The Ecological Cities Project is affiliated with the Department of Geosciences at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. It was founded in 1999 by Dr. Rutherford H. Platt, a familiar figure in the Valley. The project website currently features “The Humane Metropolis”, an article by Neal Peirce. Peirce champions the cause of greenspace in urban environments: […]
Month: December 2007
AP: “New-Home Sales Plunge to Lowest Level in More Than 12 Years”
AP reports today: …new-home sales tumbled by 9 percent in November from October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 647,000. That was the worst showing since April 1995, when the pace of sales was 621,000.The sales pace for November was much weaker than economists were expecting…New-home sales dropped by 19.3 percent in the Northeast…Over […]
AP: “October Home Prices Post Record Decline”
AP reports today: U.S. home prices fell in October for the 10th consecutive month, posting their biggest monthly decline since early 1991, according to the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index.The record 6.7 percent drop marked the 23rd consecutive month of price deceleration.“No matter how you look at these data, it is obvious that the […]
Financial Incentives Distort Smart Growth Debates
Smart Growth advocates tell the public that their policies will reduce driving, lower infrastructure costs, protect the environment, and cure social isolation in the suburbs. The actual results have been less than satisfactory, yet Smart Growth continues, in part because city officials and private actors have found it’s a way to access state and federal funds. Randal […]
Smart Growth and Crime
Smart Growth advocates claim that dense urban living and mixed-use neighborhoods will solve many social problems. Unfortunately, the evidence is that these principles can increase crime. Stephen Town and Randal O’Toole analyze the data for Reason magazine in “Crime-Friendly Neighborhoods” (February 2005): [Jane] Jacobs [who promoted the advantages of mixed-use neighborhoods in big cities] never […]
Smart Growth Hazard: A Confining Sameness
As James C. Scott observes in Seeing Like a State, urban planning is extremely complex. People and cities are dynamic. There is a strong temptation for planners to simplify their task through “uniformity and regimentation”. Robert Lang, writing for Planetizen, discusses this in the context of “monster homes”: Most smart growth advocates claim that newly constructed […]
Easthampton Flooding Hazard: Snow-Clogged Storm Drains
Maintaining man-made stormwater systems can be a lot of work, today’s Gazette reports: With the National Weather Service predicting a 70 percent chance of precipitation for Sunday, snowed-in catch basins around the city are likely to pose a flooding hazard [according to Easthampton Superintendent of Public Works Joseph I. Pipczynski]…“If the water has nowhere to go, […]
“Sprawl and Congestion—is Light Rail and Transit-Oriented Development the Answer?”
Trains and buses are mainstays of Smart Growth planning, but they have not proven to be cost-effective in many locales. Other alternatives deserve more attention. Emory Bundy makes his case in remarks prepared for a conference entitled, “Sprawl and Congestion—is Light Rail and Transit-Oriented Development the Answer?” (6/17/99). To make clear my values and orientation, […]
Smart Growth Winners (Rich People) and Losers (Other People)
The Sustainable Northampton Plan presents Smart Growth (compact, transit-oriented development) as if it’s good for everyone. The problem is, different environments suit different living situations. In addition, mass transit has a troubled record outside of a handful of large, older dense cities. Let’s hear from the blog Asymmetrical Information (9/27/04): Smart growth is great if you are an upscale […]
Planning Board Adopts Sustainable Northampton Plan
Today’s Gazette reports that Northampton’s Planning Board approved the Sustainable Northampton Plan (PDF) last night. The Cecil Group, a consultant engaged to work on the Plan, provided this memo (PDF) to highlight the latest changes since last month. These changes include: The Sustainable Northampton Plan will be reviewed on an annual basis utilizing a methodology […]