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riding bmx is a lot harder than it looks. Gripping the handlebars of my borrowed bike, I roll cautiously around the banked turn, crest a small rise, and plummet down again—only to find myself stuck in the trough on the other side. Swearing under my breath, I look up to see 45-year-old Rick Wood swoop past me. “Pedal once right before you hit the bottom!” he calls encourag- ingly. “It’ll get you over the hump!”


Wood, The Trust for Public Land’s Tennessee state direc- tor, is taking me on a two-wheeled tour of Stringer’s Ridge. The leafy hills of the hundred-acre park contain some of the best mountain biking within riding distance of down- town Chattanooga. Six years ago, The Trust for Public


CLIMATE CHANGE’S URBAN FRONTIER With their glowing lights, gridlocked traffic, and crowded streets, you might think that cities are the worst offenders when it comes to climate change. But that’s not the case. As The Trust for Public Land’s Jad Daley points out, stud- ies show that the suburbs produce more greenhouse gasses per capita. For example: the average resident of New York City ac- counts for nearly 13,500 fewer pounds of carbon emissions than someone living in the suburbs. Why? Because people in cities can walk or take public transportation more often, and the smaller footprint of their more densely built hous- ing is typically more energy-efficient than, say, sprawling single-family homes in Westchester.


SURVIVE


Land helped protect this land from a proposed condo development. Today, it’s the site of the city’s first green infrastructure project: the pump track we’re riding on. The word “infrastructure” conjures up a picture of pave-


ment and pipelines. But done right, infrastructure can also look like fun. The pump track—an all-ages bike skills area named for the pumping action of riders’ arms as they negotiate the hills and dips—has been specially designed to help manage stormwater runoff, reduce flooding, and recharge the city’s water supply. This kind of versatility is more important than ever. As cities begin to feel the effects of climate change, plan- ners are asking their parks to work a little harder—to help safeguard residents from storms and heat waves as well as providing a place to play. It may sound like a lot to ask of a neighborhood bike park. But with careful planning, it’s possible—no BMX skills required.


32 · LAND&PEOPLE · SPRING/SUMMER 2015 From the standpoint of a climate scientist, this means


the planet benefits when people move to the city, because they end up producing less carbon. “Making cities more attractive places to live is a climate strategy,” says Daley. But while city-dwellers play an important role in com- batting climate change, they are also uniquely vulnerable to its effects. Paved-over landscapes can produce a “heat- island” effect in warm weather and exacerbate flooding in storms—as evidenced by the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy. With climate scientists predicting an increase in the


frequency of such extreme weather events, planners must decide how best to prepare communities for the challenges to come. That’s where The Trust for Public Land’s Climate-Smart Cities™ program comes in. Led by Daley, it applies the organization’s expertise in conservation plan- ning and urban park creation to four strategies for climate- resilient cities.


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