The Latest
We have Opinions On: Real Estate Bidding Wars
While perusing the January issue of Yankee Magazine, I noticed an article on the impact of the in-migration of city folk into Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. For those of you who don’t know, the NEK is one of the most remote, isolated, and impoverished areas of...
We Have Opinions On: New Technology for the New Year
On December 21st, the ribbon was cut on the first 3D-printed Habitat for Humanity home in the nation in a subdivision in Virginia. The Habitat for Humanity of the Peninsula and Greater Williamsburg partnered with Alquist to use the computer printing technology...
We Have Opinions: Provoking Thought
The turn of each New Year is often a good time for reflection, and commitment to new goals. What are your goals for your community in the coming year? Are your wells of creativity running dry? I’ve got some resources for you to consider during the...
We Have Opinions On: Consolidated Funding
The State of New York recently released the list of grantees from the most recent round of Consolidated Funding Applications for economic development, public facilities, environmental protection, parks development, and Main Street redevelopment. The list is...
We Have Opinions On: Unusual Community Amenities
Many communities that are working very hard to revitalize their downtown neighborhoods wrestle with the issue of what makes sense for the future of dilapidated white elephant buildings that dominate their streetscapes. Often, these buildings are vacant movie...
We Have Opinions On: Staying Off My Lawn
I had the great good fortune last evening to attend a talk by Temple Grandin, a professor at Colorado State, and a leading advocate for persons with autism. I was fascinated during the question and answer period by the number of young people who asked intelligent...
Article: A New, Lower Threshold for Lead Poisoning in Children Means More Kids Will Get Tested
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its blood lead reference value – the level at which children ages 1-5 are considered to have high exposure to lead. Since 2012, this threshold had been set at 5 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood;...
We Have Opinions On: Climate Change
The State of New York currently has a Request for Proposals available for an administrator of a loan fund for a new residential loan program called Resilient Retrofits. Since this week is also when the world is meeting in Glasgow, Scotland to discuss climate...
We Have Opinions On: Popsicles and Perceptions
Sometimes, the process of creating change in your neighborhood starts with meeting your neighbors and engaging them in the conversation about how your community looks, how it works, and which of your neighbors struggle and why. It is extremely difficult to make...
We Have Opinions On: Landscaping
On October 14th, the Cultural Landscape Foundation of Washington, DC awarded the Cornelia Oberlander International Landscape Architecture Prize. This is like the Nobel Prize for great thinkers on planting schemes. The inaugural prize was awarded to Julie...