NRDC Blog

Kaid Benfield bravely tackles the topic of gentrification, suggesting that while all attempts should be made to avoid displacing current residents, revitalizing neighborhoods is still a good thing.

Kaid Benfield argues that if people are going to embrace mixed-use, denser living styles, architects and designers need to "embrace the familiar."

A 2001 study showed that we can save more oil by building more fuel-efficient cars than by expanding drilling under U.S. soil or in our oceans. Deron Lovaas sees black gold in our cities and suburbs.

Kaid Benfield says that the current trend towards "intelligent cities" is driven by large corporations, and "futuristic technology won’t fix many of our basic urban problems."

King Farm, a 440-acre development in the D.C. suburbs, was designed to be the perfect transit-oriented development, with a light rail to be built later. Now, residents have decided they don't want the transit to ever be built.

With a new plan called "Connecting El Paso", the Texas city is on track for a transit-oriented future. Kaid Benfield says the plan is "nothing less than a comprehensive guide to smart growth design and implementation."

NRDC land use expert Amanda Eaken blogs about the approval by the Air Resources Board of the regional targets required by SB 375 to reduce global warming caused by transportation. An overlooked result may be the new powers resting with MPOs.

Kaid Benfield presents the evidence that compact development can bring about a decrease in noxious emissions.

Peter Harnik, director of the Center for City Park Excellence at the Trust for Public Land, believes that formulas for how much parkland cities and neighborhoods cause more harm than good.

LEED for Neighborhood Development, seen by many as a corrective to the green building rating system emphasizing sustainability at the neighborhood scale, is now official. Kaid Benfield was part of its creation, and has this report.

Kaid Benfield of the NRDC reviews The Smart Growth Manual by Andres Duany, Jeff Speck and Mike Lydon. Benfield gives it high marks for style and substance, and for the way it incorporates environmental issues.

Kaid Benfield reads ULI's latest 'Emerging Trends' report, and finds, amidst the doom and gloom, significant support for infill and smart growth.

New maps created by the Center for Neighborhood Technology show that while emissions are greater per acre in cities, they are greater per household in suburbs.