"The End of the Suburbs is the most convincing book yet on the lifestyle changes coming to our immediate future.” -Andres Duany
“Leigh Gallagher asks all the right questions and comes up with surprising conclusions in this sweeping discussion of the future of the suburb. Spoiler alert - it's a bleak future for the burbs, but don't panic: Gallagher foretells a new world order where the conveniences of the urban lifestyle rewire our understanding of the American Dream. You'll never look at a cul-de-sac the same way again after you enjoy this book, which is simultaneously entertaining and informative, breezy and analytical.” -Spencer Rascoff, CEO, Zillow Purchase book
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Garden Cities: Theory & Practice of Agrarian UrbanismThe Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment is proud to present this book by renowned US urbanist Andrés Duany. The book details a type of community plan and management that enables a comprehensive interaction of agriculture with modern society. Because of its mitigating effect on climate change, a neo-agrarian way of life should be made available to as many as possible. If the food-growing machine that is the traditional village were reorganized, it could be made viable again. Historically, most villages were based on food production and distribution as the principal economic and social activity. As the outline of the 21st century becomes clear, villages are again emerging as practical and desirable. But they will proliferate only if their design and management is handled in a thoroughly modern way to make the lifestyle appealing to more people. Purchase book
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The Smart Growth Manual
In The Smart Growth Manual, two leading city planners provide a thorough answer. From the expanse of the metropolis to the detail of the window box, they address the pressing challenges of urban development with easy-to-follow advice and broad array of best practices. With their landmark book Suburban Nation, Andres Duany and Jeff Speck "set forth more clearly than anyone has done in our time the elements of good town planning" (The New Yorker). With this long-awaited companion volume, the authors have organized the latest contributions of new urbanism, green design, and healthy communities into a comprehensive handbook, fully illustrated with the built work of the nation's leading practitioners."The Smart Growth Manual is an indispensable guide to city planning. This kind of progressive development is the only way to fully restore our economic strength and create new jobs, new industries, and a renewed ability to compete in the first rank of world economies." -- Gavin Newsom, Former Mayor of San Francisco. Purchase book
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"Giving people many choices for living an urban lifestyle in sustainable, convenient and enjoyable places, while providing the solutions to peak oil and climate change"
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Renewable Energy
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SUSTAINABLE URBANISM and BEYOND
Newly published important book! The city in the twenty-first century faces major challenges, including social and economic stratification, wasteful consumption of resources, transportation congestion, and environmental degradation. More than half of the world’s population lives in cities and major metropolitan areas, and in the next two decades the number of city dwellers is estimated to reach five billion. This puts enormous pressures on transportation systems, housing stock, and infrastructure such as energy, waste, and water, which directly influences the emissions of greenhouse gases. As the long emergency awaits us, urgent questions remain: How will our cities survive? How can we combat and reconcile urban growth with sustainable use of resources for future generations to thrive? Where and how urbanism comes into the picture and what “sustainable” urban forms can do in light of these events are some of the issues Sustainable Urbanism and Beyond explores. With more than sixty essays, including contributions by Andrés Duany, Saskia Sassen, Peter Newman, Douglas Farr, Henry Cisneros, Peter Hall, Sharon Zukin, Peter Eisenman, and others, this book is a unique perspective on architecture, urban planning, environmental and urban design, exploring ways for raising quality of life and the standard of living in a new modern era by creating better and more viable places to live. Purchase book
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NEW URBANISM promotes the creation and restoration of diverse, walkable, compact, vibrant, mixed-use communities composed of the same components as conventional development, but assembled in a more integrated fashion, in the form of complete communities. These contain housing, work places, shops, entertainment, schools, parks, and civic facilities essential to the daily lives of the residents, all within easy walking distance of each other. New Urbanism promotes the increased use of trains and light rail, instead of more highways and roads. Urban living is rapidly becoming the new hip and modern way to live for people of all ages. Currently, there are over 4,000 New Urbanist projects planned or under construction in the United States alone, half of which are in historic urban centers.
