Home ›

The Planetizen News Brief - 6/11/09

11 June 2009 - 5:00am
Smart City Radio

The Planetizen News Brief is a weekly rundown of some of the most interesting and important news and issues of the past week.

The Planetizen News Brief airs every week on the nationally-syndicated radio program "Smart City", which is broadcast in cities across the U.S. Learn more about Smart City and listen to archived shows.

Full Transcript

When most people think about the causes of global warming, they think about cars. Smoky, polluting, gas-chugging cars. But while cars contribute to the problem, they’re hardly the main cause. As a recent piece from Good magazine points out, it’s actually our homes that should be taking the blame. The construction and operation of homes and buildings are responsible for almost half of America’s carbon footprint. Transportation, on the other hand, makes up a little more than a quarter. So why do cars get a bad rap? Well, the piece from Good argues that the problem seems smaller and easier to take on in the auto industry drawing room and on the factory floor, especially when measured against the plethora of energy demands concentrated in a single home. Though cars shouldn’t be let off the hook, homes probably should start to take on some of the blame – and some of the energy aimed at making improvements.

But if we’re really serious about solving the problem, we might as well seek solutions wherever we can. A developer in the San Francisco Bay Area is trying to reduce the impact of cars in a new housing development by virtually removing them. A proposed 1,000 unit development in the east bay area city of Hayward would have parking spaces for just 100 cars, according to a recent article from the San Francisco Chronicle. All residents would receive transit passes and have access to shuttle service between the development and the nearby rapid transit system. Anyone wishing to move into this new neighborhood with their car would be forced to pay extra. The project is still in the planning stages now and has not yet received any funding or commitments from lenders. But the city of Hayward has already approved a zoning amendment that cuts down the parking requirement for the proposed site, and more than 100 people are signed up to buy homes if the project is ever built.

And out in New Jersey, it seems that the age of sprawl is coming to a close. A report on 2008 development activity from the Morris County Planning Board saw no new residential subdivisions of 20 units or more. The Daily Record reports that Morris County had for decades been among the fastest growing counties in New Jersey, contributing the largest number of new housing developments over the last decade. But when a water protection act was passed in 2004, things started to slow down- and it seems they’ve finally stopped. Officials there say this is not the end of development, however, and they’re hopeful that their cities will be able to maintain healthy growth, but at a smaller scale, from now on.

Stories discussed in this week's Planetizen News Brief

»
Bookmark and Share
“
There are limits to the amount of pollution the environment can absorb without reducing ecosystem services and impairing both human health and the sustainability of our economy.
”