News (late) for Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Sustainable tourism: an oxymoronic delusion?
In echoing the sentiment shared by many environmentalists who, according to an Australian testament, “want a stronger native tourism industry and more people enjoying our parks”, a travel writer made the following case:
The travel industry cannot prosper in a degraded world if we destroy the natural beauty and ambience people came to enjoy. Both need each other to survive … A sensitive and well-managed tourism industry brings benefits for the visitor, the host country and can help preserve the national environment.
But this argument prompts several questions. Questions like, why “must” there be a stronger nature tourism industry, with “more people enjoying our parks”? Why does nature “need” the travel industry to survive? How does a “sensitive and well-managed tourism industry help preserve the national environment”? In fact, why does healthy biodiversity require people at all? If we were to go extinct, would not biodiversity be on the road to recovery? I know that I need to enjoy nature. But I don’t why nature needs me to enjoy it…..
…..In their paper Beautiful City: Leisure Amenities and Urban Growth, Albert Saiz, professor of real estate at Wharton College (University of Pennsylvania), and Gerald Carlino, a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, correlated leisure visits with population growth. According to the Saiz-Carlino formula, cities that offer substantial leisure amenities grow an average 2 per cent more than they would have grown had they had fewer amenities. This seemingly trivial increment has an exponential impact. A town that grows 2 per cent per year will double its population in 35 years. But if Saiz and Carlino are right, such a town will double its population in just 17.67 years if it is a popular tourist destination.
My blog about Ancestral (Genealogy) tourism and Windsor
Amazing Skyscraper Farm for Vancouver
On the Arts and Developing Communities
As part of my independent study on public policy and the arts, I’ve been reviewing a significant amount of literature on the potential of artists and arts organizations to serve a revitalization role in so-called “transitional” neighborhoods and communities. While many studies show a clear relationship between the presence and density of nonprofit arts organizations and various indicators such as property values, population growth, and poverty decline, the directionality of the causal link has not yet been firmly established. Furthermore, even if it can be determined that the arts have this impact on communities, the abovementioned positive results tend to be confounded by troubling side effects of neighborhood growth, including increased income inequality, racial and ethnic tensions, and in some cases physical displacement. The extent to which these negative impacts can be mitigated remains an open question for those working in creative community development.
COMMENTARY For every region, regional development
Michael Ignatieff, in a recent interview, declared that “no project would do more to stimulate regional economic development” than a high-speed rail corridor between Quebec City and Windsor. But that is not all. The federal government also recently decided to establish a regional economic development agency for Southern Ontario. The result is that every postal code in Canada now has access to a federal regional economic development agency.
Detroit, Land of Opportunity, The New New World
Corine Vermuelen-Smith is a photographer who makes me want to move to Detroit:
Her photographs show a city that’s reverting back into a frontier: a wide-open landscape of open prairies and land that’s free for the taking.
Dating back to 1909, The Plan of Chicago is considered one of the fundamental documents in the history of urban planning, presenting a thoughtful design for a city that incorporated many of the very principles - livability, sustainability and functionality - that we strive for as we rethink our relationship to our metropolitan centers. In honor of its centennial, The Art Institute of Chicagohas created an online exhibition titled Without Bounds or Limits that showcases the insights behind this radical vision through a comprehensive collection of archival images and documents that are especially relevant today.
Few places have received more accolades in recent years than Austin, the city that ranked first on our list of the best big cities for jobs. Understanding what makes this attractive, fast-growing city tick can tell us much about what urban growth will look like in the coming decades.
Urban gardening’s great. The 0.03 Mile Diet is the ultimate in eating locally and seasonally. It can provide valuable perspective for how much water, fertile land, and labor go into growing our food — after taking up gardening, I can’t toss wilted veggies without serious guilt pangs. The popularity of pea patching is growing rapidly: the number of American households tending their own produce increased nearly 20 percent over the past year.
Today we’re going to go just a bit off-topic and look at a post from Streetsblog Networkmember Aaron Renn on his blog The Urbanophile about “The New Grass Roots.” It examines in depth a few things that are near and dear to our hearts here at Streetsblog and the The Open Planning Project, including the ability of the Internet to transform the public policy debate:
DETROIT—As community leaders and members of the press looked on, Detroit mayor David Bing proudly hurled the first brick this week in a window-shattering ceremony for the city’s newest dilapidated slum.
The result of three years of construction work and more than $24,000 in public funds, the rat-infested and crime-ridden development was unveiled to the public on Tuesday.
Provinces Must Curb Retail Sprawl
There is a near-consensus on the deficiencies of big box retail, but municipalities don’t have the will to turn them down. Provinces must step in with development guidelines, writes Christopher Hume.
“Though the province [or Ontario] has made it clear it wants to control development (sprawl) in southern Ontario, it has yet to address the issue of retail. Despite the Places to Grow plan and Greenbelt legislation, the local landscape is cluttered with power centres, big-box malls and other shopping arrangements that go by various names.
Brainstorm: What Should Cities Do With Their Newly Empty Car Lots?
Caracas, The City that Built Itself
Shared streets, the contemporary vernacular used to describe streets that have been intentionally redesigned to remove exclusive boundaries for pedestrians, bicyclists, cars, etc., work well within a special set of conditions. It is, in reality, just a new way of describing the original use of streets (see this previous post for more on that). The most promising candidates for shared streets are those where traffic volumes are not too heavy, the route is not a critical corridor for vehicular through-traffic, activities and attractions along the street are plentiful, short distance connectivity is viable, and a critical mass of pedestrians (perhaps enough to pack sidewalks at certain times) exists. A shared street may also be suitable in places where there is a desire to induce such conditions; however, care must be taken to understand the larger network effects of shifting or slowing down vehicular traffic. But in some instances, seemingly unrelated changes to traffic patterns or the effects of a coincidental collection of the above conditions sometimes go unnoticed until a street that may have been all about cars gradually shifts into something I refer to as a “de facto shared street”.