"The building of cities is one of man's greatest achievements" -Edmund Bacon (Design of Cities)
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NEW URBANISM is the most important planning movement this century, and is about creating a better future for us all. It is an international movement to reform the design of the built environment, and is about raising our quality of life and standard of living by creating better places to live. New Urbanism is the revival of our lost art of place-making, and is essentially a re-ordering of the built environment into the form of complete cities, towns, villages, and neighborhoods - the way communities have been built for centuries around the world. New Urbanism involves fixing and infilling cities, as well as the creation of compact new towns and villages.
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THE PRINCIPLES OF NEW URBANISM
The principles of New Urbanism can be applied increasingly to projects at the full range of scales from a single building to an entire community.
1. Walkability
-Most things within a 10-minute walk of home and work
-Pedestrian friendly street design (buildings close to street; porches, windows & doors; tree-lined streets; on street parking; hidden parking lots; garages in rear lane; narrow, slow speed streets)
-Pedestrian streets free of cars in special cases
2. Connectivity
-Interconnected street grid network disperses traffic & eases walking
-A hierarchy of narrow streets, boulevards, and alleys
-High quality pedestrian network and public realm makes walking pleasurable
3. Mixed-Use & Diversity
-A mix of shops, offices, apartments, and homes on site. Mixed-use within neighborhoods, within blocks, and within buildings
-Diversity of people - of ages, income levels, cultures, and races
4. Mixed Housing
A range of types, sizes and prices in closer proximity
5. Quality Architecture & Urban Design
Emphasis on beauty, aesthetics, human comfort, and creating a sense of place; Special placement of civic uses and sites within community. Human scale architecture & beautiful surroundings nourish the human spirit
6. Traditional Neighborhood Structure
-Discernable center and edge
-Public space at center
-Importance of quality public realm; public open space designed as civic art
-Contains a range of uses and densities within 10-minute walk
-Transect planning: Highest densities at town center; progressively less dense towards the edge. The transect is an analytical system that conceptualizes mutually reinforcing elements, creating a series of specific natural habitats and/or urban lifestyle settings. The Transect integrates environmental methodology for habitat assessment with zoning methodology for community design. The professional boundary between the natural and man-made disappears, enabling environmentalists to assess the design of the human habitat and the urbanists to support the viability of nature. This urban-to-rural transect hierarchy has appropriate building and street types for each area along the continuum.
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| The Transect |
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More information on the transect
7. Increased Density
-More buildings, residences, shops, and services closer together for ease of walking, to enable a more efficient use of services and resources, and to create a more convenient, enjoyable place to live.
-New Urbanism design principles are applied at the full range of densities from small towns, to large cities
8. Smart Transportation
-A network of high-quality trains connecting cities, towns, and neighborhoods together
-Pedestrian-friendly design that encourages a greater use of bicycles, rollerblades, scooters, and walking as daily transportation
9. Sustainability
-Minimal environmental impact of development and its operations
-Eco-friendly technologies, respect for ecology and value of natural systems
-Energy efficiency
-Less use of finite fuels
-More local production
-More walking, less driving
10. Quality of Life
Taken together these add up to a high quality of life well worth living, and create places that enrich, uplift, and inspire the human spirit.
