Santa Fe collectively pays $100 million per year on aggregated telecommunications services (phone, cable,wireless, satelllite, Internet). Richard Lowenberg points to community economic benefits that would accrue if 1% were re-allocated to community technology services. … The Ecology of Community Networking As a best practice, the way we think about and pursue our network connected lives should be considered, along with all other aspects of community-building, …
Water in a Sustainable Urban Village by Richard Jennings
Sewers are the perennial streams of our civilization in most semi-arid areas. Because water is the critical element, water resiliency will include budgets, reserves, maximum cycling and plans for shared sacrifice or prosperity as the climate delivers…. Water in a Sustainable Urban Village It is great to dream and make plans. But then what? To make things happen the plan has to be …
A Fabrication Lab Turns Ideas into Products and Services
A Fab Lab is a collection of tools with which we can forge an empowering, high quality, sustainable way of life. Just about very aspect of our lifestyle is in need of an upgrade. Short vision and short term profits with “externalities” have turned into one big ponzi scheme. We’ve spent the last 60-70 years experimenting with the most expensive real estate development in …
Higher Education Learning Center Launches by Brian Skeele
“The Santa Fe Higher Learning Center will be a boost to our community and our local economy. By increasing access to higher education we improve the quality of our workforce,” said Chris Abeyta, chair of the Learning Center District Board and of SFCC’s Governing Board. Students can earn a four-year degree without leaving Santa Fe, and at a price that …
What Does a Healthy Community in a Sustainable Urban Village Look Like? by Kathleen Benecke
A person with a healthy lifestyle should pay lower healthcare premiums, just like a non-smoker does. Kathleen Benecke reports this is just one of the cost-savings ideas that came out of a health providers brainstorming… Recently a group of Santa Fe residents with careers in a variety of health fields gathered to discuss and brainstorm what a sustainable community would …
Before and After by Steve Price
Steve Price: Urban Advantage, presented a “time lapse photography”, showing the evolution of St. Mike’s in four steps… Images courtesy of Steve Price, Urban Advantage, Inc For the last fifty years the dominant street form for commercial environments in America has been the auto-oriented strip arterial. These are places where the car is king, where formal planning is almost exclusively …
Projects for the Center for Innovation and Sustainability
I’m proposing a Center for Innovation and Sustainability (CIS), an ongoing Think and Do Tank facility to harness our genius, wisdom and caring to create local market-driven sustainable products and services. With deep collaboration we can create living examples of desirable neighborhoods where less is more – where lowered consumption from a systems-integrated-design approach creates a higher quality of life and affordable lifestyles. …
How to Finance the Sustainable Urban Village by Drew Tulchin
Mixed use buildings are going to require innovative financial and ownership mechanisms. Drew Tulcin begins the discussion. … How to Finance the Sustainable Urban Village A key foundation to building the sustainable urban village we all want (in whatever form that is for you) is to ensure there is capital – money – both for people to finance the creation / construction …
Envisioning a Sustainable Urban Village: A Puzzle of 1000 Pieces by Brian Skeele
Sustainability is a Puzzle of 1000 Pieces. As we rearrange the pieces to design a Sustainable Urban Village (SUV), Green Fire Times quest associate editor Brian Skeele (yours truly) got to ask the paradigm shifting questions…What would make a SUV such a great place, you’d move in?! What are the best practices emerging in your field, and how can we rearrange these puzzle pieces for maximum affordability and beauty?… Some …
Vibrant, Alive, Affordable + Living Lightly Locally= Sustainable Neighborhoods
5 Planets! How are we, the US of A, going to be a serious leader if our lifestyle requires 5 planets of resources?? How are we going to look our grandchildren in the eye and say with pride “All this is yours!”?? The good news is we are innovative. So, my fellow Americans, let’s roll up our sleeves and seize …