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September 28, 2005
NYC's Academy of Urban Planning
An offspring of Gates and the New Century High Schools initiative in New York, the Academy of Urban Planning is a small high school within a high school that opened in 2003. There will be a special on MTV this Thursday, September 29th at 10:30pm about students' redesign of the school cafeteria.
Millenium Villages and the Urban Village Task Force
A UK report via the Office of the Prime Minister on sustainable urban villages...
In March 1999 the DETR commissioned action research into the Millennium Villages initiative and its contribution to sustainable development, and to stimulate debate about the creation of sustainable communities. The project had key aims to:
- support the development of sustainable communities in a wide range of contexts, including local housing and regeneration programmes in urban areas, small towns and rural areas; and
- propose a framework to facilitate the subsequent evaluation of the Millennium Villages initiative and to draw out any transferable lessons which could be fed back into their current development.
Millennium villages and sustainable communities
3D Sketchup
Trying out the free trial version of 3D Sketchup right now - you can scan a hand drawing or use building footprints and generate volumes. There are also options for trees, lights, street furniture, surfacing, etc.
Emeryville's Center for Community Life
Emeryville's proposed Center for Community Life is a partnership between the city and the school district to create a new focal point for the city at the current site of the Emeryville Middle/High School and an existing Caltrans depot.
community and housing development, school facilities, urban design
Dyett & Bhatia's San Diego Plan
Urban design firm Dyett & Bhatia has prepared a plan update for downtown San Diego that is currently being reviewed by several organizations for adoption. This comprehensive plan divides the downtown into 9 neighborhood centers, 8 of which are new, with specific zoning, massing, and design regulations for each neighborhood. There is a detailed web site for the plan with three dimensional flyover animations of projected construction, parks, etc. The plan also includes capping the freeway that divides downtown from Balboa Park with pedestrian freindly green space.
September 26, 2005
An alternate universe...
To Conserve Gas, President Calls for Less Driving
September 21, 2005
Collection of Katrina Articles
An attempt to keep up with/archive some of the many articles on the planning of New New Orleans and the economic, education, and community impacts of Hurricane Katrina.
CalPoly is hosting an international symposium on Urban Disaster Risk Reduction and Regeneration Planning on Nov.3-5 in San Luis Obispo. Email to attend and for more info: crp@calpoly.edu
Boston Globe: The City That Will Be
CNN: Katrina Hits Louisiana Schools Hard
Globe and Mail: Rebuilt City Likely to be a lot smaller - and whiter
Grist:
Information Aesthetics: New Orleans Info Graphics Post
- Rebuilding Plan Includes Homesteading, Jobs Programs
- In Katrina's Aftermath, Classroom Routine Replaces Chaos
- Fork In Road for Poor Evacuees
- How Should New Orleans Be Rebuilt
- Victims Headed to Trailer 'Ghettos'?
- Emergency Rental Vouchers Needed, Housing Officials Say
- Fitful Start to FEMA Housing
LA Times: Among the Ruins, Something to Build On
Nola.com: Hurricane Tax Aid Does More for Wealthier Survivors
NY Times:
Salon.com: "The Entire Community is Now a Toxic Waste Dump"
SF Chronicle: Provide Mobility, Not Just Mobile Homes
Stratfor: New Orleans: A Geopolitical Prize
TomPaine - Uncommon Sense: A Phoenix from the Mud
Transportation: Lessons From Katrina: What A Major Disaster Can Teach Transportation Planners
Washington Post: Bush Proposes Vouchers for all Displaced Students
disaster planning, environmental justice
September 20, 2005
Book: Public Spaces - Urban Places
Carmona, Matthew et. al., Public Places - Urban Spaces, Oxford: Architectural Press, 2003.
A basic review of urban design with a focus on current practice, including the development process.
Notes in the extended...
Continue reading "Book: Public Spaces - Urban Places"
September 15, 2005
Photos: Oakland Zoo
Photos: Emeryville, CA, Urban Design(?)
Emeryville, the land of infill... Basic photos for recording urban design elements, including typical residential units, freeways, big box retail, and street sections...
September 13, 2005
Article: Katrina and Community Development
Katrina drew the public eye, literally via news media, to the staunch, tenacious place of poverty within American democracy.
But after a decade of improvement in the 1990s, poverty in America is actually getting worse. A rising tide of economic growth is no longer lifting all boats. For the first time in half a century, the third year of a recovery (2004) also saw an increase in poverty. In a nation of nearly 300 million people, the number living below the poverty line ($14,680 for a family of three) recently hit 37 million, up more than a million in a year.