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"The sum of human happiness increases because of New Urbanism" -Andres Duany
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BENEFITS OF NEW URBANISM
1. BENEFITS TO RESIDENTS
Higher quality of life; Better places to live, work, & play; Higher, more stable property values; Less traffic congestion & less driving; Healthier lifestyle with more walking, and less stress; Close proximity to main street retail & services; Close proximity to bike trails, parks, and nature; Pedestrian friendly communities offer more opportunities to get to know others in the neighborhood and town, resulting in meaningful relationships with more people, and a friendlier town; More freedom and independence to children, elderly, and the poor in being able to get to jobs, recreation, and services without the need for a car or someone to drive them; Great savings to residents and school boards in reduced busing costs from children being able to walk or bicycle to neighborhood schools; More diversity and smaller, unique shops and services with local owners who are involved in community; Big savings by driving less, and owning less cars; Less ugly, congested sprawl to deal with daily; Better sense of place and community identity with more unique architecture; More open space to enjoy that will remain open space; More efficient use of tax money with less spent on spread out utilities and roads
2. BENEFITS TO BUSINESSES
Increased sales due to more foot traffic & people spending less on cars and gas; More profits due to spending less on advertising and large signs; Better lifestyle by living above shop in live-work units - saves the stressful & costly commute; Economies of scale in marketing due to close proximity and cooperation with other local businesses; Smaller spaces promote small local business incubation; Lower rents due to smaller spaces & smaller parking lots; Healthier lifestyle due to more walking and being near healthier restaurants; More community involvement from being part of community and knowing residents
3. BENEFITS TO DEVELOPERS
More income potential from higher density mixed-use projects due to more leasable square footage, more sales per square foot, and higher property values and selling prices; Faster approvals in communities that have adopted smart growth principles resulting in cost / time savings; Cost savings in parking facilities in mixed-use properties due to sharing of spaces throughout the day and night, resulting in less duplication in providing parking; Less need for parking facilities due to mix of residences and commercial uses within walking distance of each other; Less impact on roads / traffic, which can result in lower impact fees; Lower cost of utilities due to compact nature of New Urbanist design; Greater acceptance by the public and less resistance from NIMBYS; Faster sell out due to greater acceptance by consumers from a wider product range resulting in wider market share
4. BENEFITS TO MUNICIPALITIES
Stable, appreciating tax base; Less spent per capita on infrastructure and utilities than typical suburban development due to compact, high-density nature of projects; Increased tax base due to more buildings packed into a tighter area; Less traffic congestion due to walkability of design; Less crime and less spent on policing due to the presence of more people day and night; Less resistance from community; Better overall community image and sense of place; Less incentive to sprawl when urban core area is desirable; Easy to install transit where it's not, and improve it where it is; Greater civic involvement of population leads to better governance
WAYS TO IMPLEMENT NEW URBANISM
The most effective way to implement New Urbanism is to plan for it, and write it into zoning and development codes. This directs all future development into this form. Latest version of the SmartCode
New Urbanism is best planned at all levels of development:
-The single building
-Groups of buildings
-The urban block
-The neighborhood
-Networks of neighborhoods
-Towns
-Cities
-Regions
Increasingly, regional planning techniques are being used to control and shape growth into compact, high-density, mixed-use neighborhoods, villages, towns, and cities. Planning new train systems (instead of more roads) delivers the best results when designed in harmony with regional land planning - known as Transit Oriented Development (TOD). At the same time, the revitalization of urban areas directs and encourages infill development back into city centers.
Planning for compact growth, rather than letting it sprawl out, has the potential to greatly increase the quality of the environment. It also prevents congestion problems and the environmental degradation normally associated with growth.
OBSTACLES TO OVERCOME
The most important obstacle to overcome is the restrictive and incorrect zoning codes currently in force in most municipalities. Current codes do not allow New Urbanism to be built, but do allow sprawl. Adopting a TND ordinance and/or a system of 'smart codes' allows New Urbanism to be built easily without having to rewrite existing codes.
Download the latest SmartCode for free
An equally important obstacle is the continuous road building and expansion taking place in every community across America. This encourages more driving and more sprawl which has a domino effect increasing traffic congestion across the region. Halting road projects and building new train systems helps reverse this problematic trend. Read more
"Only when humans are again permitted to build authentic urbanism — those cities, towns, and villages that nurture us by their comforts and delights — will we cease the despoiling of Nature by escaping to sprawl" -Andres Duany
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"Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone will be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistence." -Daniel Burnham
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| Click to view national high speed rail map |
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Take the New Urbanism Online Course Now!
