New Businesses Bring Stability to Neighborhoods

For many of us, the decision to move to an older neighborhood is due to:

1. Affordability - in some cities, older urban homes cost less than new homes (especially if you are in a city where foreclosures are the talk of the day - not good news for some, but opportunities for others).
2. Activism - you’re a new urbanism advocate and choose to live closer to older urban centers (you’re not a fan of urban sprawl).
3. Good Taste - you like the architecture, character and feel of “seasoned” older communities.

Okay, so those are the good reasons. But there is one concern many of us have when we start considering the move to older communities. Are they stable? Is the community in a state of decline or are residents there activily working to boost the viability of living and working in that community? Are there “new urbanism” champions among residents AND city officials to support the redevelopment or enhancement of this neighborhood?

I just read an article in the Indianapolis Star that focused a spotlight on one of the city’s older neighborhoods called Fall Creek.  A number of ambitious and excited new business owners have staked their careers and precious investments on new storefront businesses in this part of the city.

Indianapolis Deputy Mayor, Steve Campbell, who lives in the Fall Creek neighborhood “sees the commercial ventures as part of the bigger picture — they bring stability and appeal to the redeveloped area.”

So, if you’ve got that business idea that has been nagging you for years but you didn’t think you had the funds to get it off the ground, think again. You just might be able to launch your business in one of your region’s urban centers. There are often government incentives to help entrepreneurs choosing to invest in certain urban centers.  Federal funds have been specifically targeted to help those cities in need of new ideas, vision and the confidence of people committed to making cities good places to live, work and thrive.

Tags: City Life, New Urbanism, entrepreneurs

Be a Tourist in Your Own City

It seems that each time I visit another city someone is able to point out to me yet another site or fact about my home town that I was unaware of!  That tells me that I’m not taking the time to appreciate what is in my own community.  With that in mind I thought I’d draw up a list to help remind all of you new urban moms to become a tourist in your own city!  It’s cheaper than a real trip to say Paris or some other place you’d rather be as a tourist, and it’s um…well as I said it’s cheaper. 

How to Be A Tourist in Your Own City

1. Visit your local art gallery
2. Visit your local art museum
3. Hop on one of those very touristy trolley cars - I did it and I had a great time!
4. Visit your local zoo
5. If you’ve got a great university campus, take a stroll through it and get coffee at one of the graduate student hang-outs.
6. If you’re not already a subscriber, get tickets to the symphony (gives you a good reason to dress up!)
7. If your city has a pleasant waterfront, take a stroll with the family…it really puts everyone in a great mood.
8. Take a neighborhood tour - contact your local Convention Visitors’ Bureau for information.
9. Take your husband, partner, date or best girlfriend and stroll arm in arm through the snazzy, or jazzy part of town at night…sounds dorky but you know you’ll enjoy yourself! 
10. Have a late night dinner at one of those restaurants at the top of towers or hotels - even if the food isn’t spectacular the view usually is! I’ve done that in great cities and not so great cities - enjoyed it every time. 

There are so many more things that you can do by just thinking about what makes your community unique.  So don’t be a stranger to your home town gems…be a tourist!

Tags: City Life, New Urbanism

What Happened at the Bioneers Conference?

The Bioneers Conference was an exceptional experience and coming together of some of our country’s most innovative leaders, thinkers and advocates for green, sustainable living. I took my teenaged son out of school for a couple of days to feed his interest around environmental activism and to widen my horizons around the important communitiy issues raised at this phenomenal event.

Please visit my new site New Urban Green Living for details. That site will focus on sustainable communities from a wider perspective (not just the perspective of us wise moms!). If you’re interested in how businesses, non-profit groups, citizens, students and others advance initiatives to achieve healthier sustainable living for all in our urban/suburban centers, please come on over.

Tags: Green Living

When a Car is Needed - Drive Green, Drive Hybrid

New urbanists promote walkable communities that cut down on vehicle pollution. But what about those times when the car is needed for an event or when (God forbid) public transit is not available to get you to distant locations?

Obviously we drive when we need to and for many of us that is every day.  So since modern life dictates our need for a car, any steps we can take to reduce the pollution we create is not only great but essential. Enter the hybrid car.

