Cityblog features daily posts from the Smarter Cities team and NRDC's Switchboard Blog.
Charlotte's Music Factory transforms abandoned mill into lively entertainment district
Charlotte now has a lively entertainment district within shouting distance of Uptown, thanks to the NC Music Factory, which has repurposed a decaying textile mill into a sophisticated mix of concert theatres, restaurants, offices and places to hang out. ... Kaid Benfield
May 18, 2012
New housing forecast mostly good for walkable communities
The housing price recovery has begun, says a new report from The Demand Institute, a think tank recently launched by Nielson and The Conference Board to track consumer demand. Among the findings that are promising for more sustainable development... Kaid Benfield
May 17, 2012
Citizen participation in the design of sustainable communities
(Illustration courtesy of Julie Stuart, Making Ideas Visible) Today’s post is guest-authored by my friend and frequent collaborator, Lee Epstein. Lee is an attorney and land use planner working for sustainability in the mid-Atlantic region. First, a confession: I... Kaid Benfield
May 16, 2012
Taming the sound of the city: dealing with noise pollution
About two decades ago, my friend Bob – a mover and shaker of sorts in the art world – took me to an artist’s studio in a (then, at least) scruffy area of lower Manhattan. The artist we were... Kaid Benfield
May 15, 2012
'Baseball-oriented development' hits a home run in DC
The neighborhood near Nationals Park, the baseball stadium in southeastern Washington, DC, is undergoing an amazing transformation. A decade ago, the federal Department of Transportation had made a hopeful commitment to the area with plans for a new headquarters,... Kaid Benfield
May 14, 2012
These news posts are brought to us, thanks to Planetizen, a public-interest information exchange provided by Urban Insight.
Shining a Light on an Architectural Innovator
Following up on his insightful essay on the politics of architectural reputation seen through the career of Louis Curtiss, Keith Eggener examines the architect's innovations with glass curtain walls.
May 19, 2012
History Repeats Itself in California Infrastructure Debate
As the Golden Gate Bridge approaches its 75th anniversary, John King pens an incisive comparison between the arguments against the bridge's original construction and those that have challenged subsequent high-profile projects.
May 19, 2012
How Design Professionals Can Affect Change on Capitol Hill
Congressman Earl Blumeanauer explains what landscape architects, architects, planners and engineers can do to bridge the gap between politics and more livable communities during ASLA's advocacy day.
May 19, 2012
Are Electric Cable Cars the Future of Trucking?
John Metcalfe explores a new kind of hybrid vehicle that could revolutionize trucking and cut down air contaminants in one of the most polluted regions in the country.
May 19, 2012
Quality of Place Trumps Density, says Richard Florida
Ten years after publishing of The Rise of the Creative Class, the prominent city-booster says high-rises are “vertical suburbs” and we need “urban environments that stir the spirit.”
May 19, 2012
These posts are yours, our street beat reporters, filled with news, images and ideas from your city.
A Climate Conference that Ends in Real Action
One of the more frustrating aspects of our engagement with global climate change is that the crisis is manifesting itself in various ways right now, whereas the proposed solutions always seem to be gradual and incremental "works in progress." Take the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change, which has been assembling for 15 years, with -- let’s be honest -- precious little to show for it. The ramifications of a warmer world are already upon us; but it's not always easy to find agencies,...
March 12, 2012
Digital Dining: The Best Online Guides for Ethical Food
The IFC sketch-comedy show Portlandia once featured a scene embarrassingly familiar to those of us trying to eat local and sustainable food. The show's star hipsters (played by Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein) grill their restaurant server about the origins of the chicken they're contemplating ordering. Even after examining its dossier -- and learning that Colin (the chicken) ate local hazelnuts and sheep's...
February 28, 2012
Warmer Winters Uproot Garden Planting Map. Could It Be ... Climate Change?
Last week, for the first time since 1990, the U.S. Department of Agriculture updated its Plant Hardiness Zone Map, one of the tools we gardeners use to decide what will thrive, and what won't, in our personal plots of earth.
The map divides the U.S. into zones based on average extreme low temperatures, and the big news for many gardeners is that they've been promoted -- that...
January 30, 2012
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