Stories by Kaid @ NRDC
Instantly See Your Location’s Average Transportation Costs, Emissions
The latest in the snazzy series of useful tools and research on housing and transportation published by the Center for Neighborhood Technology is called Abogo.
Long Island Municipality Battles Govt. Infighting on Energy Retrofits
A battle between governmental agencies pits the Obama administration against the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Students Plan Redevelopment Area of Brazilian city for the Next World Cup
Thirteen students from the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Art, Architecture and Planning have recently spent months helping the city of Recife, Brazil get ready for the 2014 World Cup.
The Crumbling of the DC Metro
Access to the system is made difficult by broken escalators and elevators, slow and unpredictable service, and dirty and crowded cars.
Popularity of Walking, Bicycling for Transportation Soars
The number of walking trips taken by Americans has more than doubled in the last 20 years, from 18 billion in 1990 to 42.5 billion in 2009, according to a new report.
Poll finds overwhelming US support for improved public transit
Here are just a few tidbits from a new national poll conducted by Transportation for America, Public Opinion Strategies, and Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz and Associates: An overwhelming majority (82%) of Americans believe the country would benefit from improved public transportation. Most Americans (57% “strongly”) would like to spend ...
Public Transit Will be Used if it Meets Our Needs
Here’s an insight from relating human behavioral science to transportation: people who use a particular form of transportation such as driving or taking transit sometimes misunderstand the motives of those that use a different mode.
Stimulus grant places NYC’s Moynihan Station on the right track
Earlier this week, federal transportation secretary Ray LaHood announced $1.5 billion worth of grants for 51 transportation projects in 41 states and the District of Columbia.
Vancouver’s Olympic Village, One of the Greenest Neighborhoods in N. America
Vancouver officials believe that the athlete’s village built for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, and the planned surrounding neighborhood, will be one of the greenest around.
Dramatic New Carbon Maps Show CO2 Emissions Levels in Metro Areas
The maps demonstrate that although emissions are greatest in highly urban areas, it is in the suburbs and outlying areas where we pollute the most
Author Profile:
Kaid @ NRDC
Website: http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/kbenfield/
Profile: Kaid Benfield is the Director of the NRDC's Smart Growth Program in Washington, D.C.
Read Kaid's (updated nearly every day) at NRDC's Switchboard.
I believe there is a positive, solution-oriented story to tell about smart, sustainable development, and we in the environmental movement have an obligation to do better than we have in the past to articulate it and to speak up in favor of pragmatic, attractive solutions.
I am unabashedly pro-development when I recognize that it provides beneficial alternatives to sprawl or conventional, unsustainable land use. We have wonderful examples from enlightened developers, architects, and planners, and they deserve to be celebrated as the environmental heroes that they are.
I won't hesitate to criticize UNsustainable development, and I also won't hesitate to criticize those who cloak themselves as environmentalists for selfish, anti-environmental ends. But I hope to keep the tone more positive than not.
I was raised in the mountains of western North Carolina, surrounded by some of the most beautiful environment nature can provide. Although it took me a while, it was an easy leap from there to working on behalf of the natural world. I spent the first 20 years of my career as a litigating attorney, and then a few as a lobbyist. But my heart is with crafting and advocating the solutions in a non-adversary way.
I like working on smart growth issues because, unlike some causes, it’s less a holy war and more an attempt to solve a very complicated puzzle in a way that works for people and business as well as the environment. There’s a lot of room for collaboration and creativity. My wife is also an attorney, and we live in a village-y part of DC where we can enjoy trees, peace and quiet, yet still walk to Metro and restaurants.
I love music of all kinds, sometimes make it, and consume it vociferously. And I love riding my bikes, especially with people who make me push the pace. I like all kinds of sports, too, cities, literature and travel. I want to be an architect when I grow up.
Roots in: North Carolina, USA
Favorite place: At the moment, the Leopard Bar in Geneva
Why "environmentalism" matters: Because the environment matters.
