Town-Green

https://extranewsfeed.com/the-blockchain-is-perfect-for-gov

A decent list though they left off using streets for flood control by routing water (a technique in flood prone areas), etc. 50 Reasons Why Everyone Should Want More Walkable Streets https://www.fastcoexist.com//50-reasons-why-everyone-shoul...Continue reading

What the Paris Trams Can Teach U.S. Cities July 7, 2016 by TransitCenter http://transitcenter.org//07/07/paris-trams-are-hyper-cool/ "2013-02-17 17-47-19" by Enzo Jiang is licensed under CC BY 2.0...Continue reading

www.town-green.com

https://www.cnu.org//poverty-biggest-urban-challenge-not-g

http://www.nytimes.com//global-warming-cited-as-wildfires-

UNESCO- CULTURE AND SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT - LEON KRIER - Overpopulation is a time bomb to which there is no known humane solution. This aporia should not dictate the nature and form of cities or buildings. It is not the mass of population but the specific nature of the individual human being and of its communities that must define the scale, character and mode of production of buildings and their contexts. - Sustainability is a much abused and ill-used term. Th...Continue reading

The human ecological challenge Focusing on reducing carbon emissions may satisfy the aspirations of climate-oriented scientists, engineers, and EU policy makers. However, at high governmental levels in developing countries, the message that good urbanism can help deliver decent housing, jobs, clean water, food, mobility, etc., makes immediate sense. Addressing the climate-carbon challenge requires that we concurrently address the human ecological challenge by providing necessities. Many Americans require these same necessities whether we are entering a long emergency or just the current situation, so this approach works for both. Image: Opticos Design (for the Akanda Master Plan - Prince's Foundation for Building Community, Steve Coyle/Town Green, Opticos)

"We’re in the middle of cycles. Or, as one VC put it to me, we’re in hunker-down mode, protecting budgets and getting ready for the next thing. Many companies are shedding workers. Intel just laid off 12,000 employees. That still hasn’t made a dent in Silicon Valley traffic or housing prices though, both of which remain as bad as ever. I’m glad I made the choice to join Upload VR, and not just because they have cool coffee breaks. Why? The other night two employees from Meta and Magic Leap were talking in my office. That’s why I love Silicon Valley: even big competitors get together to share info and build friendships. Why not? Can’t really talk to family and friends about rendering technologies or object recognition machine learning. They just don’t understand what you’re talking about if you try. Robert Scoble May 5, 2016

http://www.citylab.com//jane-jacobs-100th-birthday/481077/ Even Late in Her Career, Jane Jacobs Made Predictions That Are Coming True Today Her widely panned last book, Dark Age Ahead, cautioned against social and economic decay and the rise of demagogues like Donald Trump....Continue reading

Planning Sustainably - Without a Crystal Ball May 2, 2016 Prince Charles spoke a few years ago on sustainability. He described the sustainability conundrum: How can we determine appropriate policy and strategic actions without the ability to forecast the future, without a crystal ball? How shall we act, now, without the ability to forecast the future? Casting our gaze around us, we see the present circumstances:...Continue reading

Why lump people into political categories except to rationalize or fulfill the needs of special interests (e.g., political party, media, or other groups)? I’ve lived with and as the working, middle, and middle-upper classes, and found stereotypes, but mostly complex humans who were as often products of their environments as escapees, schizoids or commuters (between one cohort and another) or adapters to their new status and environment, like Jed Clampett. Clearly, America pro...duces people whose spend entire lives working against their better interest, from meth and alcohol addicts to those who blame everyone but themselves for their demise. Who has not behaved stupidly then pivoted to near brilliance, in a day or week, or changed a firmly held view when the evidence became too real to ignore, or the pain of self-delusion demanded bearing the pain of reality? Many good people continue to struggle with uncertainty of the American future and forge on, making the best of their situation. Some of those find what works the best in the long term, while accommodating the short term in their respective fields, like ours in urbanism. I don’t feel smug (in reference to the article cited below) about how to make good urbanism nor have I seen this expression among the non-idiots in our profession of design and development. Perhaps frustration periodically with those whose self-interests trump the community’s well being, whether governmental, corporate, or private. But that’s different from lumping people into groups to rationalize one’s anger or to fulfill the needs of ones’ own special interest. Articles like "The Smug Style in American Liberalism" while entertaining, add little to my understanding of those within and outside my circle. Maybe I’m just tired of this game of thrones and the entire circus that looks like America! The true elites can be rich or poor, educated or school-less, scholarly or merely intuitive but they are stand up individuals who remain willing to evolve and change despite the costs. This is how I view many of the good elites I’ve known over many years.

Some intelligent people think FinTech* startups represent Wall Street’s greatest challenge - not government regulation. FinTech’s raised $14 billion in venture funding and may be a Lean means of funding** small scale development which we need to build housing and workplaces. *Financial technology, also known as FinTech, is an economic industry composed of companies that use technology to make financial services more efficient. Financial technology companies are generally sta...rtups founded with the purpose of disrupting incumbent financial systems and corporations that rely less on software. **LendInvest P2P real estate lending marketplace Latest round: $24.4 million Series B Total raised: $58.6 million HQ: London, England, U.K. Tags: Consumers, lending, peer-to-peer, mortgage, crowdfunding, investing, underwriting, mortgage Source: Crunchbase **CrowdStreet Commercial real estate crowdfunding Latest round: $3.5 million Series A Total raised: $4.85 million HQ: Portland, Oregon Tags: Consumer, SMB, lending, P2P, peer-to-peer, REIT, investing Source: Crunchbase