Tag: Sustainability
Green Is Affordable
The affordable housing movement has not only accepted green building, but is making it integral to its work.
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,...
Bostic on Green Finance: Investing in Sustainable Outcomes
The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta has posted a brief, informative interview with Raphael Bostic, HUD Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research, on...
Shelterforce Interview: Ron Sims
HUD Deputy Secretary Ron Sims doesn't just want the 8,500 employees he oversees at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to do their jobs: he wants them to challenge themselves, even if there's a risk of failure.
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Enviros Lacking In Indianapolis Redevelopment Push
Last week I had the honor of being one of seven smart growth types recruited by the American Institute of Architects to work with...
Sometimes Vacant Land is Just Fine
I’ve been thinking a bit recently about the possibilities in vacant or underused property in the heart of the city. Kaid Benfield brought this...
The Smarter Cities Project Wants Your Input on Sustainability Criteria
As some of you may know, Smarter Cities is an initiative that ranks US cities on a number of key sustainability criteria as well...
The Obama Administration’s Remarkable Week on Sustainable Cities, Smart Growth &...
Wow. Last Monday, before heading out to toss the first pitch at Tuesday’s baseball All Star Game, the president kicked off a White House...
Extra! Major Funding Is Provided By…Congress?
The print media industry, we all know, has been in rapid decline over the past few years, but recently, we’ve truly begun to see...
A Third Strand of Sustainable Housing
There’s quite a jumble of tools out there for people who want to make their houses into models of energy efficiency. As far as...
Considering the Role of Density in Sustainable Development
Later this week, I am going to be participating with my friend David Dixon and marketing whiz Laurie Volk in a seminar on development...
When the Market Recovers, Smart Growth Will Claim a Larger Share
Even before the recession began, the market for residential and commercial property in the US was changing away from a model of unmitigated suburban...
Big City Papers: Do We Even Need Them?
There’s been a number of news items on Rooflines in recent months about how the recession has finally led to the demise of many...
Read All About It…While You Can
Another major daily faces major cutbacks. This time it’s the Atlanta Journal-Constitution cutting its full-time news staff by about 90 people, or roughly 30...