SUSTAINABLE CITYSCAPES


Urban America is Going Green in a Big Way


by Christine MacDonald T


oday, buzzwords like “sustainability” and “green building” dominate discussions


on how to overcome the unhealthful effects of climate change, extreme local weather events and pervasive pollution. Now, a growing body of research indicates an unexpected upside of living greener; it not only makes us healthier, but happier, too. It’s all helping to spread the “green neighborhood” idea across the U.S., from pioneering metropolises like New York, San Francisco and Portland, Or- egon, to urban centers like Cincinnati, Detroit and Oakland, California.


Rethinking Redevelopment A sustainable, or “eco”-city, generally runs on clean and renewable energy, reducing pollution and other eco- logical footprints, rather than on fossil fuels. Along with building entire eco-


cities, developers also are striving to replace hard-luck industrial pasts and turn problems such as depopulated urban cores into opportunities for fresh approaches. “We are having a major rethink about urban development,” says Rob Bennett, founding CEO of EcoDistricts (EcoDistricts.org), a Portland-based nonprofi t skilled in developing proto- cols for establishing modern and sus- tainable city neighborhoods. The group has recently extended help to seven other cities, including Boston, Denver and Los Angeles, applying innova- tions to everything from streetscapes to stormwater infrastructure. “The failures of the old, decay- ing urban and suburban models are evident,” says Bennett. “We’re now learning how to do it well and create environmentally-sustainable, people- centered districts.”


22 Central Florida natural awakenings


Friendly Neighborhoods Walkability is “in” these days, along with bike paths, locavore shopping and dining and expansion of public destina- tions, all of which draw residents out to meet their neighbors. This “new urban- ism” is evident in places like Albuquer- que’s emerging Mesa del Sol commu- nity and Florida’s proposed Babcock Ranch solar-powered city. While public and private sectors


are involved, residents are the catalysts for much of the current metamorpho- ses. Whether it’s a guerrilla gardener movement—volunteers turning vacant lots and other eyesores into fl owering oases—creative bartering services or nanny shares, people-helping-people approaches are gaining momentum. The Public School, an adult


education exchange that began in Los Angeles in 2007 and has since spread to a dozen cities worldwide, the Seattle Free School, the Free University of New


Healthy Housing The concept of home is undergoing a radical makeover. From villages of “smallest houses” (usually no bigger than 350 square feet), to low-income urban housing complexes, people interested in smaller, more self-suffi - cient homes represent a fast-growing, increasingly infl uential segment of to- day’s housing market, according to ex- perts such as Sarah Susanka, author of The Not So Big House. Google reports that Internet searches for information on “tiny houses” has spiked recently. Economic freedom is one factor mo- tivating many to radically downsize, according to Bloomberg News (Tinyurl. com/TinyHouseDemand). Cities nationwide have overhauled their building codes. Cincinnati, for example, has moved to the forefront of the eco-redevelopment trend with its emphasis on revamping instead of demolishing existing buildings. Private sector leaders are on board as well; a transition to buildings as sustain- able ecosystems keeps gaining ground through certifi cation programs such as Leadership in Energy and Environ- mental Design (LEED), and the “living building” movement begun by Seattle’s Cascadia Green Building Council has gone international.


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