Village Green: the Design & Context of Public Transportation

by Kaid at NRDC

In almost all American communities, if public transit exists in any meaningful way, it competes for patronage, primarily though not exclusively with driving.  While some advocates seem to believe that the best way to attract more riders to transit is to make driving increasingly as unappealing as possible through fees, removal of or restrictions on parking, "road diets" and the like, I’m not fully in that camp.  There is an appropriate context for each of the things I just mentioned, but for the most part I want to make transit better so that customers choose it not just out of necessity but because it is easily accessible, comfortable, and efficient.

continued at Daily Kos....

Rediscovering Simplicity: The Cyclists of Italy (a photo diary)

by citisven

Whenever I travel to different countries and cities, one of the things I'm interested in is how locals move around in their daily lives. Call me a transportation glutton, but I'm a sucker for trains, boats, rickshaws, trams, buses, gondolas, back alleys, and sidewalks.

Then, of course, there's the most sublime transit invention of them all: the bicycle. It's so simple — even a non-techie like myself understands how it works — and yet so deliciously useful, relieving traffic, getting you anywhere quickly, reducing CO2, keeping you in shape, letting you see a place and interact with its people.    

One thing I noticed on my trip to Italy a few months ago was how much bikes were part of everyday life. With David Byrne's Bicycle Diaries as my companion I strolled through the streets of cities and towns, trying to capture the mundane beauty of cycling.

continued at Daily Kos....

Cinque Terre: an enchanted photo journey

by citisven

This April, after Eyjafjallajökull had thwarted a planned visit of an old friend in Spain and stranded us in my native Germany, my partner Deb and I spontaneously decided to take my dad's car to explore relatively nearby Italy instead. Our first stop on our impromptu tour was Cinque Terre, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and National Park consisting of five villages located along beautifully terraced hillsides on the Ligurian coast.

While it was bound to be a marvelous vacation, I did not expect to be stepping into a model study for ecocities and villages, which, for those of you who know me, inevitably put me in trigger-happy and note-taking research mode...

continued at Daily Kos...

What on Earth is an Ecocity?

by citisven

Some of you may be familiar with my diaries about ecocities. From Venice and Istanbul to West Oakland, I've written about urban areas within an ecocity context, and I'm about to launch another series about places I've visited or studied recently.

While it's fun to showcase elements of cities considered to be in balance with the web of life, it's equally important that there be a metric with which to measure a city's "econess." Not only to avoid greenwashing, but to make sure that well-intentioned city planners', architects' and residents' efforts are channeled toward the greatest possible ecological good.

Enter International Ecocity Standards. Please follow me below the fold for an overview of this new and exciting project that I think will revolutionize city design the way the LEED® rating system revolutionized building design.      

continued at Daily Kos...

Bikes in Istanbul?

by citisven

A while ago I wrote about a bicycle tour I took as part of the Ecocity World Summit last December in Istanbul. It was organized by Bisikletliler, the Istanbul and Turkish Cyclist Association, and afterward I got to speak to their founder and captain, Murat Suyabatmaz, about the challenges and opportunities of bringing bicycle infrastructure and culture to a rapidly growing megalopolis of currently 15 million.

Parts of the interview are integrated in a piece entitled Istanbul and Bicycling, Like Dark Bread It's Good For Everyone I just posted yesterday on sfgate.com, but I thought our talk was inspiring and educating enough to post it here in its entirety.

continued at Daily Kos...

EcoAdvocates: Wind Farms, Cities, & Urgent Action on Conflict Minerals and Burning Sea Turtles

by citisven

While no one technology or source of energy can or should claim to be the exclusive savior in our quest to find alternatives to fossil fuels, offshore wind power has moved beyond symbolic feelgood status and become one of the most promising contenders to be an economically viable source of energy.

Aside from the obvious environmental benefit that a malfunctioning turbine or platform doesn't annihilate entire ecosystems, windmill technology has come a long way since its early days. You know it's not just pretty talk when energy companies are investing billions in offshore wind parks. That's exactly what's happening in the North Sea, where major international power companies are currently staking out the future of Europe's energy supply off the coasts of Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland and Britain.  

continued at Daily Kos....