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The Challenges of Affordable Housing in New York City, New York

Nina Coveney — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:29:03 +0000

Affordable housing, as defined by the U.S. government, enables qualified residents to put 30% of their income toward housing while the government subsidizes the rest of the cost. While New York City (N.Y.C.) upholds this basic principle, the conditions surrounding affordable housing often make its related costs unrealistic for low-income families.

Contemporary affordable housing in N.Y.C. revolves around the concept of “inclusionary zoning,” or incentivizing luxury developments to incorporate a certain percentage of units for low-income people. This policy relies on market forces and was created with the best of intentions – avoiding segregation and bringing people diverse in income and experience together. Unfortunately, “this public-private, affordable-luxury model of development has not produced enough affordable housing to meet the needs of longtime, working class residents. The flood of new luxury units has far outpaced the trickle of affordability.” Affordable housing is so scarce in N.Y.C. that the U.N. assigned an expert in 2009 to investigate a possible violation of human rights. As a result, the gentrification spurred by high-end apartments in places such as Greenpoint-Williamsburg raises the cost of other aspects of life (food, education, transportation) for low-income families.

Nehemiah Homes, affordable housing in Brooklyn.

Where subsidized public housing is not grouped with luxury apartments, it is built where land is cheapest – furthest from the city center. These areas suffer from poor transit connectivity and astronomical commuting times, significantly increasing a family’s transportation expenses.

Unfortunately, N.Y.C. has the highest rental costs in the country — for all income levels. In 2009, nearly half of all renters put more than 30% of their income toward apartment rent (including utilities). 27.1% of renters paid more than 50% of their income toward rent, which New York State considers a “severe burden.” Although most urban planners believe in diversity and housing as a right for everyone, opponents might point out that there is no fundamental right to live in New York City. Nonetheless, N.Y.C.’s social sustainability – an essential aspect of the sustainable city – hangs in the balance.

What other challenges do those creating or seeking affordable housing face?

Credits: Image and data linked to sources.

Assessing the Damage: Preserving Detroit, Michigan’s Historical Places

Alexandria Stankovich — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:31:14 +0000

Renovated interior of Westin Book Cadillac

Many agree, Detroit, Michigan requires restructuring, on a physical and political level, but the process is still unclear. From the Art Deco and Neo-Renaissance buildings of downtown, to the Tudors, Victorians, and Bungalows of Detroit’s diverse neighborhoods, the architecture tells a tale of the city’s rich and painful history. In order to save the city, Cityscape Detroit and Preservation Wayne agree, urban planners, architects, and city officials must strike a balance between preservation and demolition.

In 2005, Detroit’s downtown was listed as one of 11 Most Endangered Historic Places according to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. While in 2012, the city ranks number nine on TopTenz.net’s Top Ten Downtown. Call it a comeback city or a lot of social media hype? The city is definitely prioritizing the right things, but it is a work in progress.

Over the years, Detroit has lost many of its architectural gems, for instance the Statler Hilton Hotel (built in 1915), the Madison-Lenox Theater (1901), Tiger’s Stadium (1912), and the Tuller Hotel (1906). For many sites, including Michigan Central Station (1913) and Wayne County Courthouse (1902) the future is uncertain. The city needs redevelopment, not necessarily new development. Use of existing building stock is a sustainable way to save the city.

Abandoned Michigan Central Station

Governor Rick Snyder’s decision to eliminate the brownfield redevelopment and historic preservation tax credits could slow the city’s preservation efforts. As such credits played a significant role in the revitalization of the Book Cadillac and Eastern Market Historic District. Fortunately as of January 2012, the MI Strategic Fund instated an economic assistance program for Michigan Community Revitalization, which offers a similar 25% tax credit. Priority is given to projects involving community development, sustainability, job creation, and historic sites.

