Thinking of shopping for an energy-efficient, environmentally-friendly home, or having one designed and built for you? Or perhaps you want to remodel your home into a “greener” one. If you’re like me, a newbie to the green building movement, you may find these sites useful resources.
Technorati Tags: Green Building, Reference, Useful Links
If ever there was a city in need of some inspired, creative urban planning, New Orleans is it. Rebuilding New Orleans will be a Herculean undertaking, but there is at least one plan that has long been afoot that may now be possible due to the forthcoming billions of dollars in federal aid. Some government officials, local leaders, and real estate developers see the recent devastation as an opportunity to rebuild New Orleans into a better city than it was — an “Afro-Caribbean Paris” — and to address its long-standing problems of concentrated poverty and high crime rates. Read more about “Operation Rebirth” at the WSJ Real Estate Journal.
Unfortunately, the article makes no mention of Coast 2050, a strategic plan to restore the coastal wetlands and protect the Louisiana coast against future storm surges. I have heard several knowledgeable pundits over the last few weeks say the same thing: if you don’t rebuild the wetlands, there’s no sense in rebuilding the levees.
Technorati Tags: Katrina, Urban Planning
If you’re looking to buy a vacation home, or simply want to leave the rat race of the city altogether, you may want to explore Seabrook, a “compact, cottage-style village” along the Washington coast, 18 miles north of Ocean Shores. Seabrook developer Casey Roloff’s vision of this community is based on the concepts of the urban planning movement, New Urbanism. New Urbanism’s principles include the creation and promotion of compact, aesthetically-pleasing, mixed use communities with walkable distances to shops, workplaces, schools and parks. Click here for more information about Seabrook from the Seattle Times.
For more about New Urbanism, visit the City Comforts Blog.
Technorati Tags: Urban Planning
Metroblogging Seattle points to this article in the Seattle Times. Seems that King County Metro is considering expanding foot ferry service around Elliot Bay, Vashon Island, Lake Union and Lake Washington.
Personally, I love this idea. There’s something very vibrant about cities that use the waterways to transport pedestrian traffic. I know it’s not very practical, but I’ve been wishing that there could be some small boats to hop along points in Alki, like the ones that serve Granville Island in Vancouver.
Aside from that, expanding ferry service across Elliot Bay and around the lakes could do much to reduce traffic congestion and stimulate restaurant business and shopping. Not to mention improving sales of Dramamine.
Technorati Tags: Transportation, Urban Planning
Vancouver city planners hired by the Seattle City Council to review Mayor Nickels’ proposed zoning changes released a report yesterday with their recommendations for how Seattle can ensure healthy urban growth of the downtown area. The recommendations included “developing design guidelines to make downtown housing more family-friendly and crafting plans to ensure that local shopping, services and green open space are within a five-minute walk of housing.” Questions arose regarding potential fees developers would pay to help fund the amenities in a more family-friendly downtown. Although still in it’s beginning stages, the Vancouver consultants and City Council support the crux of the Mayor’s zoning plan.
Here’s the P-I’s coverage of the report, and a link to the planners’ report (580K PDF).
ACTION ALERT: Note that there is a public forum with city officials and the Vancouver planners next Monday, August 18, from 5:30 - 7:30pm at City Hall (600 Fourth Avenue).
We’d love to hear how you’d like downtown to develop. Please post your comments or email us.
Technorati Tags: Downtown Seattle, Seattle, Urban Planning
South Lake Union is not the only area undergoing major transformation. The North Bay area (near Interbay, north of the Magnolia Bridge) is the subject of some intense planning by the Port of Seattle. On June 28th, three of the Port’s commissioners voted to allow non-maritime industries to use the land. Two other commissioners voted against allowing non-maritime industry use.
As with any redevelopment project, opinions differ over what would be the ”highest and best use of the land.” (In real estate parlance, that translates roughly into the question of which industries or interests will most profitably use the land.) This Seattle Times article details some of the basic issues.
We’d love to hear what you think should be done with the North Bay area.