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"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world - indeed it is the only thing that ever has" -Margaret Mead
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New Urbanism is "the most important collective architectural movement in the United States in the past fifty years." -New York Times
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NewUrbanism.org was started in 1998, and has since grown to become a leading and well respected informational website promoting walkable urbanism, transit oriented development, trains and sustainability.
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Check out the Canons of Sustainable Architecture and Urbanism Click here
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GREEN TRANSPORTATION TAKES OFF IN CHINA
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In an amazing move towards converting their entire country towards sustainability, China is underway rebuilding its entire transportation system from the ground up. They now realize that cars and oil have no future. China is building an amazing 5,000 miles of brand new high speed trains comparable to the French TGV (200+ mph), all of which will be open for business in just 2 short years! In addition, China is building 36 brand new, full size metro systems - each to cover an entire city. The new Shanghai metro system will be the largest in the world when complete - larger than London's extensive system. China's massive, fast track green transportation construction project is unprecedented in the history of the world, and will completely transform China towards sustainability by drastically reducing their need for oil and cars.
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GREEN TRANSPORTATION TAKES OFF IN FRANCE
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| RUSH HOUR IN FRANCE |
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| RUSH HOUR IN AMERICA |
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TRAINS
-Extremely efficient
-Low energy consumption per person
-Minimal contribution to global warming
-Minimal land area needed
-Very high capacity
-Moderately priced
-Safe, fast, reliable
-Enables higher productivity per person
-Satisfied, happy users
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CARS
-Extremely wasteful
-High energy consumption per person
-Huge contribution to global warming
-Huge land area required
-Very low capacity
-Extremely expensive
-Dangerous, slow, unreliable
-Wasted time in traffic lowers productivity
-Frustrated, angry users
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we at NewUrbanism.org propose serious solutions to our
growing global crises.
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Sprawling land use patterns and auto-dominated transportation choices are the largest contributor to global warming and dwindling oil supplies. Major changes to transportation and land planning are the most important solutions.
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The debate about Global Warming and Peak Oil are over. All the latest reports confirm Global Warming is happening now, is caused by the burning of fossil fuels, and urges serious and immediate action to prevent global catastrophe. The urgent message is that we need to reduce our oil consumption by 80-90% as quickly as possible. The solutions have to be as big as the problem.
Positive changes have begun!
Awareness of the seriousness of the problem has spread rapidly around the planet. Global Warming and oil supply problems are now urgent topics of daily concern all around the world. Business leaders are asking for changes and new regulation. Governments are seeking solutions and ideas. Citizens want to participate in the changes, and everyone wants a bright future for their children and grandchildren. In America alone, more than 70% of the voters, the Supreme Court, over 800 cities, more than 500 Universities, the US National Academy of Sciences, and numerous major US corporations all want change.
The solutions for reducing oil consumption are all around us. The research is complete and the results are in – it’s now time to quickly put the right solutions into widespread use across America, and around the world. At the same time, we need to stop investing in the systems that are at the root of the problem (sprawl, roads, cars, aviation).
Oil Replacements Are Not Economically Feasible
Creating a replacement for oil and continuing 'business as usual' is not possible. In America alone, we currently use more than 20 million barrels of oil EVERY DAY. The US population is expected to double by 2050, which means double the energy and food consumption! Biofuels will never be able to produce more than a tiny percent of what we use today, and competes directly with food production. It is questionable if any net energy is actually produced when all the inputs of energy are added up: growing the crops (such as corn), harvesting, transporting, processing, and delivery. See Time Magazine's story "The Clean Energy Scam"
The Real Solution is to Reduce Oil Demand
We need a replacement for cars. The transition away from cars can be accomplished by halting the growth of sprawl and roads, and greatly increasing the supply of trains and walkable communities connected to the trains - where people can live comfortably without dependence on a car. Walking and riding trains and bicycles are the replacement for cars. Communities need to be reconfigured to the scale and comfort of the pedestrian.
