Terrain.org: The Breath of Trees Is Good for You

The breeze from trees might be more than just sweet-smelling, writes Terrain’s Joan Maloof in, “Old Growth Air”: …I am breathing deeply of a forest gift that I had forgotten: the air! Americans have largely ignored this dimension of the forest’s allure, but the Japanese recognize it and have a name for it: shinrin-yoku, wood-air bathing. […]

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Terrain.org: “Cultivating Natural and Cultural Landscapes through Conservation Subdivision Design”

Terrain.org is an online journal devoted to smart growth that’s integrated with the natural environment. It won a 1999 Media Award for Sustainable Development, and has an entire category devoted to UnSprawl. Randall Arendt’s article, “Cultivating Natural and Cultural Landscapes through Conservation Subdivision Design”, is a good example of increasing sensitivity among Smart Growth advocates for […]

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Northampton Planning Board to Meet on Implementing Sustainable Northampton Plan

Northampton’s Planning Board will meet on Thursday, February 7 and Thursday, March 6 to discuss and plan for the implementation of the Sustainable Northampton Comprehensive Plan. These meetings begin at 6pm and may last for two hours each. We urge concerned citizens to attend at City Hall, 210 Main Street, 2nd Floor, Room 10 (enter via the rear […]

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MA Secy of Energy and Environmental Affairs: Urban Parks Deserve Protection as do Habitat Reserves and Working Landscapes

In a January 16 guest column for South Coast Today, Ian Bowles, secretary of energy and environmental affairs for Massachusetts, argues that Smart Growth needs to provide for urban parks as well as habitat reserves and working landscapes (agricultural and forest lands). It’s not sufficient to presume that compact growth and the preservation of open […]

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