free. In the search for oil supplies, the West (not just the United States, though as

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-27601699993223336882007-05-31T16:31:00.000-04:002008-07-17T10:55:50.800-04:00

In a 1940 essay, The Relevance of an Impossible Ideal, G.H.C. MacGregor argued that Christian pacifism was relevant to our lives, even if in practice we could never achieve its goals. It set a standard of conduct that allowed us to assess our own actions and decisions. Perfect peace, MacGregor suggested, might not come in this world. But we could do our best to move the world toward it and to

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-52126872635508766312007-05-22T13:30:00.000-04:002008-07-17T11:01:45.297-04:00

The news yesterday and today was full of rising gas prices. Local news had interviews with drivers who were trying to save a few pennies per gallon. National news had average prices (just over $3.00/gallon) and projections of a rise to around $4.00 by the summer. MoveOn.org, of all places, had a letter urging supporters to pressure their congress members to do something."Something," whether for

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-89308990438470154872007-05-10T17:01:00.000-04:002008-11-21T08:29:17.562-05:00

In the 1950s, at the start of the large-scale migration to the suburbs, few thought of problems like the environment and water runoff. Now they have become crucial, both for the present and for the future. How should we plan and build for the future? And how can we reclaim the acres of dead space that surround us?Planning for the future is easier to envision. We have to change, and in at least

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-55000870664466608362007-05-08T14:45:00.000-04:002008-11-21T08:29:17.564-05:00

For years, the forensics laboratory in Philadelphia was a cramped space in the basement of police headquarters. Now it is located in an award-winning green building that may point toward a future for the abandoned shopping mall and its acres of parking.The Forensics Science Center began as an abandoned public school building—a solid 1929 structure surrounded by a large parking lot. The building

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-76423463832754561152007-05-03T14:30:00.000-04:002008-11-21T08:29:17.565-05:00

Few places in this world are more sad than a derelict shopping mall. Built to face inward, its outer walls are dead space, often with no windows. Acres of empty parking lot surround it. On a windy day, old paper—flyers advertising sales in the stores, chewing gum wrappers, torn up shopping bags—whirl and flutter like the ghosts of some nightmare past. The doors are locked, usually chained, and

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-76385348506098774272007-04-03T15:11:00.000-04:002008-07-17T12:28:46.945-04:00

April 3, 2057—The death of the U.S. car industry was drawn-out and excruciating. It need not have been. As early as the year 2000, it was becoming clear that the days of the large private automobile were numbered. Difficulties with fuel supply and environmental constraints had begun to impinge upon the motoring public. Traffic jams, once a minor nuisance for those who lived in cities, had become

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-90074237223699044092007-02-22T11:31:00.000-05:002008-07-17T14:59:21.221-04:00

In one episode of Yes, Prime Minister, the British political satire, the Prime Minister tells his cabinet that "every problem is also an opportunity." His Cabinet Secretary, a high-ranking civil servant, then observes that the cabinet must beware of creating "insoluble opportunities."It is a wonderful exchange, and it tells us a lot about ourselves and the debate over climate change. Mainstream

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-83327998672506845992007-02-09T09:50:00.001-05:002009-12-14T11:18:12.846-05:00

In 1971, Frances Moore Lappe's Diet for a Small Planet argued that modern agribusiness practices and the Western meat-centered diet were wasteful and impractical in a world with a growing population. Lappe has since modified some of her dietary theories and begun to emphasize inequities in the food distribution system as a major cause of hunger. But one central assumption of the book still

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-51612715015058643672007-01-24T12:50:00.000-05:002008-07-17T14:49:05.916-04:00

One doesn't expect creative policy from a Bush Administration that gave us the Iraq War and the military "surge." But the President's energy proposals, made last night in the State of the Union speech, have reached a new creative low. After all the hoopla about initiatives, his actual proposals were simply recycled nostrums that he has proposed before—albeit with minor differences. Last January

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-84682346539441699652007-01-16T14:39:00.000-05:002008-07-17T14:59:21.221-04:00