Americans use 8 times more energy per person, per day than Europeans, yet Europeans actually have a higher standard of living because they are not forced to spend countless stressful hours stuck in traffic every day. Their cities are dense, walkable, and beautiful, and they have extensive, state-of-the-art train systems going everywhere. Americans use 8 times more energy than Europeans because 90% of American communities are not walkable (sprawl), and we have not invested in a world-class national rail network the way Europeans have been doing for many years. We have invested our wealth in roads, cars, and sprawl – all of which waste huge amounts of energy, are unsustainable, and have no future.
With our new knowledge of the problems and solutions, we must now act quickly, and on a grand scale to redesign our communities and transportation systems to greatly reduce the need for driving and cars.
Our 10 solutions below help point the way for a better future.
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"We face a planetary emergency"
The urgency with which we need to act cannot be overstated. We need to adopt a crash mitigation program with the total participation of the American public like we had with WWII Victory Gardens, the technological focus of the Apollo Moon program, the scale of the US Interstate Highway program, and the urgency of the Manhattan project.
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Here is our proposal for reducing our oil use, and dealing with this emergency:
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We are facing a convergence of the most serious crises in the history of the planet:
> Global Warming and climate change threaten the survival of the human race
> Peak Oil - World oil supplies are running out while our oil use is increasing rapidly
> Energy Security - Increasing global conflicts over the remaining oil -- "It's a fight to the last drop"
> Traffic congestion is rapidly paralyzing America and the rest of the world while wasting
millions of gallons of gas daily
> Rapidly growing sprawl is devouring prime farmlands and pristine wilderness areas, and
creating the massive traffic congestion
While these situations seem impossible to solve, our 10 solutions will solve all the problems at once:
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10 solutions that are feasible, sustainable, & safe:
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1. A permanent moratorium on all new major road construction and expansions. Every additional dollar spent building and widening roads digs us deeper into our dangerous oil / auto addiction, and increases global warming.
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2. A huge increase in funding for Amtrak, and the rapid construction of a new nationwide train network. This should connect every city, town, and neighborhood with an efficient, state-of-the-art electric train network comparable to what is currently operating all across Europe and Japan. This should be built to transport both passengers and all the cargo now moved inefficiently by trucks. Trains are by far the most energy efficient form of transportation that greatly reduces global warming, saves lives, and encourages compact, walkable communities. Read more
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3. A permanent moratorium on the building of any additional sprawl. Sprawl is probably the single largest contributor to oil addiction and global warming due to it's very design (or lack of). Sprawl forces everyone to drive many miles daily for everything, which in turn requires constant road expansions, encouraging more cars and driving, and more sprawl. Its a vicious cycle consuming ever more oil, and spewing out more pollution, making global warming continually worse.
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4. A major focus of federal, state, and local governments on New Urbanism, Smart Growth, and Transit Oriented Development - the revitalization and densification of all existing cities and towns across America into walkable, mixed-use communities, with pedestrians and bicycles given top priority over automobiles, and a serious focus on bicycles and trains as the major forms of transportation.
The installation of Paris style (Velib), city-wide bicycle rental programs in the 200 largest cities in America. In addition, the placement of small neighborhood schools located so children can walk or bike to them, and the provision of millions of affordable housing units within walking distance of train stations. A big part of this is the construction of LEED Certified green buildings, and the retrofitting of existing buildings to similar standards.
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5. The tripling of minimum vehicle miles per gallon standards for all vehicles produced in America - accomplished by a quick and complete conversion of all automobile manufacturing facilities to the building of only hybrid, solar, and fully electric vehicles.
Government and institutional car purchases made each year should be switched to buying only hybrids and fully electric cars. It is estimated that the entire U.S. government purchases well over 7 million new vehicles each year - the sum total of Federal, State, & Local Government agencies, municipalities, counties, universities, the US Postal Service, highway patrol, sheriff, police and fire departments, etc. - more than enough demand to change entire assembly lines at car factories.
