Blog
Too many parking lots? Try bikes instead
Posted by Kristian Buschmann on October 20, 2008 |
The University of England, concerned that their campus was soon to be overrun by surface parking lots, has started a free bike program. Beyond reduction of the number of parking spaces, the program has highlighted a host of advantages from student health (i.e. eliminating the "freshman 15") to livelier campus atmosphere and reduced pollution. Read more in this NYT article.
Case for Greening?Early
Posted by Rebecca Eggleston on July 29, 2008 |
The current hype around the pollution challenges Beijing is facing in the lead up to the Olympics offers an interesting opportunity for a microcosm view of pollution management issues world-wide.
This Wall Street Journal article highlights the economic impacts of excessive pollution. “Two years ago, with the air quality across the country getting worse, China's leaders began realizing that pollution was threatening to destroy the economic progress that had created it.”
A variety of measures are being put in place at great speed to attempt to counter some of the effects, from forcing cars off the streets, halting construction, to encouraging work from home or online work solutions to discourage traffic.
“Though countries including the U.S. and Japan have used similar tactics to curb pollution, scientists say the speed and sheer extent of China's changes make it an ideal laboratory to measure what works.”
Given that most of the more immediate tactics involve ways to get cars off the streets, it suggests a compelling case for dense, walk-able, transit connected environments and changing habits and attitudes.
Where Our Cars Are Killing Us
Posted by Sheila Redick on July 15, 2008 |
We came upon this interesting city ranking in Men's Health:
Complete with an interactive map, the pub ranks cities overall and then individually on pollution, number of miles driven, amount of gas consumed and other measures. It's an intriguing list, but we have to question one of the rankings in particular, which claims that Los Angeles consumes the LEAST amount of gas of any U.S. city. At the same time, L.A. is the second highest in the amount of fuel wasted in stop-and-go traffic. it also lands in the middle of the number of miles driven yearly and 26th in transit use. Hmmm. Something doesn't quite add up.
Check out the link to the ranking here:
http://www.menshealth.com/metrogrades/08_july_cars/cars.html