As far as I know, the Slow Growth movement doesn’t exist yet. What would it look like if it did? In my last post I quoted the “Slow Bay Manifesto”, reminding me of some writing and thinking I did last year in preperation for a speaking opportunity at the CNU conference in Providence. I had [...]

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A recent paper by Richard Bender and John Parman focuses on growth in the San Francisco Bay Region and tries to strike a balance between “Slow” (making reference to the Slow Food movement, and its focus on value and regional difference) and “Smart” (a reference to Smart Growth, and in particular its emphasis on density [...]

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Charles Leadbeater, a leading thinker on issues of creativity and innovation, visited Providence yesterday as part of the “Remixing the City” tour sponsored by CEOs for Cities. The workshop was held as part of the Providence & Beyond program at New Commons.
Currently, he is working on a book called We-think which explores models of “mass [...]

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TerraCycle, the much hyped and rightfully so, eco-capitalist company based in Trenton, New Jersey may have actually created the company most of the world only talks about. TerraCycle manufactures all-natural garden products by feeding organic waste to worms and bottling the resulting worm poop compost as ready-to use plant food in soda bottles collected by [...]

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Ok, so I hate to pick on Providence, but . . . they really don’t seem to give a crap about their street trees. Here is some evidence. On Valley Street I took a picture of a classic Prov move, clipping the trees around the electrical and phone wires. And on South Main Street and [...]

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Yesterday, the bronze grid was installed on the top of the Smokestack at The Plant. Pretty darn exciting. This project was one that was initiated while I was on staff at PUENTE, and it has been quite a journey. I remember when Gillian Christy, the artist, showed up at my door with her design. She [...]

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Maine Women’s Fund just received a $1 million gift from the River Rock Foundation, a private foundation based in South Freeport Maine. This is the biggest gift the MWF has ever received, enabling it to strengthen its grant-making programs and serve more women and girls in Maine.
The trustees of River Rock are Marilyn Bronzi, Barbara [...]

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Vincent A. Cianci Jr. (aka Buddy) the former mayor of Providence, RI who was convicted of corruption charges in 2002 will be released from prison next week. Speculation of his post prison career has been a weekly topic among Rhode Islanders for the past five years.
Buddy enjoys a love/hate relationship with the residents and business [...]

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Athens began investing in these well-used pedestrian walkways leading up to the Olympics. They’ve continued to build more over the last few years and are using them to connect different neighborhoods in the center of town, many of which currently have horrible pedestrian connections.

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Trees are an under-appreciated element of the urban street-scape. They transform a place. Cities should pay more attention to the types of trees they plant and encourage/allow property owners to plant. Often there are unnecessary restrictions (I remember looking at the list of allowable street trees in Providence and being shocked). Places like Portland Maine [...]

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Not sure what to do with a vacant lot? Make it a Bocce Court! Cornish Associates tore down a building in “downcity” Providence, hoping to develop the space in the future. But, not wanting it to sit empty, sucking the vitality out of the street in the meantime, they made the site into a public [...]

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Athens has tons of graffiti. Tons. And most of it is not so good. But, some of it is really pretty cool. This trip I ran across a graffiti artist who is using fabric scraps glued to the wall as part of her designs (I’m assuming the artist is a woman, though I have no [...]

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I’ve just returned from a week-long trip in Greece with my mom, Barbara Wilks, and sister, Lucy. We spent 5 days on the island of Hydra, where my mom is (hoping) to build a house, there are a total of 6 motorized vehicles, and public transport is by donkey or boat. The last two days [...]

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photo: Recycle-A-Bike storage in Providence.
The cities I am most familiar with- Providence, Portland, and Baltimore- all struggle with what it means to be a bike friendly city. Most decision makers in those cities put bicycle usage and especially bike commuting at the bottom of their priority list. Bike commuting is a viable option for [...]

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Is was no surprise that TreeHugger was voted the best blog at this years Webby Awards for reasons like their ability to help people understand even the simplest of green ideas like, using your dishwasher, not as exciting as a skyscraper in Dubai, but certainly a heck of allot closer to home.
Go to TreeHugger.com to [...]

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So what type of new development do the municipalities in Rhode Island want? This is the question Rhode Island Housing, a 35-year-old not-for-profit housing agency is asking stakeholders across the State. Executive Director, Richard Godfreay explained that he does not want the state of Rhode Island to develop affordable housing in a silo anymore. So [...]

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Our friends at Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse are at it again. Believe it or not this space will soon be know as the Dynamo House, a grand hotel, restaurant and museum on the Providence waterfront. The “dynamo house” or power plant was built and operated by the Narragansett Electric Lighting Company on South Street [...]

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Across the country Cities are trying to reinvent themselves, but the issue is, who will lead? It seems Cities are either plagued with the corrupt boss or ineffective manager. What system works best?
We all know to lead you need VISION, and to follow you need TRUST. I have witnessed corrupt mayors produce amazing results and [...]

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As the world of carbon off-sets grow new players are entering the industry like Zerofootprint.net, a Canadian non-profit that is taking a much larger approach to off-sets then just buying credits on behalf of individuals. Zerofootprint tries to invest in forestry and sustainable wood products, smart water usage and green communities in urban areas.
Like any [...]

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The North Street Community Garden Expansion has started. An election promise made by District 1 City Council Member Kevin Donoghue to expand the community garden on North Street and provide more opportunities for residents of Portland to produce their own food in their neighborhoods will soon be a reality. Kevin, a car-less city resident [...]

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