Category: sustainability

urban greening on a morning walk

On By Chuck WolfeIn everyday urbanism, pedestrianism, placemaking, sustainability, urban views5 Comments

Last month, we illustrated some potential “quick wins” for placemaking, gleaned from a morning walk. Here are some additional, “scaled” lessons learned through observations of an historic urban park network partially restored by neighbors, in cooperation with a big city park department.

Local action supplements big ideas through demonstrable implementation. Seattle’s Madrona Woods story, accessible here, shows us how and why.

1. City woods, then (1909) and now (2010):

2. Stairways along the way, public and private:

3. New pedestrian bridge, restored lake shore:

4. The prize of the daylighted creek:

now we all want to live in a college town, by daylight

On By Chuck WolfeIn pedestrianism, placemaking, sustainability, urban views9 Comments

Here is further evidence for last night’s twilight apparition: A walkable, to-scale college town can present the ideal of a pedestrian and bike-oriented retail core, and a viable mix of uses which serve the needs of both the adjacent institution and a classic town center. Look to this model for what can go right, and wrong, with attempts to implement successful communities. In particular, the panoramae below provide the street-level sense of opportunity to meld physical, economic, aesthetic considerations with multi-modal traffic and service provision.

now we all want to live in a college town

On By Chuck WolfeIn infill development, pedestrianism, placemaking, sustainability, urban views7 Comments

College towns are often the most walkable, serving a generation not yet auto-centric, and offering the classic mixture of businesses for the academy and small town “Main Street”. Here, Moscow, Idaho is no exception, with the University of Idaho a short walk to the west of downtown.

paparazzi photos reveal the urban odd couple

On By Chuck WolfeIn everyday urbanism, pedestrianism, placemaking, politics, sustainability, urban administration, urban viewsLeave a comment

A content analysis of popular press, blogs and social media would show most urban-related content currently addresses the up and down relationship of the two environments depicted below in paparazzi photos from Seattle.

sustainability: time for a koyaanisqatsi assessment

On By Chuck WolfeIn sustainability3 Comments

If you never saw Francis Ford Coppola’s Koyaanisqatsi, a 1982 production depicting our environmental impact on the planet (directed by Godfrey Reggio), it is now available online and can be seen from the embedded link below. Borrowing from a Hopi indian term for “life out of balance”, the documentary film begins with unspoiled natural environments and progresses through manmade turmoil. The film remains one of the best one-sitting exposures to the consequences of unsustainable practices and continues to argue, without words, for an unfailing, new sustainability ethic.

After the movie, observe the best communal setting you can find in your city, and ask how we’ve changed.