tagged w/ urban sprawl
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If you have been thinking you’re in an urban nexus with some fetching mountains on the fringes, what we’re about to tell you may be unsettling. Here in the greater Palm Springs area, you’re actually on an island — a puddle of urbanity surrounded by wildlands.
“What?” you say. “That can’t be. There are manicured medians as far as I can see.”If you have been thinking you’re in an urban nexus with some fetching mountains... more
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First-ever Florida Tree-Sit Erected to Defend Briger Forest Tract from Development
Everglades Earth First! activists Russ McSpadden and Rachel Kijewski took the issue of endangered species protection to new heights today! They are suspended 30 feet up in the air to protest the plans for development of the "FAU/Scripps Bio-tech City" on the Briger Forest Tract- the last living forest in Palm Beach County.
Law Enforcement with the Florida Department of Transportation and City of Palm Beach Gardens have promised to arrest the tree-sitters if they do not leave the sit. Both Russ and Rachel are holding tight!
A joint statement from the tree-sitters states, “As FAU graduates and Palm Beach County residents we are dismayed at the lack of protection for the Endangered Species on the FAU/Scripps development site. The Scripps “bio-tech city” plan promotes sprawl and will destroy endangered species located on the Briger Forest Tract. We have tried legal means to protect the site, but the developers and politicians have ignored our concerns. If the state and county refuse to protect endangered species then we must take action to preserve the remaining natural beauty of Florida.”
In conjunction with the tree sit, forty protesters converged at the existing FAU/Scripps Florida where Jupiter and FAU campus police briefly detained at least one person.
This will just be the first direct action of many to preserve the Briger Forest and the endangered species that depend on it. Everglades Earth First! activists plan to maintain a presence on the site to ensure no endangered species habitat is destroyed, and no animals are abused in the proposed vivisection labs.
Hoo-ray for Russ and Rachel! Stay tuned for more updates!
DONATE - to help us support the tree-sitters with future bail and legal costs! Donations can be made via Paypal to "lynnejpurvis@gmail.com"
HELP THE TREE-SIT - We will have an on-going vigil to ensure the safety of these brave activists. We can be reached by email or calling 561-249-2071
FOR MORE INFO on Scripps and the Briger Tract Forest check out Palm Beach Environmental Coalition
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/tree-sitting-couple-catch-attention-of-nb-i-1252923.html
http://www.cbs12.com/
http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/region_n_palm_beach_county/palm_beach_gardens/construction-site-protest-in-palm-beach-gardens-First-ever Florida Tree-Sit Erected to Defend Briger Forest Tract from Development... more
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If you go to northwest South Dakota, between Meadow and Glad Valley, there you will find the furthest spot from any McDonald's in the contiguous United States, a depressingly local 145 miles by car.
This map was created by Stephen Von Worley, who used location data on the 13,000 plus MickeyD's locations along with some coding-fu to generate the above map. What we see is as expected, a network of the franchises largely following the freeway and highway system and increasing in density in proportion to the population density. According to Von Worley, the furthest you can get from a McDonald's is in the aforementioned prairie wasteland of South Dakota, 107 miles as the crow flies from the nearest set of golden arches. And people wonder why we're a fat nation. For the complete breakdown and a full resolution version of the map, head over to Weather Sealed:
http://www.weathersealed.com/2009/09/22/where-the-buffalo-roamed/If you go to northwest South Dakota, between Meadow and Glad Valley, there you will... more
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No longer are they vibrant centers of suburban commerce. Instead, they often are homes to 99-cent shops and low-rent liquor stores. Their signs are decaying, their sidewalks cracked.
Hundreds of these aging mid-size strip centers sit on prime real estate throughout the region, underutilized and bound for blight.
...Orange County is projected to grow in the next 20 years by 600,000 residents...
...State projections show that sometime between 2010 and 2025, there will be no more vacant land to build on in Orange and Los Angeles counties...
Solution: Convert those strip centers into little villages where homes would be nestled among the stores, with parking stacked above, so those vast, unattractive paved lots could be put to much better use, maybe even as pocket parks.
(yeah it's an article from '01, but it's a good idea.)No longer are they vibrant centers of suburban commerce. Instead, they often are homes... more
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The California Legislature is on the verge of adopting the nation's first law to control planet-warming gases by curbing sprawl. The bill, sponsored by incoming state Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), is expected to pass the Assembly today and the Senate on Friday.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has not taken a position on the bill, but sponsors expect him to sign it once the state passes a budget.
The legislation, SB 375, would offer incentives to steer public funds away from sprawled development. The state spends about $20 billion a year on transportation, and under the new law, projects that meet climate goals would get priority.
An earlier version of the bill was blocked last year by the building industry and by organizations representing cities and counties. Developers feared their suburban projects would be delayed or halted. Local officials were wary of ceding zoning powers and transportation planning to the state.
But momentum for the legislation has grown as the state seeks to implement its landmark 2006 global warming law, which would slash California's greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, a 30% cut from expected emissions. To accomplish that, state officials say, fuel-efficient cars and factories won't be enough. Subdivisions, commercial centers and highways must be planned so that Californians can live and work closer together, reducing the amount they drive.
"Our communities must change the way they grow," Steinberg said. The California Legislature is on the verge of adopting the nation's first law to... more
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In case you haven’t heard, Tri-Rail is in big trouble.
Larry Lebowitz wrote a piece a couple days ago (sorry for the tardiness in reporting) outlining the impending doom for the Tri-County commuter rail line:
Tri-Rail may be facing no weekend service and a 60 percent cut in weekday trains in the fall after the state Legislature failed Friday to pass a major commuter rail bill that jeopardizes funding for the South Florida train.
Tri-Rail has been battling for years to get the Legislature to approve a dedicated funding source so it doesn’t have to seek money annually from Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties.
Without dedicated funding, the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (SFRTA), which operates Tri-Rail, is preparing for massive service cuts starting in October.
Tri-Rail executive director Joseph Giulietti said the agency would have to kill its entire Saturday, Sunday, and holiday service — about 15 trains a day — and reduce weekday commuter service from 50 trains down to 20.
SFRTA had been hoping two years ago that the Legislature would pass a measure that would allow Tri-Rail counties to hold a referendum on initiating a $2 a day fee on most rental cars that would provide a dedicated funding source to Tri-Rail. The result? Transit-hater Jeb Bush vetoed the bill. This year, two more bills pushing the $2 rental car fee passed the House, but died in the Senate without a vote a few days ago.
So this is how it will likely go down now: Palm Beach County will cut its share of funding down to the legal limit of $4.23 million. Of course, Miami-Dade and Broward will follow suit, resulting in an $18 million dollar loss for Tri-Rail.
This is almost unfathomable considering the following:
* Tri-Rail is one of the fastest growing transit systems in America
* A $440 million doubling-tracking project was completed less than two years ago
* Ridership is up 28% from this time last year, largely stemming from service increase
* Tri-Rail provides the only regional north-south transit service between Palm Beach and Miami-Dade Counties
Can it get much worse for transit in South Florida? We finally have a successful transit system that serves a critical role in the regional transportation network, it’s seeing rapid growth every year, and that’s not even good enough? Shameful, embarrassing, moronic — these words that immediately come to mind don’t even do justice here.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami_dade/story/519255.html
http://www.cfrail.com/newsevents.asp?type=news&id=41
http://www.mcall.com/topic/sfl-0430trirail,0,6237169.storyIn case you haven’t heard, Tri-Rail is in big trouble.
Larry Lebowitz wrote a... more
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