Kaid Benfield
Kaid Benfield is director for sustainable communities and smart growth at The Natural Resources Defense Council in Washington, DC.
He has his own blog on land development and community issues and enjoys contributing here, too, since there is so much common ground.
Does a Sustainable Community Need a Good Drinking Establishment?
My friend Eliot Allen first introduced me to the concept of neighborhood completeness: that the quality of a place is defined in part by...
New HUD Grants Will Help Communities Pursue Sustainability
This is exactly how the federal government should be supporting sustainability: helping communities who want to do the right thing for their environments, economies,...
Are Big-Box Stores a Good Measure of Equity?
It’s been cause for celebration here in the D.C. region, and rightfully so, that suburban Prince George’s County, Maryland, has a new, high-end Wegmans...
Revitalization With Palm Trees
The trendiest neighborhood in West Palm Beach is Northwood, a collection of historic districts, fading industrial areas, and blocks of small bungalows and grand...
Help Restore Post-Katrina NOLA Neighborhoods by Tearing Down the Freeway
As we reflect on the five years that have passed since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, we can observe both progress and much, much...
Instantly See Average Transportation Costs, Emissions for Any Location
The latest in the snazzy series of useful tools and research on housing and transportation costs published by the Center for Neighborhood Technology is...
Washington Post Misses the Point on Inclusionary Zoning
Earlier this week, The Washington Post featured an article by Jeffrey O’Connell headlined, “DC affordable housing policy has put up a goose egg.” ...
Tassafaronga Village: Affordable Green, Gold and Platinum in East Oakland
Oakland, California’s Tassafaronga Village is a new mixed-income, green neighborhood development that is bringing a high degree of environmental excellence to a traditionally underserved...
The Case For Rentals Over Homeownership
Richard Florida, chronicler of societal trends and Twitter addict (follow him at your peril), believes that there is a strong case to be made...
Had Enough of the Spill? Stop Sprawl and Support Revitalization
Enraged at the spill in the Gulf and the American appetite for oil that ultimately caused it? Stop land development on farmland, forests...
How Immigrants Are Revitalizing America’s Fading Suburbs
The Urbanophile, Aaron Renn, has an interesting new post about how American suburbs, particularly inner-ring suburbs, are being revitalized by immigrant populations. His...
Helping Johnny (and Joanie) Walk to School
“Aside from reduced CO2, less traffic time and health advantages, the most important benefit of walk to school programs is teaching children self-reliance.”
The quote...
The Most Important Land Use Analysis You’ll See This Year
The Chicago-based Center for Neighborhood Technology has dramatically expanded its location efficiency mapping and analysis to 337 metropolitan areas across the country. This impressive...
Using Urban Density to Support City Parks (and Vice Versa)
To some, today’s title will sound a little counterintuitive. Using residential and commercial density to revitalize downtowns or bring people closer to rail transit...
Greening Indy’s Redevelopment District
About two miles from downtown Indianapolis is the city’s designated smart growth revitalization district, a distressed area with many vacant properties, including a largely...
Inclusive Revitalization In the South Bronx: Melrose Commons
I’m sure many in the Rooflines readership are familiar with the inspiring story of Melrose Commons and Nos Quedamos in the South Bronx. It...
D.C. Population Rises While Crime Plummets
New end-of-year data confirm what some of us have been reporting for a long time: central cities in the U.S. are no longer in...
Have Yourself a Merry TRANSIT Xmas!
I’ve posted a bunch of great transit holiday photos over on my NRDC site. Please check them out, and happy holidays!
photo here of...
Habitat Retrofits Oakland Brownfield for LEED-ND Pilot
Habitat for Humanity’s East Bay affiliate is retrofitting a brownfield into 54 affordable homes on two acres of land in Oakland, Calif. With excellent...
‘Housing First’ Offers Hope for Homeless Veterans, Others
On this Veterans Day, when we remember those who have served, it is troubling to note that, although veterans make up around 9 percent...