Home Buyers Demand Short Commutes, Efficient Homes (with Backyards, Parking, Lots of Square Feet)

Posted by Glenn on December 6, 2008 - 12:12pm in The Oil Drum: Local

Given the recent run-up in energy prices, subsequent spike in foreclosures resulting in a full blown credit meltdown and financial crisis, I thought it would be interesting to check in with American home buyers and see what the latest data said about their motivations to buy. Not surprisingly it's a mixed bag. There are a lot of good intentions out there for shorter commutes, energy efficient homes and other environmental features. But often these are overcome by the lure of getting more "home for the money" far away from mass transit options and having a detached home in the suburbs.

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Streets: Utilitarian Corridors or Livable Public Space

Posted by Glenn on November 18, 2008 - 10:28pm in The Oil Drum: Local
Tags: livable, new york, public space, streets, urban [list all tags]

In just the last year and a half, Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan has begun a dramatic transformation of New York City's streets from mere utilitarian corridors into livable public spaces.

This is no happy accident. It took advocates (and bloggers!) years and years of hard work to make this possible. Only three years ago Mayor Bloomberg proudly stated that traffic was a side effect of the city's growing vitality. Now he's leading the charge on putting into place practical ideas that make the city less dependent on automobiles, more livable, more desirable and inviting to new families that would otherwise choose to live in exurban developments.

This may seem like just a feel good story about something that just increases quality of life for some people in NYC that doesn't have much implication for the rest of the country, but consider this: As the Commissioner states, NYC is planning on a million new residents over the next 20 years. Think about how many square miles of suburban/exurban development that will save for farming. Think about how many fewer cars will be produced if those million people come to NYC. What if every city across the country were a more desirable place to live, work, play, shop than its surrounding suburbs?

As we think about our future, we will need to be very conscious of how we can make low energy consumption urban areas more desirable than high energy consumption suburban areas.

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Summer Streets a Success!

Posted by Glenn on August 23, 2008 - 11:00am in The Oil Drum: Local
Tags: bicycling, livable streets, new york city, summer streets [list all tags]

For the last two weeks, NYC has experimented with an idea of making a major avenue in Manhattan car-free for no particular reason than for the enjoyment of residents and visitors. There were no streetfair vendors hawking $3 tube socks or blended drinks from noisy & polluting generators. Nor was there any excuse like the Marathon or a parade where only invited guests are allowed to run or walk down the middle of the streets.

This was different.

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Plan for Hydro-Fracture Drilling for Unconventional Natural Gas in Upstate New York

Posted by Glenn on July 23, 2008 - 10:30am in The Oil Drum: Local
Tags: hydraulic fracturing, natural gas, water [list all tags]

New York State is about to approve Hydro-Fracture Drilling permits for Upstate New York in the area of the Marcellus Shale. There is a major concern about the impact on waste water containing many toxic chemicals, including areas near NYC drinking water reserviors.

Here's a slideshow of some of the key images. I'll have more on this as information becomes available. Kudos to WNYC and ProPublica for uncovering this in a great example of investigative journalism.

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Enjoying Life Close to Home: Fun Streets

Posted by Glenn on July 19, 2008 - 10:00am in The Oil Drum: Local
Tags: ciclovia, fun, livable streets [list all tags]

As we consider how to re-design our car-centric landscape, one idea that may be taking hold across the country is to close streets to automobile traffic at times and return that space to the people as a public space to be enjoyed.

We took a look at Bogata's Ciclovia earlier this year. Last month in Portland, they held a first ever "Sunday Parkways". What is "Sunday Parkways"?

What is Sunday Parkways?

6 miles, 6 hours, zero traffic~!

A circular route of city streets open to walk, bike, run, jump & skip - without having to watch out for cars!

A 6 mile "temporary park", connecting North Portland neighborhoods and residents.

A relaxed, non-competitive, FREE event featuring a variety of activities in 4 parks and along the route.

What you see here is people having fun close to home. The places we drive dozens or hundreds of miles to visit - quiet places without cars and trucks - can exist in our own front yards if we only have the will to say no to cars. Next Stop is my hometown: New York City.

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Smart Growth Gets a New Look

Posted by Glenn on July 12, 2008 - 10:00am in The Oil Drum: Local
Tags: mixed use, smart growth, transit-oriented development, zoning [list all tags]

The growth paradigm for the last fifty years in the US (and many other parts of the world), which accelerated in the 1990s has been away from cities and more in the suburban and exurban areas outside of major metropolitan areas. While large US cities have rebounded from their nadir in the 1970s and 1980s era of white flight, homelessness, drugs and crime, much of the infrastructure investment has been made toward developing auto-centric development instead of walkable mixed use zoned areas along mass transit corridors. I've long thought that good urban planning and mixed use zoning is a large part of the answer to dealing with our dependence on automobiles/oil as well as having many social, public safety and environmental benefits.

