Ranking walkble places

The narrative in the opening of this story on CNN.com encapsulates how more people are voting with their feet by increasingly seeking out walkable places — and what developers and builders need to do to meet the growing demand created by those who are looking for another option than the strictly car-dependent lifestyle of their … Continued

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Climate and insurance

In July of 2006, U.S. meteorologists and climatologists issued a statement while studying  climate change and how it may be affecting the weather: …the more urgent problem of our lemming-like march to the sea requires immediate and sustained attention. We call upon leaders of government and industry to undertake a comprehensive evaluation of building practices, … Continued

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Charlotte: Riding the rails at last

Thousands of people jam a light-rail station near I-485 Saturday afternoon. ©TODD SUMLIN Charlotte Observer Click for the slideshow from the Observer We noted a few weeks ago that Charlotte voters renewed their committment to transit by an overwhelming margin, nixing the attempt by some anti-government types to scuttle a half-cent tax that funds transit … Continued

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Introducing the Smart Growth Implementation Toolkit

We’d like to alert you to this important annoucement from the Smart Growth Leadership Institute: Join us for a Knowledgplex Experts (Online) Chat as we introduce the Smart Growth Implementation Toolkit on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 at 2 p.m. ET The Smart Growth Leadership Institute, through a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is … Continued

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It's official: Peak Oil may be real

While many news stories have carefully followed the price of oil over the last few weeks and months, many have missed the distinction that unlike the late 70’s, this price spike results from overwhelming demand, rather than an unnatural crimp in supply, as was the case with the embargo — the last time we saw … Continued

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Measuring drivability?

I noticed this through a comment left on our WalkScore post from a a few months ago. Apparently, the popular for sale by owner (FSBO) website Fizber has launched a new service in the vein of WalkScore called DriveScore. Actually, “in the vein of” is a bit of a misnomer as DriveScore appears to be … Continued

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