Really long comments....

The Greening of NYC
This article attemps to highligh the sustainable aspects of NYC and I think it does a good job when it comes to describing all of the eco-tourism sites to be visited. I was surprised by all of the places and stores that the author listed. Only in New York would there be an eco-department store! All of the sustainable clothing stores and green buildings sound fascinating and prosperous, but I argue that there is always more to be done. The author supports the idea that NYC is a “Sustainable City” by listing all of the green efforts taking place such as the Earth Day Celebration in 1990 and the environmental schools. I question his examples because they seem to be outdated. The Earth Day celebration was 5 years ago, why was there not one every year? Also, he talked about the recycling efforts made in NYC. If you have been to NYC, I don’t think you will see a major effort any where within the city to offer recycling. He says currently (in 1995) NYC recycles 15% of the garbage and a mandate was passed to recycle 40%. Has this goal been met today? All I can say is that when I was in NYC, I did not see any efforts to increase recycling around the city. This would take some major organization, but it can be done. The city just needs someone who cares to take jcharge. He also mentioned some green projects being looked into such as composting, repair centers, and BYOB. What has happened to these efforts? If this article was written in 1995, then why have we not seen major improvements in these areas in NYC by 2007??

NPR
The Los Angeles River would flood, and so they sought advice about it from Olmstead. He suggested not to build houses near the river, but to build a parkway as a flood control device. I think this is a good idea and I like that people interested in their community are getting involved in building parks and planting around the river. Local governments are letting community input be a part of the design process when landscaping and gardening around the river. The building of the parkways can affect the community as well as government groups’ ideas, such as the Army Corps of Engineers. The project seems very positive and beneficial to the atmosphere of the communities as well as contributing to learning and teamwork.

The Solaire
This apartment complex looks beautiful and spacious. I think it is a great idea to build energy efficient residence building, since so many apartments are inefficient in heating, electric, and insulation and will not change because of the relationships between the landlords and the tenants. I’m sure it would be very expensive to live in these buildings and it is definitely not geared toward the lower class. I think in addition to building new energy efficient buildings, the city should focus on improving the older very inefficient buildings. People end up paying way too much for their heating and electricity simply because their old building systems or the appliances that are supplied with their apartments. I think that these issues should be addressed. In the Solaire, I love the idea of the rooftop gardens and the irrigation set up to water these gardens.

Sustainable Urban Ecosystems
This paper discussed many interesting topics and provided many great research questions about many different aspects of urban ecosystems. They talked about subjects such as identifying and designing methods, analyzing costs, researching people and implementing projects. Of particular interest to me were the impacts of urban environments on people. I was intersted in questions like “What demographic, scientific, economic, and religious trends are most likely to shape urban dwellers attitudes towards nature and their behaviors impacting landscapes? What are the positive impacts of community-based green projects on small groups and organizations that participate?”