James Howard Kunstler has been saying for some time now that when our "ponzi scheme" economy finally crumbles around us, people are going to be very angry, and looking for someone to blame.
Housing
California's Biggest Land Use Story Is Not The Housing Market
Candidates Take Stance on Urban Issues

Some Lessons from the Credit Crisis
The on-going foreclosure and subsequent credit crisis should offer important lessons for housing policy and public policy more broadly. Chief among these lessons might be the falsity of the notion that government regulation is always bad. But some conservative commentators cling to the dogma that government intervention is the root of all evil. An explanation being offered by some is that government intervention in the form of Community Reinvestment Act encouraged irresponsible lending and led to the subsequent housing bust.
High Gas Prices Breathe New Life into DC's TOD
A Move Back into Cities Indicates Changing Middle-Class Mores
Moscow Tops List of World's Most Expensive Cities
The Role of the Government in Home Loans
A Public Housing Experiment Faces Problems

False Creek North - The Residents' Views
Suburbia Running Out of Gas
Hate Your Long-Distance Commute? Then Move
The Incredible Shrinking Home
Housing Relief Languishes in Washington
Mega-Mansions Sprouting In L.A.
The Thorny Problem of Affordable Housing
Prices Plummeting in Far-Flung Suburbs
The Explosive Growth of Homestead, Florida

Waiting for the urban clothesline
This Labor Day weekend, Southern California is facing an extreme heat wave, with temperatures soaring well above 100 degrees. Air conditioners have to work overtime to keep indoor temperatures near 80, and California power resources are operating at near capacity. As condominiums bake in the sun (as they do most of the year around here), there is not a solar panel in sight.
While we are still waiting for renewable energy, a few simple measures could lead to big residential power savings. Enter the laundry line, one of the oldest and most practical ways to use solar energy. Electric clothes dryers not only require vast amounts of fossil fuel-derived power, they also pour heat into living spaces and strain cooling systems.

Where were the planners?
This post is a few weeks after the fact but the recent APA conference only solidified my resolution to say something. In early April Teddy Cruz gave a lecture here in Philly at the School of Design. For those of you not familiar with his work, he has a unique and thoughtful perspective on the relationships between culture, planning and design.












