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Streetcars to make it easier to leave the car at home and supplement regional light rail, running 24 hours a day.
Metered parking on all downtown business streets, with resident-only parking off the business streets, to encourage use of public parking lots and transit.
More bike lanes, bike paths and a bike-share program.
Car-sharing businesses to provide short-term car rental for those who generally wouldn't need them but use them occasionally.
More affordable housing to reduce homelessness.
Privatize "public" highways, allowing access by toll or subscription, and end federal subsidy of commercial aviation. With their primary government-funded competitors thus removed, return urban public transit and long-distance rail transportation to the private sector.
They should build commercial businesses underneath highways (the elevated ones, they can be short i.e. not those ones in Texas but short elevated ones so they don't become an eyesore in the skyline) of any type such as Nightclubs and only lease them for 99 years, only a little at a time and lease them to the highest bidder, the tax revenue would increase and lesser taxes would happen for everyone as there is now lots of square feet of retail and great things in what was a place where it is once ugly and full of hobos.
They should also promote tax credits for businesses and homes who add green roofs and green walls, but only certain buildings like don't do it for a historic brownstone.
They should also promote tax credits for businesses and homes who add green roofs and green walls, but only certain buildings like don't do it for a historic brownstone.
A lot of states offer historic building tax credits--they are really the "greenest" buildings in that they are already built. The energy cost for their construction is long since paid. Demolishing a historic building and replacing it with a new building, no matter how energy efficient the new building is, requires more energy than the new building will save in many decades.
On the other hand, rehabbing and fixing up historic buildings can make them very efficient--older buildings were constructed when heating and cooling was more expensive, so often they are more efficient than most newer construction even without retrofit. With retrofit and repair (made possible by incentives like historic tax credits) they can be just as efficient as brand-new "green" buildings.
So you're on the right track--when you're talking about green and sustainable buildings, you're also talking about historic buildings. Typically you're also talking about low-income housing, walkability, mixed use and transit orientation too...
I live in a huge spread out townhouse complex and in the 40 years this complex has existed, oddly enough, no one ever thought to put park benches
in all the grassy courtyard areas.
Through enough pressure, we now have 5.
Public restrooms. Or a map as to where to find them if you're visiting AnyCity USA. This is the most stressful part of my travels, the panic attacks that can occur when you have to go and you're at a loss as to where to go.
Yes, there's fast food restaurants if they're nearby, but I had to go really badly in Philadelphia one time, and they wouldn't let me use the restroom until I had purchased something, and there was 3 people ahead of me.
For someone that can't hold it that long, it was 3 people too many!
Out the door I went, running like a mad man! It shouldn't be this way! Why should we have to travel and carry diapers along!
Metered parking on all downtown business streets, with resident-only parking off the business streets, to encourage use of public parking lots and transit.
And to encourage the majority of people to shop and play in the new development outside of the city with free parking.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wburg
On the other hand, rehabbing and fixing up historic buildings can make them very efficient--older buildings were constructed when heating and cooling was more expensive, so often they are more efficient than most newer construction even without retrofit. With retrofit and repair (made possible by incentives like historic tax credits) they can be just as efficient as brand-new "green" buildings.
Those historic buildings with their brick exteriors, plaster walls, no insulation, no space between the plaster and brick for insulation, and $750 a month home heating bills are just the greenest ever built.
A reason according to this site for the high cost of living, and I guess from there, a worse quality of life, is that there is too much regulation and laws in every strata of people's lives. This probably not only applies to New York City but also to other major cities in the US. I don't think they should take away all social services for poor people because those are needed but over regulation has the effect of upping the cost of everything. Over regulation and so many rules also creates a chilling effect of having the police be able to arrest you for pretty much anything and also gives them zero accountability. Like I was in New York City and this tourist wanted to sit on an exposed concrete part beside the walkway in Central Park then this woman came up to him and said "Hey don't sit there, you are subject to a $150 dollar fine!". Then my dad was about to sit in the same spot but I had to tell him not to sit there or else we'd be fined $150. I mean come on why? I bet many other things in NYC that are legal anywhere else you get arrested for, handcuffed, then beaten by the NYPD who can then deny allegations of police brutality and the court will always side with them. I think the whole regulations and law system in any city needs to undergo a complete and total reform to promote more freedom and that can reduce the cost of living and police state abuse which turns freedoms into criminal acts. That would definitely make any city more livable to me.
I know this sounds pretty minor, and wouldn't really make my city more "livable", but I have never figured out why southern California has so few fountains. There are virtually none in Orange County (I acutally can't think of any, but I'm sure there must be some), and the only one I can think of in LA is on Wilshire Blvd in Beverly Hills. We have perfect weather to enjoy them, and they add an aesthetic component to the city scape. European cities seem to have tons of fountains, why can't we have more here?
There are some fountains in private shopping centers, but I'm talking about fountains in a public, common space.
And to encourage the majority of people to shop and play in the new development outside of the city with free parking.
Those historic buildings with their brick exteriors, plaster walls, no insulation, no space between the plaster and brick for insulation, and $750 a month home heating bills are just the greenest ever built.
A solid brick building with plaster walls has higher R-value than a new wood framed building with stucco or wood siding exterior and drywall interior, or even a new cinderblock building with drywall interior and a whole lot more thermal mass. The first step is to look at the building's configuration and location--if it's a row house or a commercial building with buildings on either side, the un-insulated walls on the sides aren't a problem because they share heat with adjacent buildings.
The next step is to look at how the building was designed to be heated and cooled by the builders--what techniques did they use, and what features were incorporated into the building's design? Did they have small heaters in every room, a central boiler, fireplaces, steam heat? Work taking their methods into account rather than just applying the modern solution, or you're working at cross purposes to the building's design.
After that, look to seal cracks and leaks in walls and windows. Typically restoring old wooden windows is a far more cost-effective strategy than replacing them with vinyl windows--that costs a lot more and uses a lot more resources, for a window that will probably have to be replaced in a decade or so when the seals break. Restoring windows costs a few bucks, and low-tech solutions like awnings, curtains and window shades can supplement high-tech solutions like window films, marine epoxy to build up damaged wood, and caulk & foam to seal cracks and fill gaps.
Then look at the roof and floor. Even if the walls don't have open spaces for insulation, the roof generally does, and basement insulation can help too.
In terms of energy savings, consider how much the heating cost would be for a new building, and compare it to the old building's heating cost, before and after a rehab. Compare the cost of rehab to new construction of similar quality--it is invariably much less. Then compare the cost of new construction to the savings in energy costs, both in dollars and in terms of BTUs--old buildings, especially brick or stone ones, represent a massive energy investment that is thrown away by demolition. Repayment of the difference in energy consumption can take decades or centuries--and rehab of the existing building can make up most or all of the difference, and extend the life of the building by decades.
As to "free" parking--Free parking is never, ever free.
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