To rebuild for the future, we have to start somewhere. An individual can change his or her behavior, and that is all to the good. But individuals by themselves can change little without organizing—to pressure policymakers, to stop ill-considered and harmful developments, and most important, to change our institutions in a positive way.In cities, the best vehicle for organizing is the neighborhood

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-7116853008116903122006-12-18T10:24:00.001-05:002008-07-17T11:00:15.284-04:00

The curious thing about the future is this: Although it has not yet happened, it affects the present in ways we may not even recognize. We plan for it, and in doing so we make decisions about our families, our work, and what we value most in life. By our choices—even by not choosing, which is itself a choice—we create it for good or ill.So it is now. We face a future of limits because the world

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-65583834295788058952006-11-29T09:30:00.000-05:002008-12-12T10:08:09.241-05:00

A ten-story parking garage at 15th and Chestnut Streets in Center City (downtown) Philadelphia, as proposed by one condominium developer, is quite rightly controversial. Opponents argue that it would add more traffic to an already-congested corner and encourage people to drive to and around Center City, which in turn would generate more greenhouse gases and increase fuel consumption. On the other

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-1163178911758363742006-11-10T11:20:00.000-05:002008-12-12T10:08:09.243-05:00

The problem with designing a building is that it is a lasting monument. If it is beautiful, works with its surroundings, and moves us toward a better future, we will enjoy it for a long time, and it will help us to live better. If it is mediocre, ignores or destroys its surroundings, and lessens the prospect of a better future, we may tolerate it, but we will not love it—and in the end, when it

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-1161715122856929182006-10-24T14:05:00.000-04:002008-12-12T10:08:09.243-05:00

One of my favorite blogs is Skyline Online, by the Philadelphia Inquirer architecture critic, Inga Saffron. Saffron's postings and the discussions that follow range from the aesthetics of new buildings to Philadelphia city planning to climate change and back—a stimulating and worthwhile experience for anyone concerned about these issues.A recent Skyline Online posting reported that a Philadelphia

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-1160143421843689412006-10-06T09:49:00.000-04:002008-07-28T09:28:56.819-04:00

A recent report by the leading economic and strategic analysis firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers, The World in 2050, argues that, contrary to U.S. government assertions, reducing the world's carbon emissions 60% by 2050 would have little economic impact—and might have substantial economic benefits—if we did it right. The report compares several scenarios, with the emphasis on two of them, and concludes

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-1158862214017620602006-09-21T12:59:00.000-04:002008-07-17T14:59:21.222-04:00

Yesterday's posting described Orange County, China, a residential development that replicates an American suburb. In fairness to the Chinese, I should also point out that a team of environmental designers from Berkeley has recently proposed a far more sustainable form of development which, if adopted, bodes well for the future of China and could provide a model for other places. The full story is

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-1158674650124606592006-09-19T09:40:00.000-04:002008-07-17T12:24:50.132-04:00

The suburbs have become controversial in the United States. Critics point to their many downsides: they create sprawl, use land unwisely, and are almost completely dependent on private cars and cheap gasoline for liveability. They are not really neighborhoods because the houses are too far apart and the shops are miles away in shopping centers and big box stores.Defenders of the suburbs point to

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-1158171378653638182006-09-13T13:57:00.000-04:002008-07-17T14:59:21.222-04:00

One proposal to control greenhouse gas emissions—individual carbon ration cards—is already part of the public discussion in England. New Statesman environmental writer Mark Lynas suggests that, as a kind of domestic cap-and-trade system, carbon cards should appeal both to the left and to the right: to the left, because they should help cut carbon emissions without hurting the poor as much as

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-1157039669293077422006-08-31T11:01:00.000-04:002008-12-21T17:21:16.522-05:00

A month in England puts a lot in perspective. The government's Iraq policy and the threat from British-born Islamist fanatics get most of the press in the United States, along with the future ot Tony Blair, which is very much in doubt—as is the future of his Labour Party.For me, however, the question of Britain and climate change, which gets little coverage in the U.S., was far more interesting

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-1154115813561319372006-07-28T14:40:00.000-04:002008-07-17T10:48:44.503-04:00

