Washington Considers Funding Parks to Rebuild Cities

wow this is not yr average "legislation", very curious about the agency coordiantion that would occur to make this happen. 


As numerous studies have shown, well-maintained and used parks increase real estate values in the surrounding area and generate tourism and other economic activity. Access to parks and recreation also improves the physical and mental health of residents, lowers crime, connects children to nature and brings neighbors together. By cooling and filtering the air, absorbing stormwater runoff and providing habitat for migrating birds and other wildlife, parks and natural areas make a city more environmentally sustainable.

TRULY AFFORDABLE GREEN HOUSING IN NYC!

very interesting model here.  heard  that there is something similar going on in bed stuy, but im not sure if that's with renters. i'd feel better about the harlem retrofits if they worked to turn over ownership to the tenants, or least 20 years leases for the tenants.  

Some blocks get all the history. West 135th Street in Harlem, between 7th Avenue and Lenox, was one of the proudest blocks in the neighborhood during Harlem's glory years. In 1910, the St. Philip's Episcopal Church -- the wealthiest of uptown's black churches during that period -- bought the block of homes on 135th Street, with the intention of renting them to parishioners. At the time, the row of stately townhomes were the first buildings that far uptown to belong to an African American landlord. The block was later the home (and one of the main subjects) of the famed photographer James Van Der Zee. These days, the block is notably worse for wear, but headed for another encounter with New York City history. As Stephen reported earlier this year, The Rose Smart Growth Investment Fund purchased West 135th's 198 units of housing (and 4,500 square feet of ground floor retail) back in December 2008, with the intention of giving the entire block a top-to-bottom green overhaul. The planned greening of 135th Street the most ambitious residential green retrofit project in New York City to date, by a longshot.

Retrofitting Bed Study for energy efficiency

Retrofit Bedford Stuyvesant | Pratt Center

A Model Block for Energy Efficiency

Brooklyn's Bedford Stuyvesant is one of the most historically rich and compelling neighborhoods in NYC. As a cultural center for Brooklyn's African American community, many of its residents are devoted to the community, reinvesting when their incomes rise, staying in the neighborhood over many generations and becoming homeowners – over 25 percent of neighborhood households own their homes. The neighborhood has a well-developed network of block, civic, faith and neighborhood associations including a unique collaboration, the Coalition for the Improvement of Bedford Stuyvesant, a partnership of 25 community-based social and economic development organizations.

Intriguing alternative to usual environmental studies program

Lean and green

Lauren Caldwell January 31, 2007 0

A couple of generations ago, environmentalism was associated with Birkenstocks, free love and granola. Today, with growing concern about issues such as global climate change and resource depletion, politicians, scientists and economists alike realize existing environmental policies must be revised. The Environmental Thought & Practice interdisciplinary program is home to a small, highly-motivated group of students trained to look at the environment from the perspectives of multiple disciplines.

“My first career was in the real policy-making world,” said Vivian Thomson, assistant professor of environmental sciences and politics. “A lot of the people hired were trained mostly in the natural sciences or social sciences. There is difficulty out there for those who are narrowly trained.”

Course on Coops and Food Business

Below is the description of a course offered at Portland State (Oregon) that would be great to have here.  PSU has a well known "placed based" learning program at their school and they recently recevbied a 25 million dollar donation to further develop sustainabiility studies. 


The Natural Food Industry and Cooperative Business Model, Sec 2
Pedro Ferbel-Azcarate, pferbel@yahoo.com
This Capstone will provide an orientation to the cooperative business model in the
booming natural food industry. Students will gain hands on experience working with
the community partner, People’s Food Cooperative, on various business related
inquiries including financial analyses, marketing studies, and plans for short and long
term growth. We will address different business strategies in the natural food
industry and for cooperative businesses, specifically, and make the connection to
broader themes including health and nutrition, food security and food politics,
environmental sustainability, urban design, and community development.

Elinor Ostrom Breaks the Nobel mould - celebrates the commons

The economics profession needs to be shaken up. Ostrom's Nobel prize should encourage us to take a fresh approach.

Circular Hakka Houses Create Self-Sustaining Communities

How Green Could Our Cities Be?

A new campaign by the government's city advisers to persuade local authorities to green their cities has produced some unique images of England's urban areas.

Students practice green living at new 'sustainable cooperative' on campus

By Julia Ferrante

LEWISBURG, Pa. - About once a week, Elizabeth McCarthy scoops out bits of discarded orange peel, broccoli, tomatoes, egg shells, coffee grounds and other compostable items from a large plastic bin kept on the porch of her residence hall.

http://www.bucknell.edu/x56890.xml

Urban Stewards: the creation of Neighborhood Maintenance Districts. An Ecosystem Services Proposal for cities.

I'm digging this idea, gotta make it solidarity economy tho, worker coop's not poor paying jobs.

Cities across the country are struggling to provide public services in this time of economic difficulty. While there is growing recognition of the potential environmental improvements that could be provided by the use of ecosystem services in cities -- services like trees, infiltration zones, climate appropriate landscaping and so forth -- paying for the requisite transformation of the urban fabric and for its subsequent maintenance is a challenge.