I just had a discussion with a good friend who told me she had just purchased a hybrid car that allowed her to get an extra 20 to 30 miles per gallon. That got me thinking about my gas guzzling mini-van and why my next purchase is going to be a hybrid car.

Hybrid cars are powered by gas and electricity - a gas powered engine and a battery powered electric motor. Many of the major car companies are providing hybrid car options for their most popular models.

According to the website www.allabouthybridcars.com

Hybrid cars blend the best of the conventional car with the best of electric cars for a winning combination. Uniting the cleaner energy of the electric motor with the long-range power of the gasoline engine yields a hybrid automobile with lower toxic emissions with better fuel economy-sometimes up to 30 miles a gallon or more than conventional cars. And the good news is these HEVs (Hybrid Electric Vehicles) perform as well if not better than non-hybrids and are as safe, reliable and comfortable as any traditional car.

The Toyata Prius is considered one of the best hybrid cars out there. But what about US automakers? Well Time reports that GM has finally come around to making their “green” car a priority.

After dismissing them for years as a niche unworthy of attention, GM will release an average of one new hybrid model every three months for the next two years, beginning with the industry’s first full-size hybrid SUVs late this year. (Time.com report by Brian Walsh)

I sure do remember when hybrid cars were thought to be odd little novelties for tree huggers and other non-conformists. Now it is the hip car to get. I’m just happy it’s catching on the way it is. Popular Hybrid cars start at around $20,000 (US).

Tags: New Urbanism

More Urbanites Buying into Local Food Trend

On our Green Living page and in a previous post I discussed the positive impact on our environment of buying locally grown food. A recent feature by environment reporter Catherine Porter with the Toronto Star newspaper stated that 91 percent of people in that paper’s province (Ontario) would buy locally grown food if they could find it in the grocery store.

Those kinds of statistics haven’t gone unnoticed by green entrepreneurs and savvy urban dwellers. A non profit Toronto company has begun to certify food as “sustainable - which means it was produced in Ontario in a way that’s gentle on the environment and strict on worker and animal rights.”

The company, Local Food Plus, has certified 50 farmers and food processors in the region who abide by these ethical principles. Toronto’s largest independent grocery store, Fiesta Farms, is a large client for Local Food Plus, providing city dwellers with easy access to locally grown food.

Just last weekend my husband and I ventured out to the inner city to visit one of our all time favourite farmer’s markets - the St. Lawrence Market. It’s located close to the waterfront and is among one of the happiest places to be early on a Saturday morning. The bustle of urbanites sifting through freshly baked breads, scented basil and sage, fresh cuts of meat and all manner of locally grown fruits and vegetables was a treat for all the senses.

The Toronto Star reports that Local Food Plus can not keep up with the demand as farmers are lining up to be certified.

“The idea is not to provide consumers a one-stop shop for their 100-mile diet. LFP aims to correct some redundancies in our food system” and stop the crazy practice of shipping locally grown food overseas and importing things we grow locally (like apples) from China.

So whether you live near the countryside or in one of our continent’s great old cities, take the time to search out your local farmer’s market because what you eat can and will affect your environment.

Tags: Green Living, New Urbanism

Making our Busiest Cities More Walkable

The city of Toronto is currently hosting an international conference on walking.  That’s the first I’ve heard of this event called “Walk21″.  This is great news for new urbanism advocates who work tirelessly to sell the benefits of pedistrian friendly communities.  Conferences like this raise the profile on this issue and serve to encourage more developers, planners, and residents to support the development or re-development of communities that are aligned to new urbanism principles.

Toronto is a wonderfully liveable city, but it is slowly choking itself to death with the volume of cars that clog up its roadways.  This morning envirnomentalists in the area were thrilled to hear a Toronto city councillor announce that “remaking the new suburuban neighborhood” so that they are more walkable is among the biggest challenges that regional politicians were going to tackle in the year ahead.

Ideas the city plans to put into place by next year include everything from extending the time on those count down pedestrian signals at intersections to closing off strees to some vehicles.

Full story from the Toronto Star(article by Tess Kalinowski).

Tags: New Urbanism