Urban Residents Are Accidental Environmentalists

6 October 2009 - 8:00am

Margaret Wente is surprised to learn from reading David Owen's Green Metropolis that her new city lifestyle is super-green, thanks to the advantages of density.

"Not to brag about it, but my husband and I have adopted a radical new green lifestyle. We've shrunk our living space, cut our energy bills in half and dramatically reduced our carbon footprint. These days, we walk everywhere. We shop at the (organic) grocery store and bring our food back in a bundle buggy. To get to work, I have a transit pass. I rarely drive our car at all any more.

Have I had a conversion experience? Not exactly. All we did was swap our house and spacious yard for a high-rise condo in midtown Toronto."

Source: The Globe and Mail, October 3, 2009
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Now, more than ever, Americans are clamoring to get out of their cars and have more transportation options than the car-centric approach first envisioned and deployed in the 1950s is providing.