SUBURBS AND CITIES: THE UNEXPECTED TRUTH
Much has been written about how suburbs have taken people away from the city and that now suburbanites need to return back to where they came. But in reality most suburbs of large cities have grown not from the migration of local city-dwellers but from migration from small towns and the countryside.
It is true that suburban areas have been growing strongly, while core cities have tended to grow much more slowly or even to decline. The predominance of suburban growth is not just an American phenomenon, but is fairly universal in the high
Green Cities Report
This report, “Green Cities,” is our effort to showcase and support the innovative ways in which cities are creating an equitable green economy. The report is based on conversations with the brightest thinkers in the field, and the findings from our survey of 40 of the country’s largest cities. “Green Cities” takes a step back to see what cities have accomplished, while also identifying areas in which their efforts have fallen short.
Green Cities Report (PDF)
THE LUXURY CITY VS. THE MIDDLE CLASS
In a city that has been losing middle-class families for generations, the resurgence of places like Ditmas Park represents a welcome change. In recent years, child-friendly restaurants and shops have started up along once-decayed Cortelyou Road. More important, some local elementary schools have shown marked improvement, with an increase in parental involvement and new facilities.
Even in hard economic times, the area has become a beacon to New York families, as well as singles seeking a community where they will put down long-term roots. “There’s an attempt in this neighborhood to break down the city feel and to see this more as a kind of a small town,” notes Ellen. “It may be in the city, but it’s a community unto itself, a place where you can stay and raise your children.”
The Decline of the Urban Middle Class
…..The rise of neighborhoods like Ditmas Park suggests that cities can still nurture and accommodate a middle class. Yet sadly this trend continues to fight an uphill battle against a host of forces from high taxes and regulation to poor schools, highly bifurcated labor markets, and the scourge of crime.
These problems can be seen in the migration numbers. A demographic analysis conducted by my colleagues at the Praxis Strategy Group over the past decade found that New York and other top cities — including Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Boston — have been suffering the largest net out-migration of residents of virtually all places in the country, albeit the pattern has slowed with the recession…..
The economic shock of the past year has dramatized the changing nature of Canada’s economy and the challenges that lie ahead. The industries and resources that have powered Canada’s growth since World War II are in flux and the contours of the next economy are still taking shape.
Most observers agree that the way forward for Canada lies in achieving a more effective innovation economy, but there is considerably less understanding of the role that cities play in an innovation economy. The reality is that cities are ever more important as sites of production, distribution and innovation around the globe.
Despite Canada’s vast geographic space, we live in an increasingly urban society. Our cities are not only the primary sites for economic activity, but constitute the leading location for new innovations that will create the new products and new industries to drive our economy in the future. The density and concentration of economic actors in cities offers multiple opportunities for interaction and the exchange of knowledge that are the touchstones of an innovation economy…
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CITY’S BUSINESSES OUTLINED IN NEW GUIDE
Windsor Star: http://tiny.cc/JIKTp
An idea born in Vancouver will make its Windsor debut May 27 with the introduction of the Modern Urban Guide, listing more than 40 of Windsor’s independent businesses.
The “colourful, funky guide will help celebrate independent businesses that are often overlooked by residents and visitors alike,” said Louise Jones, who is publishing the local guide.
“Many times, people are more than willing to support local businesses but aren’t fully aware of what exists and where it’s located,” said Jones. “I hope this guide helps solve that problem.”
All businesses will also be listed on the company’s website at http://www.modernurbanguides.com.
Listings in the guide and on the website cost $500 and Jones plans future editions if the idea takes off.
For more information, contact Jones at 519-252-6448 or by e-mail at [email protected].
Orange is the new green..in London, Ontario
Thu, May 21, 2009
http://tiny.cc/h4RGc
Go Green Go Dutch Go Ride pays homage to the environment and raises money to buy bikes for charity
If you’re keen on going green, you’ll want to wear orange in London on May 31.
The Dutch consulate in London is sponsoring a family cycling tour along London pathways as a way to pay homage to the environment and raise money to buy bikes for charity.
Richard Ter Vrugt, the Dutch consul in London, said the bike ride idea began in Toronto in 2007 and has since expanded across the country.
This is the first time London has taken part in the event, the Go Green Go Dutch Go Bike.
It’s a recreational tour, not a race, along paved bike paths.
WHY CAN”T OUR PROVINCIAL AND MUNICIPAL REP’S GET THIS!!!!
Though there are few arguments left to those who would defend the power centre, municipalities won’t stop them. Councillors are too weak to stand up to the development industry, which puts the mall squarely in the province’s court.
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And Coombes also notes, “The trend toward power centres runs counter to the trend toward communities with greater density and mixed-use development.”
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No kidding. In fact, it runs counter to everything except more of the same sprawl that any honest and informed resident knows will help destroy the planet.
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But as Coombes warns, “Unless the province is there to level the playing field, nothing will happen.”
…sort of makes you wonder exactly how many reports - how much proof - is necessary to change a politically-entrenched mind, doesn’t it?
How much pull do developers have with our elected officials? This is a question that has been asked many times, but with the lax reporting requirements of campaign contributions we will probably never know.
Who are these elected officials really working for, when you see a blatant quality-of-life-busting development like CocoBox being approved on some of the most sigificant and rare tall grass prairie out in Ojibway?