ModeShift - Part 70

Flip: The Unsustainables

by Keith SchneiderApril 9, 20070

[youtube]V6MKYnBULyg[/youtube] The work to make the nation’s metropolitan regions greener, cleaner, and more energy efficient is too often impeded by the overly earnest language of the movement. Sustainlane.com is trying to break through the wall of techno-legal-political speak with its Unsustainables, an animated series broadcast on the Internet.Â According to the Sustainlane.com’s editors, the Unsustainables “depicts the lives of a blended family in a modern urban environment. Each segment centers around our characters who, like …

Flip: Global Voices

by Keith SchneiderApril 7, 2007August 27, 20070

If you’re interested in what happens beyond the borders of the United States, then you also know that an awful lot ofÂ what’s reported as foreign news is distilled through the filter of government to government action, diplomat to diplomat negotiation.Â A different kind of communication is now available on the Internet, which fills that huge space between the conversation among international elites and the conversation occurring at the grassroots. Few Web sites are doing that …

More Big Boys Weigh In On Climate Change

by Keith SchneiderApril 6, 2007April 6, 20070

Â Â It was only a matter of time before global warming would become an organizing principle in the United States. Even for the conservative U.S. Supreme Court. It’s all come in a rush. This week, in aÂ 5-4 decision, the High Court ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency has the authority and duty toÂ regulate climate change gases produced by automobiles. The suit, brought in June 2003 by Massachusetts and 12 other states, asked the nine justices …

Smart Growth and Gentrification

by Keith SchneiderApril 5, 20070

For as long as I’ve been involved in understanding the dimensions of urban disinvestment, as well as the solutions, one more civic concern has always lurked in the shadows. That’s gentrification, the process by which wealthier people interested in moving back into a city use buying power and sway to push the poor out of their homes. As a journalist, public policy specialist, and citizen of America I’ve personally experienced almost every side of this …

Pure Michigan

by Keith SchneiderApril 4, 2007April 4, 20070

If you’ve followed what’s going on here in Michigan you know thatÂ we continue to lead the nation in too many categories that aren’t welcome — joblessness, rates of obesity and heart disease,Â income gap between wealthy and poor,Â racial segregation, home foreclosures. And weÂ are at the bottom of the heap in categories that define well-being –Â income growth, business starts, educational achievement,Â the quality of our big cities, state fiscal health. There are many reasons why Michigan has slid …

Cool Sites on Design, Cities, Environment

by Keith SchneiderApril 3, 2007April 3, 20070

Metrophile isÂ an interesting offering on Wired’s blog network. It covers trends and fashion and art, the urbanÂ snackage that makes living in the metropolitan space a more inviting existenceÂ for growing numbers of Americans, young and retired.Â The International Herald Tribune launched its Business of Green blog last month, and it’s alreadys one of the savviest forums for global business and environmental trends on the Internet.Â The New York Times carries the blog on the page it’s hidden …

Flip: Online Race for the White House

by Keith SchneiderApril 1, 20070

The Center for American Progress,Â a centrist left policyÂ think tank in Washington, preparedÂ this very useful and nifty online compendiumÂ of how 2008 presidential campaigns are using the Web.Â The NetTrendsÂ ’08 matrix is a one stop shop for Republicans and Democrats, and anybody else for that matter, to stay abreast of trends in online campaigning.Â NetTrends ’08 also is the best example I’ve found of how politics, communications technology, and the Internet have converged to make it much simpler …

In Time For Earth Day, Eco-Luxury

by Keith SchneiderMarch 31, 2007March 31, 20075

Â How mainstream has the greening of the world become? Fortune Magazine this month joined the lengthening list of big dog old media publishing “green” issues. Car companies, especially the Japanese, tout their energy-efficient vehicles.Â Republican Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma is busy cementing his legacy as the George Wallace of thisÂ era, the man who stood on ideology andÂ misguided principle to deny an undeniable fact of experience and history: The earth is warming.Â Â Â And then there’sÂ one …

Reason? at Reason Foundation

by Keith SchneiderMarch 30, 2007April 1, 20072

It’s essential to stay abreast of what opponents to a reasoned development strategy have to say about Smart Growth. And there’s no more unreasonable voice on these issues than the social theorists at the libertarian Reason Magazine.Â This week Sam Staley and Ted Balaker published their newest assessment of the value of public transit,Â why Americans won’t ride new trains and buses, and how to relieve congestion. TheyÂ come to this conclusion: “The planning gurus who are supposed …

Step It Up On Climate Change

by Keith SchneiderMarch 28, 2007March 28, 20071

Monica Evans, who co-founded and oversees the regional chapter of the Sierra Club in northwest Michigan,Â reminded us this week of the Step it Up rally to accelerate action on global climate change. She and herÂ colleagues are hosting a regional event in downtown Traverse City on the afternoon of April 14, startingÂ at 1:30 in the Chase Bank Courtyard across from Horizon Books downtown. There’s a parade andÂ a potluck dinner afterward. The Traverse City rally is part …