Demolition seems the only remedy for its 70,000 neglected and abandoned properties. Housing boomed with Ford’s Five Dollar a Day promise, but when population declined in the 1950′s, accelerating through the 1970′s, the city became a magnet for drugs, vandalism, and arson. While Mayor Bing’s crews have demolished 3,875 as of January 2012, other groups such as Blight Busters are working to clean up neighborhoods without a wrecking ball. These community volunteers help to revitalize existing homes, build new houses, and protect the community from arson, as a supporter of Angel’s Night.

Preservation Wayne is conducting a Detroit Building Survey in order to inventory historical commercial and residential properties. Demolition may be necessary, but the city should protect places of historic significance and ties to the community. What must Detroit prioritize?

Credits: Images and data linked to the sources.

Micro-Generation of Electricity in United Kingdom (U.K.)

Ubaid Khan — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:32:56 +0000

Micro-generation refers to the practice of generating some or all of one’s household electricity or heating through renewable sources, rather than drawing the energy from the National Grid. In order to maintain sustainable energy supply within U.K. and meet emission reduction targets, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) published a Micro-generation Strategy along with the Micro-generation Industry Contact Group Action Plan on 2 June 2011. The Strategy represents an important step on the U.K.’s journey towards cleaner, greener energy.

As part of strategy planning, various inventive schemes such as Feed in Tariffs (F.I.T) and Renewable Heat Incentives (R.H.I) have been introduced by the government with extensive awareness programs for U.K.-wide propagation of micro-generation. The following two types of micro-generation engineering technologies are most feasible and getting popular around the country through advertisement and social marketing.

1. Solar Panels

Solar PV (photovoltaic) uses the sun’s energy to create electricity to run appliances and lighting. Light weighted solar panels can go onto the roof and by acquiring an area of just 10-15 sq m could produce about a third of an average family’s electricity.

2. Micro Wind Turbine

Wind turbines harness the power of the wind and use it to generate electricity. Forty percent of all the wind energy in Europe blows over the U.K., making it an ideal country for domestic turbines (known as ‘microwind’ or ‘small-wind’ turbines). A typical system in an exposed site could easily generate more power than your lights and electrical appliances use.

Are you U.K. resident? Have you considered Micro-generation for your house design? Do you think governmental incentives schemes are sufficient enough to encourage households?

Credits: Images and data linked to sources.

Seeking Spring 2012 Internship Applications

Renée van Staveren — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:35:25 +0000

Do you have a unique specialty in the field of environmental design? Do you currently live in a town or city that has not/or is currently not being covered by another blogger? Have you successfully managed social media platforms? Do you have a passion for writing and want to learn how to successfully blog? If you answered yes to any of these questions, Global Site Plans wants your application.

Global Site Plans is seeking talented students and professionals in the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, engineering, urban planning, and specialties within these environmental design fields. As a bi-weekly blogger, you would speak to topics related to your fields of expertise, but specific to your location. For example, you live in Granite Bay, California (my hometown). You would then become the correspondent for environmental design topics at this location. Global Site Plans’ The Grid wants to stay local, yet reach globally.

We are also seeking bloggers who have expertise in design (print and online), social media and networking(managing Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn accounts). While these blogs would not be location-specific, as the other bloggers, they would be written specifically for the environmental design sector.

Does this sound exciting and you can make a 6-month commitment? If so, submit your application today, in order to be included in the next round of applications. During February and August, annually, we review rolling applications for new interns to join The Grid blogging team every March and September. Don’t miss your opportunity.

Read below for application details:

We are seeking contributing blogger interns who can make a minimum commitment of 6-months, contractually. As a contributing blogger you will be able to build your personal brand on the Internet, be looked upon as an expert in the field you cover, and be recognized widely over different mediums. Your blogs will be distributed through http://www.globalsiteplans.com/the-grid (The Grid is Global Site Plans’ blog), Twitter,Facebook, and LinkedIn. This is a great way to gain visibility as you enter the public and private workforce, or to further develop yourself professionally.

Qualifications:
• 6-month or 1-year commitment, contractually;
• 2 blogs per month, biweekly (12 blogs in total for 6-months/ 24 blogs in total for 1-year);
• 250-350 word maximum, submitted in Word format for review and editing;
• Excellent English and writing skills;
• Passion for the topics you write about;
• Ability to work under deadlines and meet them – very important that dates set for blog submission are honored.