Our religious and philosophical traditions, both Eastern and Western, have a lot to say about the good life. Not one of them suggests that to live it we need 200-horsepower cars, big-box discount stores, 20-room mansions on three-acre lots, Olympic-quality swimming pools on our land, and closets and basements and recreation rooms and back yards and attics and garages full of stuff.For much

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-1153777941192337132006-07-24T17:24:00.000-04:002008-07-17T14:56:12.730-04:00

I grew up in a tradition, liberal Quakerism, that puts great emphasis on individual action for good causes. Quakers often focus on changes in personal behavior, in part because our own behavior is within our control. The actions of policy makers, governments, corporations, and even other individuals are subject only indirectly to our control or even influence. We can try to persuade policy makers

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-1153230958454894152006-07-18T09:16:00.000-04:002008-07-17T14:59:21.222-04:00

Here is a story of hope. A city famous for chaos, traffic, pollution, poorly-maintained public space, bad public services, misery, and squalor transforms itself into a more liveable, happier place because of one mayor's determination and an imaginative redevelopment plan. That city exists, but it is not in the United States, Europe, or the prosperous places of Asia. It is Bogota, Colombia. The

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-1152915069155734892006-07-14T17:43:00.000-04:002008-07-28T09:28:56.820-04:00

Critics of efforts to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions often treat the problem as if the only countries with an interest in global warming were the developed countries. Poor countries, it is argued, have, or should have, other priorities like feeding their populations, controlling disease, and economic development. See, for example, the recent article by John A. Baden, PhD at www.free-eco.org

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-1152290088993511432006-07-07T12:04:00.000-04:002008-07-17T12:20:29.565-04:00

A week or two ago, the U.S. began celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Interstate Highway System. "Celebrating" is perhaps too strong a word for what is actually happening. The observance includes a cross-country trip recreating Dwight Eisenhower's cross-country trip in 1917 that eventually led him to propose the system; a few feature spots on network television; and some newspaper articles,

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-1151091168263193382006-06-23T14:49:00.000-04:002008-07-17T14:50:19.047-04:00

The peak oil theory, which argues that at some point—either now or in the future, depending on whom you consult—oil reserves will reach peak production and then decline, with potentially catastrophic effects on our civilization, is the subject of furious controversy. Few, apart from a small number of commentators who believe that the market will provide a "bottomless well" of energy, question the

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-1150918139641921342006-06-21T15:06:00.000-04:002008-07-17T10:50:02.239-04:00

The closing of one of our neighborhood supermarkets was a blow to the neighborhood (See "A Death in the Neighborhood—Part 1.") Fortunately, a very good local grocery chain has now bought the site and plans to open a new store on it later this year or early next. "Now Hiring" signs are already up, and the site is full of workers and construction vans. In the long run, what had been a sad death

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-1150751774440033362006-06-19T17:14:00.000-04:002008-07-17T11:01:06.596-04:00

In the Soviet Union in 1968, a small party of visitors was standing near a beautiful lake in Karelia. The group, eight from the U.S., eight from Great Britain, and eight from the Soviet Union, was there as part of a Quaker-sponsored work camp and seminar. I was among them.Karelia is just across the border from Finland, a country of pine forests, snow in winter, and astonishingly blue lakes. And

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-1150151643262206972006-06-12T17:13:00.000-04:002008-07-17T10:42:12.955-04:00

A few days ago I was in a bookstore looking for a book that I never found. At the end of one set of bookshelves, prominently displayed on a rack of featured books, was The Bottomless Well: The Twilight of Fuel, the Virtue of Waste, and Why We Will Never Run Out of Energy, by Peter W. Huber and Mark P. Mills. An astonishing title in a finite world governed by the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics. Of

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-1149176764547736532006-06-01T11:12:00.000-04:002008-07-17T11:01:45.298-04:00

There are at least four things wrong with the private car as a primary mode of transportation:It uses enormous amounts of fossil fuels. Even an efficient car (which in the U.S. seems to be defined as 25-50 miles per gallon) will use as much as 180 gallons per year for a daily commute of 10 miles each way. Inefficient cars use a lot more. All of this based on highway driving, butIt gets stuck in

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-1148933301648344292006-05-29T15:37:00.000-04:002008-07-17T11:01:06.597-04:00

