In the abstract it is possible for suburbs to be both sustainable and not soul deadening. There is no reason suburbs could not be built with energy efficiency buildings. No reason in the abstract they have to have mile after mile of pure residential with everything else in concentrated island. Instead they could mix residences, shopping, commercial, light industry, schools and government functions to make an entire suburb walkable. No reason in the abstract suburbs could not be a modern version of what used to be called "street-car suburbs" which existed before automobiles. The abstract is a beautiful place, but we don't live there. Don't know if forces exist to make that kind of suburb today in new developments, let alone transform existing suburbs. But certainly technically possible. Don't know about socially.
Incidentally, the way modern suburbs developed is one of the few good pieces of evidence for the market worshipping libertarians. Regulation played a huge role. Zoning rules that strictly economic sectors. Maximum lots per acre (in some places minimum acres per lot). Setbacks, where front doors had to be a minimum distance from streets. Mandatory parking. Some these (like parking) are outright automobile subsidies. Others at minimum increase the inconvenience of not owning and automobile, and in many cases turn automobile ownership from a luxury to a necessity. Note by the way that this is not just a matter of zoning. There are places in the country without zoning, but still face many of these in other regulatory forms. And this is off the top of my head, so I probably missed a rule or two. On Thu, Nov 22, 2012 at 3:38 PM, Chuck Grimes <[email protected]> wrote: > I remember the article. The primary benefit was in insulated building > environments and more efficient electrical use, i.e. energy consumption per > capita. It also mentioned public transite. > > CG > > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l > -- Facebook: Gar Lipow Twitter: GarLipow Solving the Climate Crisis web page: SolvingTheClimateCrisis.com Grist Blog: http://grist.org/author/gar-lipow/ Online technical reference: http://www.nohairshirts.com _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
