Climate Cities

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  • Protesters demonstrate against British eco-towns

    Hundreds of protesters gathered outside Britain’s Parliament Monday to protest the government’s plan to build 15 eco-towns. The government is proposing communities characterized by sustainable construction, public transportation, green space, […]

    Grist staff Cities

  • As gas prices rise, Americans move back to the urbs

    For decades, Americans have trickled steadily out of cities into suburbia — and then into exurbia. But with gas prices high and likely to stay there, the wallet-conscious are now […]

    Grist staff Cities

  • French capital will implement electric-car-sharing program

    Having successfully implemented a bike–sharing program, Paris is revving up plans to provide electric cars that residents can pick up and drop off anywhere in the city. Mayor Bertrand Delanoë […]

    Grist staff Cities

  • Houston gets real about rail

    “I’ll say it loud and clear: No longer is the city of Houston waffling on rail. With gas headed to $8 a gallon and oil to $200 a barrel, we […]

    Katharine Wroth Cities

  • Humans have a hand in Midwest flooding

    Photo: Mark Hirsch How much responsibility do humans have for the floods disastrously deluging the Midwest? Of course the rain poured for days, but it fell on plowed-up prairies, drained […]

    Grist staff Cities

  • NYC unveils plan to open huge swaths of roadway to pedestrians and bikes — temporarily

    On Monday, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg unveiled a new event called "Summer Streets." For three Saturdays in August, pedestrians and cyclists will enjoy exclusive access to a contiguous stretch of city thoroughfares running from the Brooklyn Bridge to 72nd Street. No cars allowed.

     

     

    Grist staff & Ben Fried Cities

  • Found poetry on walkable cities

    This blog often addresses the importance of walkable cities and towns, localities that are really there -- that have a sense of place. A friendly acquaintance of mine, Jacqueline Smay (wife of popular music guru David Smay, who authored SwordfishTrombones) tossed off this charming note that is more powerful than any statistic:

    ... it was cold but not bitter out, Union Square was glittering with lights and ringing with the sounds of competing street musicians, and the sidewalks were crowded with a mix of very late theatergoers, tourists, street people, street performers, local chi-chi store staff closing up for the night, dejected Giants fans, and elated A's fans. Everything felt very shiny and bustling and wide awake.

    Outside a smoke shop on the corner of Powell a couple blocks up from Market, a two-man band composed of two young white guys, one with guitar and one with drums, was playing an improbably terrific version of "No Woman No Cry." Really, they had no right to be as good as they were. The streetcorner was crowded with tourists and miscellaneous wanderers, including a grandma out and about with her two six to eight-ish granddaughters; the girls were dancing deliriously in their teeny girl-power t-shirts and pastel Crocs while their grandmother beamed.

    And right in front of the musicians, a middle-aged homeless black man was dancing with a middle-aged Asian woman all done-up for a big night out in a black, crepe dress with white lace and a long, swoopy duster and loads of makeup. They danced together a bit and then she spun out on her own, and he turned to the crowd, flung his arms out, and shouted, "She's beautiful! She's alive! She's alive and she knows it!"

    Gar Lipow Cities

  • Segway sales at an all-time high

    With gas prices rising, more people are busing, scooting, biking — and riding the electric scooter we all love to mock. Yes, sales of the nerdarific Segway have risen to […]

    Grist staff Cities

  • Notes from a plug-in hybrid conference

    Silicon Valley came to Washington this week to talk about plug-in hybrids at a great conference organized by Google.org with Brookings. The combination of tech visionaries, electric cars on display, Washington heavy hitters such as John Dingell, Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and even a couple of film stars, Peter Horton and Anne Sexton of Who Killed the Electric Car?, made for a great meeting.

    Here are my notes from the standing room only event ...

    Michael Moynihan Cities

  • Toyota and Honda could sure learn something from Chevy!

    “I don’t have to tell you how sexy the [Chevy] Volt is. The Japanese and Chinese couldn’t possibly put out something that appealing to middle America.” — Andy Karsner, Assistant […]

    David Roberts Cities