Archive for December 17, 2008

Mailbag (Projects, books, and tag)

December 17, 2008 / Wendy Waters / No comments

For those of you who have written me over the past couple months, thank you.

I apologize that I have not responded to each e-mail; these past months have been exceptionally busy as well as tiring for me, and finding time for blog-related activities has been tough.

Over the past few weeks I’ve received several great e-mails from subscribers, often introducing their own fascinating projects or new urbanology books.

From the mailbag, here are some cool places to visit on the web or books to consider if you love cities:

1.  CCA Actions Exhibition.   From Philippe in Montreal:

This exhibit features 99 actions that instigate positive change in
contemporary cities around the world.

Our aim is to reach people across the globe and get them excited about
the ideas behind the show, such as urban intervention, non-conformity
and “do-it-yourself”.

In doing so, we’re challenging architects, artists, urban
interventionists and others to take actions big or small and post them
onto the Actions online gallery. The hit list will be featured in the
live exhibition, while the rest will remain showcased online.

2.  Alex Lotz has been sending me updates on urban postings at NewGeography.com. One of the most intriguing recent entries is about Farmers’ Markets reviving public spaces.

3. Island Press has released a new book, Green Urbanism Down Under:
Learning from Sustainable Communities in Australia, by Timothy Beatley.  From the press release:

Beatly looks at how greener ways of living have been adopted in Australia.

Examples include city gardens in cosmopolitan Melbourne, a koala-friendly housing development along the Tweed Coast, solar street lights that send electricity back to the city’s power grid in Adelaide, and the 180-kilometer long electric rail system in Perth.

“If the adage ‘think globally, act locally’ still has currency today, as I believe it does, Australia represents a good model of how this might work,” writes Beatley. “Partly a response to the lack of leadership at the national level (as in the United States), there is much energy and much activity at the local level in Australia.”

4.  From the destruction of Katrina a new cohort of engage New Orleans citizens is working to revitalize the city.   Their website is the New Orleans Institute for Resilience and Innovation(what a great word combo for cities — resilience, innovate).

5.  Dave Atkins (a guest blogger and book reviewer here at allaboutcities.ca) tagged me.  He challenged me to post 7 unknown facts about myself and tag seven others.   I’m going to be a rebel and only do 5 and 5:

  1. I was a varsity Cross-County Ski Racer for UBC.
  2. I’m allergic to dairy products (not lactose intolerant, fill blow asthma, hives allergy).
  3. Hablo Espanol / Castellano.
  4. My husband and I got married in a hot air balloon in Phoenix.
  5. I watched the total eclipse of 1991 in a Guatemalan village.

And five people to tag:

Chris Bradford (the Austin Contrarian)

Tory Gattis (Houston Strategies)

Christopher Alton (A Dry Ice Factory)

Richard Layman (Rebuilding Place)

Minchin Web

Category: Uncategorized /

Reinvention of the Lada

December 14, 2008 / Wendy Waters / One comment

Moscow, 2002:  During my visit I noticed that the city streets contained a strange mix of automobiles.  The police and government as well as many taxi drivers drove fume-spewing  small Ladas that seemed to have a top speed of around 40 mph.  Meanwhile, the new wealthy as well as (or including?) the criminals drove fancy imports, with BWMs being the most popular. 

The message was clear — if you could afford it, you did not want a Lada.

The Lada, for those of you too young to remember, was the Soviet Union’s car for the masses (also known as AvtoVaz or Zhiguli).   Although the government-owned company made a few different varieties, the FIAT-inspired box was the most common.  The Lada has had only limited success outside of the former-soviet block, likely for the dual reasons of poor quality and aesthetics.

As it appeared in 2002, the only way for the company to stay alive and continue to provide jobs to the masses who build them was for the government to be the main buyer.

I fear the US government and General Motors are re-inventing the Lada.

Thinking ahead… (my social-economic science fiction effort for this year-end).

Washington DC, in the year 2015: – all police, and government vehicles will be built by General Motors.  Private citizens will be driving the likes of Hondas, Toyotas and of course, BMWs.

Actually, in any American city, you’ll be able to spot a police or government vehicle.  It will lack both quality and esthetics.   While the other companies will move forward in their designs, GM will remain stuck in the 1990s and just as Ladas do today, those vehicles will “stick out.”

Because of the massive jobs involved, the goverment is likely to become a major shareholder in GM.  As investors, they will soon realize that the consumer generally doesn’t want their vehicles.  So, in order to keep the company afloat, or otherwise justify their investment,key government officials will lobby (and event demand that) any tax-payer funded service that uses motor vehicles only buy GM products.

Once GM obtains a captive market for their products, their innovation will fall further behind the competition, and sales to the public will fall further.  To keep the jobs alive, GM then engineers the 1-year disposable vehicle that works great until 40,000 miles, and then breaks down forcing the purchase of another vehicle.

Category: transportation, urban history, urban technologies /

Cities as places

December 2, 2008 / Wendy Waters / 5 comments

Well-functioning cities are not just collections of people, places for commerce, or even car-tropolis.   They are collections of “places” — that is, networks of people and services interwoven into the lives of residents.  Cafes, doctors offices, grocers and specialty retailers are examples of ingredients to place — they offer services used by residents and supplied by them as well.

In fact, the components of place making are actually now a vital part of urban economies.  According to new research from Land Policy Institute (LPI) at Michigan State University (as reported by the Project for Public Spaces):

Services, which are inherently local and include everything from doctors’ visits to construction projects, now account for a larger share of the economy than goods. … half of total economic losses stemming from drops in population are caused by a loss of service jobs and income. That means when people move they take a piece of the economy with them.

Thinking about cities in this way — as ecosystems fueled by people who in turn provide services to others — could change economic development strategy and even how we think about cities.  It’s possible the days are numbered for the suburban-sprawl based model with generic identical houses served by national chain stores that look the same everywhere.  As the Project for Public Spaces summarizes:

In the past, a vital local economy was based on attracting large companies by offering inexpensive locations and a cheap labor force.  The qualities of a particular place mattered little, and people migrated to where the jobs were. Moreover, much of that economic growth was based on cheap oil, which encouraged people’s work, homes and shopping destinations to be spread far apart.  That’s all changed, and now communities with lively destinations that are easily reached by walking and transit gain distinct advantages.

And, the more people feel apart of their community and a contributor to a place, arguably the less likely they are to move on taking their piece of the economy with them.

There are some intriguing implications of this approach to cities.  Will people move elsewhere for a job if it means leaving a place?  or stay and perhaps create their own job?  Will some people rent forever (because they cannot afford to buy in a particular locale) in order to stay a part of the community they love?

Category: communities, economic development, planning policy /