One of the reasons we are running into trouble is our reigning ideologies. In a world with limits—which ours is—they have become dysfunctional.Consider a minor example with major effects: the ideology of the frontier in the United States. The frontier was the edge of the country, with wild country beyond, and expansion meant pushing back and conquering the frontier. There was always more room; it

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-1148660418589635182006-05-26T12:03:00.000-04:002008-07-17T10:53:38.508-04:00

Walking to the train yesterday, I passed what used to be the best supermarket in the neighborhood. Since the end of March it has been a boarded-up hulk. It closed, not because it was losing money (it wasn't), but because it could not expand. The owner tried to buy more land, but our local transit authority, which owned the land, claimed it couldn't sell because of tax problems.This was not

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-1148308994344756182006-05-22T09:56:00.000-04:002008-07-17T14:59:21.222-04:00

Over the weekend I was in Boston visiting my daughter. Boston and Cambridge are among my favorite places. They are attractive, walkable, dynamic—and, most importantly for this article, easy to get around in. Bostonians may not agree, but the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) is an example of how to do public transit well, especially within the city and immediate suburbs.How do

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-1147126175532383312006-05-08T17:38:00.000-04:002008-07-17T11:01:45.298-04:00

commutesolutions.org, a San Francisco Bay area web site, has posted a page to help drivers calculate the true cost of commuting to work by car. It includes an estimate of social costs (about 33¢ per mile, which may be low but is a good working number). Even leaving out the social costs, however, the cost of commuting to work is high enough to raise some eyebrows.Assuming Bay Area insurance and

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-1146685997324127022006-05-03T15:52:00.000-04:002008-07-17T11:01:45.299-04:00

There are a lot of technological fixes for private cars that promise lower fuel usage and cleaner-burning engines. The simplest and quickest to implement would be better engine design. It is no accident that in markets where fuel prices reflect the world market more closely (i.e., are higher) than in the U.S., fuel efficiency is a primary goal of automotive design.Fuels made from renewable

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-1146242746568965352006-04-28T12:27:00.000-04:002008-07-17T11:01:45.299-04:00

Politicians are scurrying for cover throughout the United States. Gas is above $3.00/gallon, and the public is outraged. So we have investigations of price gouging, proposals for tax rebates, requests for Internal Revenue Service records for oil companies—on and on and on.What no politician will do is tell people the truth: The price of gasoline is getting higher because there is not enough gas

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-1146070138526560152006-04-26T12:41:00.000-04:002008-07-17T10:50:24.224-04:00

Everyone who loves cities and cares about their future will miss the voice and presence of Jane Jacobs, author of The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Her approach to cities, which stressed the importance of neighborhoods and argued that population density was one of the virtues of urban life, changed city planning forever. When she first wrote, the conventional wisdom was that cities

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-1145986005267289182006-04-25T13:11:00.000-04:002008-07-28T09:28:56.820-04:00

Karen Street, in A Musing Environment, has posted a thorough discussion of gasoline prices. It is well worth reading.In the long run, the problem with gas prices is the problem with our oil-based society: The supply of oil is finite, so in the long run we must use less of it—and even then eventually we will run out. This and the environmental effects of burning fossil fuels make the private,

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-1145626809737124082006-04-21T09:20:00.000-04:002008-07-17T10:50:24.225-04:00

Two recent studies bring mixed news about cities in the United States. A census report cited by the Associated Press finds that people are leaving the older cities and moving to the suburbs to find cheaper housing and more space. At the same time, a new study from the University of Virginia concludes that city centers are growing in wealth and value.The two studies do not contradict each other.

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26330880.post-1145546148267050472006-04-20T11:06:00.000-04:002008-07-17T10:42:12.955-04:00

In 1972, the Club of Rome, an ad hoc group of intellectuals, published The Limits to Growth, a short work that challenged conventional ideas about economic growth. Using computer simulations, the Club of Rome economists reached two major conclusions:Exponential growth in population and consumption of resources was not possible for the long run and, if not stopped, would lead to severe economic

rasphilahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08760480070975362786noreply@blogger.com0