Tara Lohan reviews David Owen's new book, Green Metropolis, which extols the ecological virtues of Manhattan. In her opinion, Owen doesn't ask the right questions and ignores some inconvenient facts.
Lohan points out that among the problems in Owen's book is that he ignores the immense garbage produced by New Yorkers, as well as any water consumption and contamination issues. .
"While New Yorkers get Owen's applause for taking public transit, that doesn't apply to the folks riding trains like Metro North or the Long Island Railroad, which connect the city to the suburbs. This, Owen says, helps enable more sprawl. But surely we couldn't take the several million Long Islanders and cram them into Manhattan could we? At what point does the city reach its carrying capacity? Owen doesn't say. Throughout the book, Owen seems so intensely sold on New York's greenness because it is almost accidental -- no one has to try too hard, it just works out that way because people have to live so close together. That's great and all, but shouldn't we be trying to set the bar a little higher?"
Read the full story: What's the Big Hubbub Over a New Book Arguing NYC Is America's Greenest City?
How Chicago, New York and Seattle are funding transit projects amid tough times
Notes from the American Public Transportation Association's TransForm conference in Chicago.
NYC to erect ‘temporary highway’ while rebuilding crumbling BQE
The city estimates it will spend $4 billion on the renovated expressway, which will reopen by 2040.
They Had No Heat for Months. A New Law Let Them Sue.
In New York state, tenants can now take landlords to court directly to force repairs and get damages, without withholding rent first. Here’s how one of the first tests of the new law worked.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
In Texas, data centers are swallowing promised parkland
Residents who moved to Taylor, Texas for a rural community now have to contend with three data centers in their backyard.
How a Chicago-sized wind farm beat the odds and powered on
The project spanned five presidential administrations and a standoff with a U.S. military base.
MTA gives itself 30 days to transform pit into basketball court
The site has been under construction since 2022; the city originally estimated it would finish the court in 2024.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority