Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Monday, December 19, 2011
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Saturday, November 19, 2011
High Speed Rail Vision
http://www.ushsr.com/ushsrmap.html
take a look at this complete vision for a federal high speed rail network.
take a look at this complete vision for a federal high speed rail network.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Follow this Site
Great new site discussing the progressive field of landscape urbanism and associated urbanism's i.e. sustainable, ecological, green, blue, red, they probably are even going to discuss new urbanism too . hey who knows anything is possible, follow and find out.
http://landscapeurbanism.com/
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Grey Water
Adding to the individuals ablity to contribute to the greater good, a couple in L.A. have passed thru the city and built a grey water system for their home, the first in the city. This again made the local government to update their codes to the times and peoples wish to be environmentally conscious.
The water from the laundry machine, shower, bath tub and bath room sinks flow into the grey water system. Which feeds a grove of fruit trees, the system is all powered by gravity. As a safety measure there is a three way valve that can change the flow of water to the sewer if beach is ever used. Because of this system there annual sewer fee is reduced by 60%.
They have also installed a rain water cistern, capturing 1,500gallons of water.
http://www.latimes.com/features/home/la-hm-frank-pasker-grit-leipert-house20110625,0,1908651.story?page=1&track=rss&dlvrit=104530
The water from the laundry machine, shower, bath tub and bath room sinks flow into the grey water system. Which feeds a grove of fruit trees, the system is all powered by gravity. As a safety measure there is a three way valve that can change the flow of water to the sewer if beach is ever used. Because of this system there annual sewer fee is reduced by 60%.
They have also installed a rain water cistern, capturing 1,500gallons of water.
http://www.latimes.com/features/home/la-hm-frank-pasker-grit-leipert-house20110625,0,1908651.story?page=1&track=rss&dlvrit=104530
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Lets Start Farming
Great news , On May 3rd Salt Lake City passed an urban agriculture ordinance , allowing urban farms. You can also sell your own produce. I haven't read the ordinance yet, so I couldn't tell you the details. I can tell you a couple in the Liberty Wells area 1400S 400E , bought a lot next door and pushed an urban farm project, forcing the city to catch up.
What a great example of people following there dreams developing progressive sustainable updates to our local government.
Thank you Claudia and Nick Norton!
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=960&sid=16111638
What a great example of people following there dreams developing progressive sustainable updates to our local government.
Thank you Claudia and Nick Norton!
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=960&sid=16111638
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Oh ya more bike lanes
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/51920673-78/council-councilman-path-west.html.csp
its great to see that Salt Lake is finding every possible way to add more bike lanes. And converting un-used railroad tracks to lanes is a great.
its great to see that Salt Lake is finding every possible way to add more bike lanes. And converting un-used railroad tracks to lanes is a great.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
200 South - the standard na sayers - attack !
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/51810687-90/east-bike-greenway-medians.html.csp
Oh how predictable the negative people are. Its going to kill small business, increase traffic we don't have any money. People see more of there surroundings on bike and on foot - do they know that ? Have these people ever gotten out of there car? Existing customers are still going to go to your store, and you will get more pop-in's if people are walking or biking. I don't care if it increases traffic, sorry if it takes 5 more minutes to get to where your going. The reality is that SLC has more lanes of travel then really needed compared to many other places, we don't need more lanes just for the half-en hour of traffic in the morning and afternoon. Oh and the traffic isn't bad at all! Try driving in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, LA and the many other places in the nation that I haven't driven in but have bad traffic like Chicago, Atlanta, New York City etc. Unfortunately , the last one is correct we don't have any money. That one's tricky. But if it was a perfect world we would have money for Education and Green Infrastructure. I can't think of anything else more important for the future!
The point again is to get people out of there car, reduce fuel consumption, reduce noise , reduce pollution.
Though I missed the meeting, unfortunately. I didn't realize they were planning on putting pathways through the existing planted medians East of 900E. Uh that's a little unnecessary, money you diffidently don't need to spend. Also after some thought and research, I believe that they should remove the outer car lanes West of 900E and use those as bike lanes, keep the cars in the center.
Oh how predictable the negative people are. Its going to kill small business, increase traffic we don't have any money. People see more of there surroundings on bike and on foot - do they know that ? Have these people ever gotten out of there car? Existing customers are still going to go to your store, and you will get more pop-in's if people are walking or biking. I don't care if it increases traffic, sorry if it takes 5 more minutes to get to where your going. The reality is that SLC has more lanes of travel then really needed compared to many other places, we don't need more lanes just for the half-en hour of traffic in the morning and afternoon. Oh and the traffic isn't bad at all! Try driving in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, LA and the many other places in the nation that I haven't driven in but have bad traffic like Chicago, Atlanta, New York City etc. Unfortunately , the last one is correct we don't have any money. That one's tricky. But if it was a perfect world we would have money for Education and Green Infrastructure. I can't think of anything else more important for the future!
The point again is to get people out of there car, reduce fuel consumption, reduce noise , reduce pollution.
Though I missed the meeting, unfortunately. I didn't realize they were planning on putting pathways through the existing planted medians East of 900E. Uh that's a little unnecessary, money you diffidently don't need to spend. Also after some thought and research, I believe that they should remove the outer car lanes West of 900E and use those as bike lanes, keep the cars in the center.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
200 South ? GreenWay
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/51713310-90/200-south-east-lake.html.csp
So the city is debating to remove vehicle lanes of traffic and replace them with bike and pedestrian lanes. - Yes - I think anytime you remove cars from the road the better. Oh but lets start the debate, if you read the article or the comments by the community you'll see that we all have our opinions.
Mostly I believe that the majority of the comments missed the point. REPLACE cars with people.
A summary of the article - First phase remove two of the four lanes of travel and replace them with bike and pedestrian lanes, On 200 South from 200 E to 900 E cost $500,000. Second phase add green space. If you know 200 South , you'll know that at 900 E there are already big green planting medians in the center of the street. How does that part of the street feel? Intimate, quiet, slow? Better then the next block to the west where there are for some reason four lanes plus a center turning lane and parking on the either side of the street. I.E. the street is huge, just one of the many in SLC.
Though many of the concerns are well grounded the biggest sharing pathways between bikes and pedestrians. Oh how selfish we all are. Your telling me that if one lane each way was turned into a lane for both bikes and pedestrians that there wouldn't be enough room for the two? Each lane is probably 12 feet wide and the average sidewalk is 4-5' , bike lane 4-6' , so that's the widest for each. I know from experince that bikes and pedestrians can share both without to many problems, everyone needs to learn to be more aware of their surroundings. There are presidents all around the country and world for that matter that can prove that fact. Lets think - don't forget that there already sidewalks on both sides of the street, how many pedestrians do you think are going to cross the road to walk down the middle of the street with no tree canopy? So I am guessing the lanes will be mostly used for bikes. And bikers your telling me you rather share the road with cars that can kill you or pedestrian that just get in the way?
Another standard argument - Its going to increase car congestion. It might at first, the point is though to have those cars either decide to bike to work or use another street or just use that street but slow down. And yes all those are good goals, who out there doesn't
The second phase I believe is a less needed , for the money and commitment the city should spent is time else where. The most important Phase is the first where you are just removing car traffic and opening up the streets for diversification. So build it and sit back and watch what happens and take that to the next project.
So the city is debating to remove vehicle lanes of traffic and replace them with bike and pedestrian lanes. - Yes - I think anytime you remove cars from the road the better. Oh but lets start the debate, if you read the article or the comments by the community you'll see that we all have our opinions.
Mostly I believe that the majority of the comments missed the point. REPLACE cars with people.
A summary of the article - First phase remove two of the four lanes of travel and replace them with bike and pedestrian lanes, On 200 South from 200 E to 900 E cost $500,000. Second phase add green space. If you know 200 South , you'll know that at 900 E there are already big green planting medians in the center of the street. How does that part of the street feel? Intimate, quiet, slow? Better then the next block to the west where there are for some reason four lanes plus a center turning lane and parking on the either side of the street. I.E. the street is huge, just one of the many in SLC.
Though many of the concerns are well grounded the biggest sharing pathways between bikes and pedestrians. Oh how selfish we all are. Your telling me that if one lane each way was turned into a lane for both bikes and pedestrians that there wouldn't be enough room for the two? Each lane is probably 12 feet wide and the average sidewalk is 4-5' , bike lane 4-6' , so that's the widest for each. I know from experince that bikes and pedestrians can share both without to many problems, everyone needs to learn to be more aware of their surroundings. There are presidents all around the country and world for that matter that can prove that fact. Lets think - don't forget that there already sidewalks on both sides of the street, how many pedestrians do you think are going to cross the road to walk down the middle of the street with no tree canopy? So I am guessing the lanes will be mostly used for bikes. And bikers your telling me you rather share the road with cars that can kill you or pedestrian that just get in the way?
Another standard argument - Its going to increase car congestion. It might at first, the point is though to have those cars either decide to bike to work or use another street or just use that street but slow down. And yes all those are good goals, who out there doesn't
The second phase I believe is a less needed , for the money and commitment the city should spent is time else where. The most important Phase is the first where you are just removing car traffic and opening up the streets for diversification. So build it and sit back and watch what happens and take that to the next project.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Intro- to Professor Ted
Introducing Professor Ted , a seriously talented artist. His day job is a Digital 3D modeler though it also turns into a night job too. He free lances his digital work and sells many of his paintings.
His website : www.monkeyknifefights.com
His website : www.monkeyknifefights.com
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
SLC 101
For all of you who don't live in SLC I need to explain the basic and straight forward layout the city's street planing. But first a quick history of the town - straight from wikipedia -
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census,[3] the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197. Salt Lake City is further situated in a larger urban area known as the Wasatch Front, which has a population of 2,238,697.[4]
The city was founded in 1847 as Great Salt Lake City by Brigham Young and his Mormon followers, who extensively irrigated and cultivated the arid valley. Although Salt Lake City is still home to the headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), less than half the population of Salt Lake City proper is Mormon today.[5]
Mining booms and the construction of the first transcontinental railroad initially brought economic growth, and the city was nicknamed the Crossroads of the West. Salt Lake City has since developed a strong outdoor recreation tourist industry based primarily on skiing. Salt Lake City was host to the 2002 Winter Olympics and is the industrial banking center of the United States.[6]
With that brief history lesson done, lets move on to how the city is located geographically speaking. Salt Lake City is located at 40°45′N 111°53′W / 40.75°N 111.883°W. The total area is 110.4 square miles (285.9 km²) and has an average elevation of 4,327 feet (1,320 m)
SLC is a Valley between two mountain ranges on the West and East. The Western is the Oquirrh and the Eastern is the Wasatch and to the Northwest is Great Salt Lake.
Now the street system layout, and for everyone that is a fan of the grid , welcome to the best city I've seen for keeping with the grid throughout the entire city.
Ok, so the LDS temple is the most sacred place in town , so naturally the entire grid was laid out with the temple as the starting point. From the temple stepping south(but traveling east west) the first street is South Temple - then 100 South , 200 South , 300 S, 400 S etc. This goes on all the way south to 13800 S. Going North it is North Temple which is also 2 Ave , First Ave starts in the mid point of the temple block.
Then lanes of travel North South begin from the center of the temple block as Main St (heading East) as 100 East (which is better know as State Street) , 200 E, 300 E etc , then heading West its 100 West (also know as W Temple) 200 W, 300 W etc.
Then you have the freeway system. I-15 that cuts the city's West Side off then I-80 goes East - West through town but to the south of most of the classic urban pattern of the city. South of that it turns into the modern sprawling community of big box and strip malls, though still based on the grid system. Until you hit I-215 the belt line. As it sounds it wraps a belt line from the North to the South then cutting to East and back into I-80, South of that you have big communities structured by the grid but within them you have the curvilinear 'garden' neighborhoods, and lots of big box , and strip malls.
So this is all leading into further discussions on the potential of SLC and its environs.
For a more details on Salt Lake City - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_Lake_City
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census,[3] the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197. Salt Lake City is further situated in a larger urban area known as the Wasatch Front, which has a population of 2,238,697.[4]
The city was founded in 1847 as Great Salt Lake City by Brigham Young and his Mormon followers, who extensively irrigated and cultivated the arid valley. Although Salt Lake City is still home to the headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), less than half the population of Salt Lake City proper is Mormon today.[5]
Mining booms and the construction of the first transcontinental railroad initially brought economic growth, and the city was nicknamed the Crossroads of the West. Salt Lake City has since developed a strong outdoor recreation tourist industry based primarily on skiing. Salt Lake City was host to the 2002 Winter Olympics and is the industrial banking center of the United States.[6]
With that brief history lesson done, lets move on to how the city is located geographically speaking. Salt Lake City is located at 40°45′N 111°53′W / 40.75°N 111.883°W. The total area is 110.4 square miles (285.9 km²) and has an average elevation of 4,327 feet (1,320 m)
SLC is a Valley between two mountain ranges on the West and East. The Western is the Oquirrh and the Eastern is the Wasatch and to the Northwest is Great Salt Lake.
Now the street system layout, and for everyone that is a fan of the grid , welcome to the best city I've seen for keeping with the grid throughout the entire city.
Ok, so the LDS temple is the most sacred place in town , so naturally the entire grid was laid out with the temple as the starting point. From the temple stepping south(but traveling east west) the first street is South Temple - then 100 South , 200 South , 300 S, 400 S etc. This goes on all the way south to 13800 S. Going North it is North Temple which is also 2 Ave , First Ave starts in the mid point of the temple block.
Then lanes of travel North South begin from the center of the temple block as Main St (heading East) as 100 East (which is better know as State Street) , 200 E, 300 E etc , then heading West its 100 West (also know as W Temple) 200 W, 300 W etc.
Then you have the freeway system. I-15 that cuts the city's West Side off then I-80 goes East - West through town but to the south of most of the classic urban pattern of the city. South of that it turns into the modern sprawling community of big box and strip malls, though still based on the grid system. Until you hit I-215 the belt line. As it sounds it wraps a belt line from the North to the South then cutting to East and back into I-80, South of that you have big communities structured by the grid but within them you have the curvilinear 'garden' neighborhoods, and lots of big box , and strip malls.
So this is all leading into further discussions on the potential of SLC and its environs.
For a more details on Salt Lake City - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_Lake_City
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Howdy Welcome to Land Loam
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