At the start of the 20th century, streets belonged as much to pedestrians and children at play as to automobiles. By the end of it, stepping into the street in the wrong place was a crime. How did jaywalking become a crime? And how do we decriminalize it?
America supports 2.7 million jobs in the clean energy economy. And in California, at least, jobs like these have proven more resilient to the economic downturn.
Bryant Terry isn’t interested in lecturing anyone. But he’s still got plenty to say. For the last ten years the activist, cookbook author and chef has been a passionate advocate for sustainable food in the communities of color most likely to be isolated from healthy food options. His argument? White people didn’t invent healthy cooking and sustainable eating. And the traditional foodways of people of color have the answers to the pressing food justice issues we’re facing today.
With his latest book, “The Inspired Vegan,” out this week from Da Capo Press, and a new web series called “Urban Organic,” Terry offers inventive, easy, exciting ideas for integrating healthy, sustainable cooking into everyday life.
| — | Robert S. Ogilvie, program director of the Planning for Healthy Places initiative of Oakland-based Public Health Law & Policy |
Journalist and historian Catherine Tumber thinks smaller industrial cities, like Syracuse, New York, Flint, Michigan, and Muncie, Indiana, need serious attention and—”don’t laugh,” she writes—could be instrumental in moving us toward an economically dynamic, low-carbon future.
San Francisco residents - do you want to start a garden or urban farm? San Francisco Urban Agriculture Alliance (SFUAA) has put together this great guide (Starting a Garden or Urban Farm in San Francisco) which can help you get started. The guide answers your questions about finding land, permits, water hookups, selling what you grow and more. Download a copy of our guide here.
Will Doig debunks the myth that bicycling is just for elite gentrifiers in a recent article for Salon.
Urban bicyclists have an image problem. They’ve become stereotyped as pretentious, aloof jackasses, and a lot of this has to do with the changes taking place in cities right now. During the last decade, dozens of urban cores were inundated by young, well-educated newcomers. Places like Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago and Washington added tens of thousands of these new residents. And one thing’s for sure: These kids really like bikes. An analysis by Atlantic Cities showed that bicycle ridership in these cities soared during this period. In some cases, it more than doubled.
… But the bicyclists-as-gentrifiers trope turns out to be more perception than reality, though. Over the last decade, the share of white bicyclists fell in proportion to riders of color. And ridership is remarkably equal across income groups. Part of the reason we don’t see it this way is because all too often, bike infrastructure gets concentrated in tony areas. Look at a map of a city’s bike lanes and bike-share stations and you’ll have a perfect guide to the “good” neighborhoods. In many cities, writes Dave Feucht, editor of the bicycling blog Portlandize, “being able to get around by bicycle is seen as elitist because you have to have money in order to live in a part of the city where it’s even possible to ride a bicycle.”
Innovative, Healthy Affordable Housing
The most celebrated building in New York City this fall isn’t perched on the edge of Central Park or in downtown Manhattan or even in trendy Brooklyn. The structure gracing the front page of The New York Times is in the heart of the South Bronx. Via Verde (“The Green Way”) is not only architecturally striking, it’s also an experiment in healthy, sustainable and affordable living for low- and moderate-income residents.
Via Verde promises urban renewal, with green rooftops for gardens and solar panels that meet 5 percent of the building’s electricity load. ”This is at the leading edge of social housing in New York and America,” said Robert Garneau of Grimshaw Architects, which co-designed the building with Dattner Architects
