CNN reports US building green

[Hink]

http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/04/01...ex.html?hpt=C1

What's now in: light rail, green space and vibrant downtown districts.

Americans are not only rebuilding their cities and homes, they're also rebuilding their sense of community.

The Great Recession has also forced some to rediscover the value of community. Some of this has been done by establishing time banks, where members trade services that are tracked by hours rather than dollar value.

Silly American Planners... trying to move the U.S. into the 21st century...

Pretty interesting read - put forward from a newscaster type point of view, but still looks good for planning. Now only if it was politically easy to do.

[Wolfman]

The Great Recession

WTH? Thats an oxymoron.

[transguy]

WTH? Thats an oxymoron.

There's more than one definition.... great: unusual or considerable in degree, power, intensity, etc.

[Wolfman]

Except there's a point where the length or greatness of a recession turns it into a Depression. 'Great Recession' is an oxymoron because for a recession to be 'great', it would be a Depression. Oxymoron might be the wrong word, but there's still no such thing as a 'great recession', and since we've been in recession for over a year, this is a depression anyways.

[Planit]

One of our resident Cyburbians works (or maybe now worked) for this place...

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2010/bui...merica/?hpt=C1

Quick overview about Greensburg, KS

[Believer123]

I still can't get over people's aesthetic objections to wind turbine installations throughout the 1st world. Sure, it's a bit of a surprise to see wind farms in heavily populated areas. But, 1st world ubran dwellers see high power transmission lines, telephone lines, etc. every day. In many places, people see oil rigs/pumps. I think wind turbine installations raise concerns because they are new. Does anyone know of how citizens reacted to power lines, etc. in generations past? They must not have liked what they saw. Who would? But, today, installations like this raise no objections and people complain about wind turbines. Perhaps a historical look at how new technologies transformed the look and feel of urban surroundings, what was/wasn't done to address public feelings about these 'new' installations etc. can instruct us in this century. Any comments (kind or otherwise)?

[Suburb Repairman]

I still can't get over people's aesthetic objections to wind turbine installations throughout the 1st world. Sure, it's a bit of a surprise to see wind farms in heavily populated areas. But, 1st world ubran dwellers see high power transmission lines, telephone lines, etc. every day. In many places, people see oil rigs/pumps. I think wind turbine installations raise concerns because they are new. Does anyone know of how citizens reacted to power lines, etc. in generations past? They must not have liked what they saw. Who would? But, today, installations like this raise no objections and people complain about wind turbines. Perhaps a historical look at how new technologies transformed the look and feel of urban surroundings, what was/wasn't done to address public feelings about these 'new' installations etc. can instruct us in this century. Any comments (kind or otherwise)?

Got news for you... people still freak out over high power transmission lines. They are one of the more common not-in-my-backyard issues around in the U.S., especially if they have to go through a scenic area. Within cities, people hate them because of perceived health risks of living near them and aesthetics, which can have a negative affect on property values. Texas pretty-much leads the U.S. in wind production and folks would happily put more on their ranches in West Texas, but issues developing enough transmission line capacity are preventing further major expansion. I can't come up with an example of people attempting to install large wind turbines in an urban setting. I've seen folks get angry about residential wind turbines because of their noise. Overall though, use of wind turbines in heavily urbanized areas doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Many U.S. urban areas are not located in ideal wind situations to make wind generation financially feasible/practical. The major urban cities that are in good wind areas are along the coast and get coastal winds. The Cape Cod proposal was the first major proposal to my knowledge that sought to take advantage of coastal winds.

Honestly, placing wind turbines off Cape Cod was the first time I saw major opposition to a wind farm. Most wind turbines are placed well-outside of urban areas due to land/lease costs and economies of scale that come with doing a larger wind farm. Also, placing wind farms in this manner helps agriculture, as leasing land to a few wind turbines can help ranchers supplement income while still allowing them to keep their land in ranch/farm production.