The real solution is to stop making cars altogether by a phased retooling of the auto industry into manufacturing trains, wind turbines, and solar panels (much like during the second world war when they switched to building military equipment).
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6. A moratorium on new airport construction and expansions, as well as an end to aviation subsidies.
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7. A moratorium on the construction of any new coal fired or nuclear power generating plants. Contrary to industry proponents who say nuclear is a "clean energy" solution to global warming - nuclear power is far from clean. The waste it produces is the most toxic substance known to humankind, remaining deadly radioactive for many thousands of years, with no safe way to store or dispose of it, and no way of preventing it from being made into weapons.
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8. The rapid construction of new solar and wind power generating capacity all across America, from large-scale installations to smaller neighborhood and roof-top units. Also, the immediate installation of new hydropower generating capacity in the form of coastal wave and tidal energy capture.
9. The installation of full roof solar panels on every building in America.
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10. The installation of hundreds of acres of organic farms throughout every city and town in America. In addition to this, the planting of millions of trees across America.
More information and solutions below
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WAYS TO PAY FOR THESE SOLUTIONS
-The $620 billion + spent so far on the Iraq war could have paid for a lot of this (experts
predict this war will end up costing over $2 trillion!)
-A portion of the $680 billion United States annual defense budget
-The hundreds of billions spent annually on road construction
-The hundreds of billions spent on airport expansions
-The hundreds of billions spent constructing nuclear and coal fired power plants
-The $300 billion each year spent subsidizing the oil industry
-A new 'waste tax' imposed on waste and inefficiency
-A new carbon tax on the burning of fossil fuels
"There is no more debate. We face a planetary emergency. The phrase sounds shrill but it is an accurate description of the climate crisis that we have to confront and solve." --Al Gore
It is imperative that we invest in the solutions as soon as possible for a smooth transition to a sustainable future. Right now, "unfortunately, we're investing in war, not in crash projects to develop new transportation and energy sources." The real problem is that after we conclude the Iraq war spending in excess of $2 trillion, and burning up millions of barrels of oil, we will still be just as dependent on oil as before the war - nothing will have been improved with our society and our dangerous oil addiction.
What we need now more than anything is unified leadership and committed, focused, emergency action on a massive scale to save the planet before it's too late.
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A RAPID & UNPRECEDENTED MOBILIZATION OF HUMANITY IS NEEDED
"It is no exaggeration to say that stabilizing the climate poses a political challenge of unprecedented scope. Needed emission reductions on the order of 80% can only be achieved through a rapid transition to clean energy technologies--and not only in the rich countries, but in the developing world as well." -World Watch Institute
"Given the magnitude and urgency of the accelerating pace of climate change, the only hope lies in a rapid and unprecedented mobilization of humanity around this issue." -Ross Gelbspan
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"The quicker we get about the business of reducing our reliance on oil, the better we're going to be." - Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State (May, 2006) - Probably the smartest thing is to stop cutting funding for Amtrak, the nation's most efficient form of transportation. And probably even smarter would be to vastly increase the budget for Amtrak so the train system can rapidly expand to allow millions of people to get around by train instead of gas-guzzling SUVs and fuel-wasting airplanes.
"We have a window of only 10 to 15 years to take the steps we need to avoid crossing catastrophic tipping points" -Tony Blair, Prime Minister, UK (October, 2006)
"Global warming requires immediate action" - The Pentagon
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“Make no small plans. They have no magic to stir humanity’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical plan once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone will be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistency.” –Daniel Burnham
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THE END OF SUBURBIA A MUST SEE MOVIE!
NOW AVAILABLE on DVD!
Since World War II North Americans have invested much of their newfound wealth in suburbia. It has promised a sense of space, affordability, family life and upward mobility. As the population of suburban sprawl has exploded in the past 50 years, so too the suburban way of life has become embedded in the American consciousness. Suburbia, and all it promises, has become the American Dream.
