Sorry - I managed somehow to use the wrong announcement. The new article is here:
http://tclocal.org/2008/07/postpeak_land_use_part_2_the_c.html As I was saying: After some of the back and forth here about living in cities vs. living in the countryside, this article seems especially likely to interest folks here. --------------------------------- Land use is at the heart of how we live. Whether that use is densely concentrated in urban centers, or more broadly distributed across the landscape in rural areas, the infrastructure we build sets the terms on which we live. This month, TCLocal examines proposals for adjusting the way we use land to respond to higher energy costs, in both urban and rural contexts. Josh Dolan, local permaculturalist, offers ideas for a far more efficient - but still potentially exciting - future. Because this is long, and because it naturally falls into two pieces, we're publishing this in two parts. It's time to look at the second aspect, possibilities for a rich and efficient rural life: http://tclocal.org/2008/07/postpeak_land_use_part_2_the_c.html While many planners focus on strengthening urban infrastructure, addressing the challenges of creating a more localized economy requires not just cities but also rural villages. Those villages can apply many of the same principles in a different context to produce a very different environment. The first section, on urban land use, examined shifting toward Ecocities, addressing human needs in urban areas at much lower cost than our present auto-centric approach allows. For a lot more detail, visit: http://tclocal.org/2008/07/postpeak_land_use_part_1_ecoci.html We welcome comments and suggestions on the site - this is a vision, not necessarily the only path forward. We'd love to hear questions, criticisms, and additional ideas. TCLocal is a group of citizens developing strategies for dealing with energy descent in Tompkins County. To that end, we're publishing periodic articles, examining specific topics in the harsh light of higher energy prices. You can find them at: http://www.tclocal.org/ Previous articles have examined growing fruit and managing roads and bridges in Tompkins County after the peak, as well as a proposal for combining the City of Ithaca's existing water system with hydroelectric to create a more self-sufficient water delivery network. Upcoming articles will cover household preparation, small livestock, waste disposal, and health. We're working toward publishing around one article per month. The TCLocal web site is specifically designed to get your feedback on these ideas they are developed. These articles are a starting point for a conversation we hope will include a wide variety of readers coming at these issues from different perspectives. We welcome comments - they work now! - and hope to find more good ideas through public discussion. Thanks, Simon St.Laurent Chair, TCLocal _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
