Tag Archives: urban life

Quotes of the Day: On the Evils of Air Conditioning

Posted on July 8, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Cover, Henry Miller’s Air Conditioned Nightmare Air conditioning is not only an environmental problem, it is also a social problem. In the post Air Conditioning and Urbanism, I wrote: We should consider also the insidious effect of central air- how it enables the development of parts of the country previously uninhabitable and which would still be but for the constant cooling, and how it is destroying the street culture of areas already established. H… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Quotes of the Day: On the Evils of Air Conditioning

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Summer In The City: Urban Strategies for Keeping Cool

Posted on July 8, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Hot town, summer in the city Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty Been down, isn’t it a pity Doesn’t seem to be a shadow in the city All around, people looking half dead Walking on the sidewalk, hotter than a match head Really, when you look at most of the lists of ways to keep cool, you would think that everyone in America lived in a detached house in the ‘burbs. But lots of people live in cities and apartments where suggestions like “don’t use the dryer” or “plant a tree” are not relevant. How do you keep cool in the city?… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Summer In The City: Urban Strategies for Keeping Cool

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In Seattle, Green Space Isn’t Always Enough

Posted on July 2, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Image credit: Good.is “The problem,” Theo Schell-Lambert writes in Good , “really comes down to color.” Sure, city parks are great, urban trees amazing, but all too often, these green spaces lack pathways for pollinators. And, he says, forgetting to consider the birds, bees, and butterflies, is a huge mistake…. Read the full story on TreeHugger

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In Seattle, Green Space Isn’t Always Enough

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June Eco-Tidbits from Turkey

Posted on June 30, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

The area in front of Istanbul’s famous Hagia Sophia (L) will be pedestrianized, while pearl mullet (R) are still being caught illegally in Van. Photos by Михал Орела (left) and the Hürriyet Daily News (right). People passing down Istanbul’s busy İstiklal Caddesi this month had the chance to get a powerful glimpse at the impacts of

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June Eco-Tidbits from Turkey

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AIA/HUD Awards Show that Good Design Isn’t Just for Rich People

Posted on June 18, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Photo credits: Jeffrey Peters/Anne Hamersky So many of the prizes for architecture go to gems that cost serious money to build, for people that have serious money to pay for it. The AIA/HUD awards are different; they recognize “excellence in affordable housing architecture, neighborhood design, participatory design, and accessibility.” The Paseo Center at Coyote Creek won for Excellence in Affordable Housing Design. … Read the full story on TreeHugger

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AIA/HUD Awards Show that Good Design Isn’t Just for Rich People

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Officer Punches Teenager in Face Over Jaywalking

Posted on June 16, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

According to the SeattlePI, there is a pedestrian overpass over Seattle’s Martin Luther King Way. Looking at Google Street View , it looks like one of the usual ones put up to make pedestrians climb two flights of stairs so that cars don’t have to slow down. Nobody uses these things. … Read the full story on TreeHugger

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6 Ways to Boost Your City’s Bike Mojo

Posted on June 14, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Minneapolis new “Nice Ride” bike share add (slightly geeky) mojo and beats out Portland’s lack of imminent bike sharing plans. Photo via Nice Ride. When Portland lost its first-place, “friendly bike city” status to suddenly hip Minneapolis , Portland bike-friendly Mayor Sam Adams called it a, “clarion call.” Luckily, Portland had just passed a contentious but far-reaching new Bike Plan 2030 , with a few ways to possibly… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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6 Ways to Boost Your City’s Bike Mojo

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A Cyclist and Architect Designs His Own House

Posted on June 8, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Before and after the Becel Ride For the Heart , I was invited to the new home of an avid cyclist/architect and a baker in what might be called a transitional part of Toronto. From the outside one sees little more than a brick box inside a high fence; from the inside it is a very different story…. Read the full story on TreeHugger

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A Cyclist and Architect Designs His Own House

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New Uses For Old Malls: Urban Farms

Posted on June 7, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Ever since Architect Eb Zeidler riffed on the Galleria in Milan for his Eaton Centre in Toronto in the ’70s, a lot of malls have been covered with glorious glass roofs. Many downtown malls were built as urban renewal and revitalization projects, but few of them thrived; after killing off the main street retail around them, they most have died on their own. But they still have those glorious glass roofs. PSFK points us to Cleveland, where … Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Dense, Walkable Urban Cities Create YIMBY Neighbors

Posted on May 29, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Not quite dead, but oversupplied. Photo via thegiantvermin @ flickr. Looking at the massive build up of low-density, car-dependent housing over the last 50 years, real estate developer Christopher Leinberger says in his book The Option of Urbanism that developers simply supplied too much of the wrong product in the wrong location. Yup, But, good news. Density in walkable urban areas tends to create YIMBY’s neighbors (Yes, In My Back Yard) because quality of life and property values get … Read the full story on TreeHugger

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