The Salem Harbor Power Station will close in June 2014. Initially, the field looked wide open for exciting new redevelopments, but now it appears that the site might see another power plant. Strike one for Realpolitik, zero for vision? Green Drinks invited Jan Schlichtmann, Lori Ehrlich, et al., to debate on June 26, 2012.
There are times, I think, when having a tumblr (vs a blog) would be cool – then it would be enough just to post, free-standing, the smack-down that Peter Busby (“one of Canada’s leaders in green architecture”) gives Bob Rennie (“the influential Vancouver condo marketer who is the last say for many developers on what […]
A while back, I read A. Alfred Taubman’s Threshold Resistance: The Extraordinary Career of a Luxury Retailing Pioneer. As I noted on my LinkedIn Reading List Update, An unusual book by an unusual individual: A. Alfred Taubman is a real estate developer (who has been accused of “malling” America); an art collector; former part-owner of […]
Vornado Realty Trust destroyed Boston’s key downtown area. Damage done (courtesy of Vornado), are innovative repair options even possible?
A blog post from the Lincoln Institute, The reinvented city about its recent conference, includes several terrific links. First off: Andres Duany is on a tear against NIMBYs, and suggests making decisions via “juries.” There’s lots to like in that proposal. From the links provided by the Lincoln Institute’s article, a couple of choice extracts […]
Streetfilms has produced a great ~4minute video, “Fixing the Great Mistake: Autocentric Development,” that makes the case for taking city streets back from the automobile. As it happens, I had the same idea in the early 1970s. It’s finally getting mainstream traction!
The tremendous natural beauty that surrounds us bestows a false sense of entitlement, although we’ve done nothing to earn natural beauty. Stewardship lets us earn it, but now Victoria must at last wake up to earning built beauty.
“Competing Values: Land Use and Public Consultation” (2/20 forum in conjunction with “Bamberton: Contested Landscape,” an exhibition at Open Space in Victoria BC) illustrates the need for design thinking to help bridge gaps between validity (outcomes favored by the community) and reliability (assurances required by developers and quantitatively-oriented planners and engineers).
It seems everyone is going green, or will be. Today I went to Victoria’s UDI (Urban Development Institute) luncheon to hear Terasen Energy Services‘ Gareth Jones present “All About Geo-Thermal: Learning from Local Projects.” Some basic take-away points: unless I severely misheard, British Columbia prices for energy (or electricity) will rise 80% in the next […]
Theme: Pool by Borja Fernandez.
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