Now that $4 gas is here and looks like it might be a short stop before $5-$10 gas, Smart Growth is getting more attention as the best method to maintain a high standard of living and promote economic growth.

So let's take a look at some videos from around the country on what's happing on the Smart Growth or Transit Oriented Development front to reduce out dependence on automobiles.

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Abundant Skies: 8 Principles for Successful Rainwater Harvesting

Posted by jeffvail on July 5, 2008 - 11:00am in The Oil Drum: Local
Topic: Miscellaneous
Tags: brad lancaster, cistern, original, rainwater harvesting, self sufficiency, water [list all tags]

The following is a guest post by Brad Lancaster on rainwater harvesting. Energy scarcity and water scarcity are closely related phenomena, especially in certain parts of the world. While rainwater harvesting is no panacea for our water or energy problems, it may be a critical component in many regions for dealing with issues of scarcity. It is also an excellent example of a scale-free tool: it can be implemented by individuals, communities, or nations.



Photo: Nigel Valdez



Food produced from rainwater on Brad Lancaster's Tucson residence

Brad Lancaster is a permaculture expert and consultant based in Tucson. His award-winning book Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, Volume I: Guiding Principles to Welcome Rain into your Life and Landscape (2006, Rainsource Press) and Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, Volume 2: Water-Harvesting Earthworks are available on the web at www.HarvestingRainwater.com and at amazon.com. This website also contains a bounty of free information, image, video, and audio resources.

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Green Cottage: eco-renovation of a 100-year-old Victorian end-terrace

Posted by Chris Vernon on June 14, 2008 - 10:00am in The Oil Drum: Local
Tags: electricity, renewable energy, renewables, solar house, solar power, wood [list all tags]

This is a guest post from Andy Hunt (solar_bud on The Oil Drum). It's an inspiring account of what can be done today with a modest property to live efficiently and maintain a degree of energy security.

Vital Statistics

Our house was built around 1900. It is an end-terrace house with 2 bedrooms, located in an inner-city area in Bury, Lancashire, UK. Our household comprises me and my partner, with no children, and we live in the property all year round. No planning restrictions are in effect in our area.



Wood burning stove with back boiler.

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TOD Local Open Thread: Any Hope of a Buyer's Strike?

Posted by Glenn on June 12, 2008 - 6:30pm in The Oil Drum: Local
Tags: buyer strike, demand, demand destruction, supply [list all tags]

We've heard all sorts of different ideas on how to ease the pain at the pump this Summer for motorists. The Bush administration has argued for OPEC to increase production and Congress to ease restrictions on drilling. In reply Congress wants to sue OPEC over high prices and tax oil company's windfall profits. Senators Clinton and McCain have called for holiday for the Federal gas tax. All of these various ideas have made a lot of headlines, but none of this has done a drop of good so far.

More long term, price induced demand destruction will take hold and people are making better decisions factoring in oil price - they are buying smaller cars and not snapping up McMansions in the hinterland, but with oil near $140/barrel right now what's the short term answer?

The secret answer to curbing high oil prices in a supply constrained world that no one seems to be talking about is for buyers to go on strike. And no, I'm not talking about a meaningless "Don't fill up on this day" but keep driving.

My back of the envelope estimate is that if there were a concerted effort by the major economies (hello G8 ministers meeting in Japan) to have demand pulled back sharply (10-15%) over the Summer, we could see oil prices go down fairly rapidly.

What prospects do people think there is of it? Would it be politically feasible? How much would demand need to decline to make a substantial impact of oil prices?

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Peak Oil 101: Why Isn't This Class Available Yet in My College?

Posted by Glenn on June 7, 2008 - 10:00am in The Oil Drum: Local
Tags: college, education, peak oil, university [list all tags]

This is a guest post from Max Arturo Alcala Sainz.

Currently, the list of academic institutions offering relevant and up-to-date information and courses geared to confront the imminent energy slope is awfully short. If you have ever tried to enroll in your local university for some hands-on Peak Oil learning experience, you may have found yourself disappointed in knowing that no such course is offered.  Even in certain high-level economics courses that scrape at energy depletion and natural resources, you will probably be able to teach your professor a thing or two (if you are a keen reader of TOD). :)

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