But as we enter the 21st century, serious questions are beginning to emerge about the sustainability of this way of life. With brutal honesty and a touch of irony, The End of Suburbia explores the American Way of Life and its prospects as the planet approaches a critical era, as global demand for fossil fuels begins to outstrip supply. World Oil Peak and the inevitable decline of fossil fuels are upon us now. The consequences of inaction in the face of this global crisis are enormous. Order Your DVD Now!
Read more about the film and the crisis
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*NEW STUDIES: Many benefits with rail systems. Click here to read the studies
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PEAK OIL is upon us! "We're a world that lives on oil; we eat oil, and there's a global energy famine coming." says Richard Heinberg, a leading voice in the debate over the timing of peak oil.
Heinberg, a professor of human ecology at New College of California, calls it "a fight for the last drop," and believes Peak Oil is already here. The signs are all around: The Chinese bid for Unocal, the war in Iraq, oil prices at record levels.
The world is facing a historic change that is unprecedented in scope and depth of impact. If we don't start preparing now, Heinberg predicts economic and political chaos.
While there are many ways to reduce energy consumption - from turning out lights to installing solar panels on the roof - the best way to save oil is to use less gasoline - which can be accomplished by driving smaller cars, switching to hybrid cars, and moving to a walkable city and riding trains and bicycles. New Urbanism, Transit Oriented Development, and rail transportation are all major solutions to this crisis.
Energy Bulletin: Government Report Acknowledges Peak Oil Threat
Newsweek: How to Live Without Oil
Resource Investor: Government Report Disturbing
Oil Change
An Inconvenient Truth
Culture Change
Life After the Oil Crash
ASPO Peak Oil
** Read the Government Report **
Solutions: New Urbanism | Transit Oriented Development | Trains | Smart Transportation
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THE EUROPEAN DREAM by Jeremy Rifkin
A must read book!
The American Dream is in decline. Americans are increasingly overworked, underpaid, and squeezed for time. But there is an alternative: the European Dream - a more leisurely, healthy, prosperous, and sustainable way of life. Europe's lifestyle is not only desirable, argues Jeremy Rifkin, but may be crucial to sustaining prosperity in the new era.
With the dawn of the European Union, Europe has become an economic superpower in its own right-its GDP now surpasses that of the United States. Europe has achieved newfound dominance not by single-mindedly driving up stock prices, expanding working hours, and pressing every household into a double-wage-earner conundrum. Instead, the New Europe relies on market networks that place cooperation above competition; promotes a new sense of citizenship that extols the well-being of the whole person and the community rather than the dominant individual; and recognizes the necessity of deep play and leisure to create a better, more productive, and healthier workforce. Much of Europe enjoys a longer life span and greater literacy, and has less poverty and crime, less blight and sprawl, longer vacations, and shorter commutes to work than we do in the United States. When one considers what makes a people great and what constitutes a better way of life, observes Rifkin, Europe now surpasses America. Order your copy today!
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THE NEW TRANSIT TOWN by Hank Dittmar & Gloria Ohland
Best Practices in Transit-Oriented Development. Now available... "Transit-oriented development (TOD) seeks to maximize access to mass transit and nonmotorized transportation with centrally located rail or bus stations surrounded by relatively high-density commercial and residential development. New Urbanists and smart growth proponents have embraced the concept and interest in TOD is growing, both in the United States and around the world. The New Transit Town brings together leading experts in planning, transportation, and sustainable design -- including Scott Bernstein, Peter Calthorpe, Jim Daisa, Sharon Feigon, Ellen Greenberg, David Hoyt, Dennis Leach, and Shelley Poticha -- to examine the first generation of TOD projects and derive lessons for the next generation. It offers topic chapters that provide detailed discussion of key issues along with case studies that present an in-depth look at specific projects." Purchase book
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---- New Urbanism University Programs ----
Notre Dame
The University of Miami
*For a complete list of New Urbanism friendly university programs, click here
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*Support for Amtrak is at an all time high in America. According to a June 7, 2003 poll in the Washington Post, there is "71 percent public support for subsidizing Amtrak at current or increased levels. Support for Amtrak is strong among all regions, ages, education levels and income groups."