Global Site Plans will work with each blogger to ensure that the topics covered are those of high interest to both the writer and the reader. The audience reading these blogs will be individuals just like you and me – environmental designers, so you’ll need to be able to write for the audience to keep them engaged and commenting on your blogs. Your blogs should be informative, but also pose questions to encourage dialogue.

Internship Outcomes:
• Increased knowledge and exposure to blogging career opportunities;
• Ability to utilize WordPress blogging software – increased knowledge of functionality and features;
• Increased comfort writing within word count constraints;
• Obtain editorial feedback to improve your writing skills;
• Branding yourself on the Internet and creating exposure for job opportunities;
• Performance based upon word count accuracy, number of revisions required of each blog and improvements over time, meeting deadlines, and utilizing keywords, formatting, and hyperlinking according to training.

How to Apply:

If you are interested, please email the application components to Global Site Plans at hireme@globalsiteplans.com.

1. Submit a Resume and Cover Letter;
2. Submit a writing sample regarding an environmental design topic;
3. Submit 12 topics that you are interested in blogging about (Topic ideas should be related to where you are currently live so this may take a bit of research on your part. Planetizen is a great resource);
4. In the subject line of your email, put BLOGGING INTERNSHIP.

This is an unpaid and a virtual internship which can be completed from home.

Applications are accepted within the following specialties: architecture/ community/economic development/ energy/ engineering/ environment/ government and politics/ history and preservationt/ housing/ infrastructure/ land use/ landscape architecture/ social and demographics/ transportation/ urban development and real estate/ urban planning and design.

We look forward to getting your application.

Make Good or Get Rid. Time to Get Tough with Regeneration?

Ashley Roberts — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:14:30 +0000

Brownfield sites prime for building. Derelict architecture crying out to be regenerated. Both are common sites up and down the United Kingdom, but why? With a long standing housing shortage only predicted to get worse, what are we doing to utilise these potentially valuable resources?

The value of the land on which they sit is key. Developers want to maximise their profits, ideally with as little input as possible. So rather than regenerating and the costly process of hiring an architect, developing and completing a scheme, they are content to sit tight with a degenerating site. As long as the land value is increasing, securing a bigger profit at the end of the day, they will wait for years, even decades. This selfish approach gives no thought to neighbours who have to put up with their own home values suffering as a result of the unsightly shell two doors down.

So what can we do? Whilst I’m sure there are already long-winded procedures in place perhaps to deal with this issue, perhaps now is the time for councillors and urban planners to get tough. Why can’t we give them the power to to take derelict land away from the owners? It could be given a fixed time-frame, so that if a plot lies empty for 3 or 5 years without a conscious and meaningful effort to either sell the land or redevelop the property local councils have the right to inherit it.

Surely this is a more sustainable urban design concept than the current cycle of decay and large scale regeneration that happens country wide?

And with so many people desperate to get on the property ladder what better way is there of bringing quality housing stock to the market quickly?

Credits: Image and data linked to sources.

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) in Mammoth Lakes, California

Patricia Kent — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:37:17 +0000

“Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design,” or LEED, is an obvious standard in environmental design and Mammoth Mountain in Mammoth Lakes, CA strives to maintain its natural resources while attempting to accommodate thousands of tourists. The LEED standard was established by the U.S. Green Building Council in 1993 as a national environmental rating system to encourage the mainstream architecture industry to utilize sustainable practices. Some accepted home design practices include:

• A reduced carbon footprint by utilizing local building materials;

• The use of local masonry rock;

• Installation of energy efficient windows and systems;

• And the purchase of recycled carpeting, decking, and drywall.