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READ THE JUST-RELEASED REPORT: "Highways and Transit: Leveling the Playing Field in Federal Transportation Policy" from the Brookings Institution. "A new report released December 15 by the Brooking Institution confirms what transportation reform advocates have learned from their experience in the field, documenting that there is in fact an unlevel playing field between transit and highway projects. The report provides an excellent overview of the variations in federal policies affecting project sponsors undertaking major transit investments and what is required of sponsors of federally-assisted highway projects. It discusses the differential treatment of these projects, comparing the specific federal requirements that are applicable to decision-makers seeking to undertake major transit investments, principally those funded under the New Starts program." -Surface Transportation Policy Project
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SHOCKING NEW REPORT: THE PENTAGON NOW SAYS CLIMATE CHANGE WILL BE DEADLY - A secret report obtained by The Observer - with direct implications against sprawl and endless road building - predicts that abrupt climate change could bring the planet to the edge of anarchy as countries develop a nuclear threat to defend and secure dwindling food, water and energy supplies. The threat to global stability vastly eclipses that of terrorism, say the few experts privy to its contents. The findings will prove humiliating to the Bush administration, which has repeatedly denied that climate change even exists. Experts said that they will also make unsettling reading for a President who has insisted national defence is a priority.
Last week the Bush administration came under heavy fire from a large body of respected scientists who claimed that it cherry-picked science to suit its policy agenda and suppressed studies that it did not like. Jeremy Symons, a former whistleblower at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said that suppression of the report for four months was a further example of the White House trying to bury the threat of climate change. Senior climatologists, however, believe that their verdicts could prove the catalyst in forcing Bush to accept climate change as a real and happening phenomenon. They also hope it will convince the United States to sign up to global treaties to reduce the rate of climatic change. "The consequences for some nations of the climate change are unbelievable. It seems obvious that cutting the use of fossil fuels would be worthwhile." Read more
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READ THE NEW REPORT: "More Highways, More Pollution: Road-building And Air Pollution In America's Cities" from the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. Pirg). The research finds that cities with the most highway capacity per capita tend to have the worst air pollution from vehicles per capita. A review of the academic literature and empirical data on road building and traffic congestion concludes that building new roads will do little to alleviate traffic congestion in the long run and likely will exacerbate already severe air pollution problems in cities across the country.
Read: Light Rail Success Stories | Landscape Architecture | Transit Oriented Development
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NEW REPORT: "CREATING GREAT NEIGHBORHOODS: DENSITY IN YOUR COMMUNITY" Read more
NEW STUDY: TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT BENEFITS ALL Read more
NATIONAL SMART GROWTH AWARDS ANNOUNCED Read more
TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT GROWING IN POPULARITY Read more
SPRAWL DETRIMENTAL TO HEALTH - NEW STUDIES Read more
NEW URBANISM AND SMART GROWTH SWEEPING THE COUNTRY Read more
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9 STUDIES: ROAD EXPANSION PROJECTS CREATE MORE CONGESTION Read more
"NO MORE ROADS OR SPRAWL!"... VOTERS SAY LOUD AND CLEAR Read more
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WE NOW HAVE EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE THAT SMART GROWTH WORKS AND REDUCES AUTO USE. Read more
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"Most people do not think road building is an effective way to fight congestion; 75% see other strategies as more effective." -Smart Growth America. Yet 80% of America's transportation spending goes for road building! --- What's wrong with this picture? --- Read more
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TIME MAGAZINE: TRAINS ARE THE SOLUTION TO OUR CRISIS. Read more
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CONTACT US for more information, speaking engagements, consultation, or design work:
NewUrbanism.org
824 King Street, Suite 103
Alexandria, VA 22314
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