Mammoth Mountain boasts a small handful of completed, LEED certified buildings, influencing environmental design in the Eastern Sierra. The Platinum certified cabin 11 at Tamarack Lodge was the first LEED architecture design project undertaken by Mammoth Mountain in 2008 and the first of its kind in the region. This three bedroom, innovative cabin, located on the shore of Twin Lakes, has room for 8 and features environmentally friendly hardwood flooring, fiberglass insulation, local masonry rock, pest resistant siding, energy efficient windows, and recycled carpeting, decking, and drywall.

A second LEED certified project in Mammoth is Altis IV, a collection of luxury resort residences. The completed first phase includes four Gold Certified homes which “exhibit the richest materials and comforts without the environmental impact.” The Altis project used locally-sourced materials and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified hardwoods. The FSC, a non-profit, ensures that consumers are aware of which wood products do not contribute to habitat destruction, water pollution, displacement of indigenous peoples, or violence against people and wildlife.

LEED certification is important to promote in a town where the environment plays a crucial role in its branding and economic survival. LEED encourages the use of recycled products, FSC-certified hardwoods, and environmental stewardship.

What new LEED projects are propelling environmentally friendly design where you live?

Credits: Images and data linked to sources.

Urban Farming: Eagle Street Rooftop and Added Value Farms in Brooklyn, New York

Christine Camilleri — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:29:41 +0000

A number of non-profit and community-based organizations have been exploring New York City’s potential to be a center for urban agriculture. Added Value and the Eagle Street Rooftop Farm in Brooklyn, New York have been working to foster community development and sustainability in a number of innovative ways.

Eagle Street Rooftop farm is a 6,000 square foot green roof organic vegetable farm located atop a warehouse rooftop in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. During New York City’s growing season, the farmers at Eagle Street Rooftop Farm supply a community supported agriculture (CSA) program , an onsite farm market, and bicycle fresh produce to area restaurants. The rooftop farm also hosts a range of farm-based educational and volunteer programs in partnership with with the food education organization Growing Chefs.

In April 2000, Added Value, an urban farm in Red Hook, Brooklyn, was formed in an attempt to simultaneously offer the Red Hook community access to healthy local produce and to promote youth empowerment. In May of 2001, Red Hook’s only supermarket closed its doors, leaving a serious demand for healthy produce in the community. Since 2001, Added Value has provided year-long training to more than 115 neighborhood teens. The teens’ responsibilities range from the development of agriculture-related business to the electronic documentation of the food justice movement and community education and mobilization. They work an average of seventeen hours each week in the gardens, at market and on the computers, and they receive a monthly stipend for their efforts to improve the community.

Urban planners and landscape architects can look to these examples of community-based urban agriculture in order to promote more sustainable urban planning and urban design.

What innovative community-based food-justice initiatives are located in your town or city?

Credits: Images and data linked to sources.

Montreal, Canada’s Transportation Plan: Increasing Public Transit Options

Yosef Robinson — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:25:58 +0000

Montreal Island (the core of the Montreal region) boasts of a city bus network, a subway system (hereafter, the metro), and a commuter rail system serving the entire metropolitan region. Eventhough Montreal has one of the highest public transit riderships in North America, some places in the Montreal area are not served by public transit as adequately as they could be. Rampant automobile use has generated problems like traffic congestion, urban sprawl, and automobile-generated emissions which could be reduced by public transit usage. Public transit is essential for those without cars.

Montreal’s 2008 Transportation Plan forecasts a minimum 8% increase in transit ridership by 2012, and a minimum 26% increase in ridership by 2021. The Transportation Plan seeks to upgrade the metro system fleet, increase the capacity of metro lines, and make that system cleaner and more accessible to the disabled. That plan also calls for the creation of a contemporary, efficient tramway system running along some of Montreal’s busiest arteries, and also a bus rapid transit system that would run on dedicated rights-of-way along some other busy arteries.

As for regular city buses, the plan proposes expanding the bus fleet, and introducing articulated buses on some of the busiest routes; it also seeks to create reserved bus lanes and more express bus routes, along with making the buses more attractive and sustainable. Moreover, the plan calls for improving paratransit service for people with limited mobility.

The Montreal Transportation Plan has prioritized the following individual projects to expand transit options in the Montreal region:

● Extending some of the metro’s lines eastward and northward;

● An additional commuter rail line, serving the eastern sector of Montreal Island and points east in the Montreal metropolitan area (all of which have lacked commuter rail up until now);

● A rail shuttle between the airport and downtown (a bus route linking the two areas has been recently developed);

● Improving bus links between Montreal Island and off-island suburbs.

What are the best options for optimizing public transit in and around Montreal?

Credits: Images and data linked to sources.

How Realistic is the Scottish Government’s Target of 100% Electricity Generation from Renewable Sources by 2020?

Laura Paterson — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:56:59 +0000

With a wealth of natural resources, Scotland has the potential to be a world leader in renewable energy production and Scotland’s First Minister, Alex Salmond, is happy to encourage a new industry that with create jobs and wealth. Scotland’s wind, wave and tidal potential make up to 25% of the EU capacity.

This has major benefits for not only how Scotland meets its electricity demands, but also a major export industry for safe, green energy to the rest of Europe. A recent report by think tank Reform Scotland highlighted that increasing Scotland’s energy exports could increase manufacturing exports by 17%.

There are already problems with increasing renewable electricity supply in Scotland:

Research and Development: Aspects of tidal and off shore wind power generation are still emerging technologies and require research and development before being built. This takes time and money;
Investment: major infrastructure is required to connect these new off shore and isolated power generators to the national grid. There have already been concerns about high charges to connect and use the grid by renewables.

Concerns over the Scottish Government’s target include the use of a percentage; with no starting point it needs to be more specific to be meaningful, it is also difficult to see how progress can be measured. The Institute of Mechanical Engineers have published an interesting report, outlining that the target is unrealistic because it is not based on a technical research. In the last decade, Scotland has increased renewable electricity generation by 6TWh per year. In order to achieve the 100% target, this would need to increase to 39.2TWh per year (that’s a 650% increase!) Based on these figures, the target seems unachievable too, given the current recession and a limited amount of time and funds available.

In 2010, 24.1% of Scotland’s electricity came from renewables.

Norway is the closest European country to achieving 100% renewable generation. Natural hydro supplies 83% of its electricity. This has been achieved by a constant and long running ambition to achieve energy security.

Should Scotland be committing more money to renewables during a recession?

Credits: Image and data linked to sources.

The Benefits of Website Maintenance for Your Environmental Design Business

Benjamin Ha — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 08:44:55 +0000

Within the field of architecture, engineering, environmental non-profit, landscape architecture and urban planning, attending to your website’s upkeep will help your business grow and continue to thrive.

Clientele will most likely conduct research about your company prior to contacting you, and in today’s age, companies are always developing and maintaining websites to attract new and return clientele, as well as promote, expand, and market their growing business.

Examples of website maintenance include:

Strengthening or adding new information about your company and staff;
Updating or changing any necessary content, such as dates, events or prices;
Developing and keeping page layouts fresh and captivating;
Researching or creating new graphics or images to display;
Creating new content to enhance search engine optimization (SEO) through blogs, articles, and/or press releases;
Addressing website issues, such as broken navigations, missing pages or distorted graphics in certain browsers.

There are numerous easy ways to maintain a website, some of which include investing in website maintenance packages, which may cost less than hiring a full-time employee to manage a website. For smaller businesses, one person may suffice to attend to these issues; however, more than one person should be taken into consideration for medium to larger companies.

The main concern is to designate at least one person to address website issues because a website with less mistakes or accidental errors makes the company more credible and professional.

However, a website is not the only aspect businesses should focus on especially in today’s generation of technology and social media.

In fact, many businesses are turning to social networks, including Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, as a form of marketing their business and its promotions. Updating these individual accounts on a daily, even hourly, basis now fall under the category of today’s website maintenance.

Under the “PACKAGES” tab, be sure to check out the website maintenance packages that Global Site Plans offers. And if you haven’t already, visit my previous blog for The GRID to learn how website maintenance affects SEO.

Credit: Images and data linked to source.