New York Climate Summit

** November 16-18, 2007 **

** Cornell University **

WHAT: The New York Climate Summit will unite campus and community leaders to create a plan of action on how to pressure Albany to pass legislation requiring the state to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions 80% below 1990 levels by 2050.

WHERE: Warren Hall, Cornell University

CONTACT: Carlos Rymer, carlos.rymer@gmail.com

VISIT: www.rso.cornell.edu/kyotonow

"EPA@35 - Where To From Here" Speaker TUES 10/23

“ EPA@35 - Where To From Here”

Richard D. Otis, Jr.U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency
Deputy Associate Administrator
Office of Policy, Economics, and Innovation

Tuesday, October 23, 2007
141 Sage Hall
12:30 – 1:30pm
Lunch will be provided.

Sponsored byThe Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise As part of theCSGE Speaker Series

BLOCKTOBERFEST!!!

Hey Class!

Maya made an announcement on Tuesday about our group's block party this sunday! Please come down to the Fall Creek area to spend a lovely afternoon outside with us! We would appreciate volunteers to help set up or tear down but we most want you to simply come and fun! You don't have to worry about bringing a dish to pass, we will have plenty of food. Hope to see you there and if you would like directions or want to confirm please call Kendra at216-536-8142 or email at kmc95

10/23 Assignment & Next Class

10/23 Assignment & Next Class

Here's a way of honoring both issues we discussed at the end of last class.We'll wrap up transportation-oriented development with 2 short pieces, do our Case presentations, then move on to Energy and Green Cities
Transportation - Kendra will share the report she has prepared, and I will briefly share a synthesis and commentary on the blog work you came up with. (30 minutes total)
Case Presentations- Melissa, Caitlin, Emily (5-7 min each)
Nature in the City- Leah, Chris (5-7 min each )
We will skip Behavior Change & Project sharing to maximize discussion & presentation time.
Discussion - Energy & Green Cities- led by Deane (50-60 min)
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Here's the assignment:
Behavior Change- Try out fresh possibilities without being constrained by "writing it up", since no journals.Energy and Green Cities
1) Read at least 2 of the following:
a) Beatley, Green Urbanism, Chapter 9 Renewable Energy Cities: Living on Solar Income (pp. 254-289)
b) New Energy for Cities, the Apollo Alliance report I gave out that is filled with great little Case Studies. Read the 2 page Introduction and at least 3 of the 6 sections. Most are 5-10 pages each.
c) The Energy Efficiency & Renewables chapter of the handout I gave out from "Toward Sustainable Communities" by Mark Roseland, (pp. 87-102) 2) Research one some place, project, or method that attracts you in any of the 3 readings OR the latest energy developments going on at an Ithaca municipal or regional level. (I can help with the local one, if you check with me).
3) Write a roughly one-page blog entry (by late Sunday night, preferably earlier) about what you've learned that you think is most relevant to our course. Ideally, you would link it to context set by the readings for the week and/or the course themes (systems approach, justice/equity, city as organism, community participation, behavior change strategies, etc.) Ideally, read other blog entries before writing, so the learning is more interactive.

Many of the stratagies were interesting and usefull, here are my 10 favorite:
1) Changing the way we discuss transportation. This includes changing talking about public transportation as "alternate" and calling cars "alternate" transportation. This also includes shifting the focus away from better cars to public transportion. Even if this seems like a small "pc" form of change, it will at least spur conversation to the way we look at transportation.

2) Rail systems with designated areas on streets, street level. The idea of incorperating transportaion into daily lives to create and enhance vibrance in the city is a good idea. Looking at cities such as New York, the public transportation becomes part of the experience of the city. While there still is the fast paced movement of the city, it looses (in a good way) the transportation as a means of only getting from point a to point b (the way it is viewed in many cities like Philadelphia).

3) The addition of chip cards while having many problems can be very usefull. The idea is similar to the idea of easy pass, a car paying system, but if moved to public transportation could make it easier and more desierable to use, instead of needing to count loose change every time one uses public transportation. Additionally having one card which works for all modes of public transportation would cause a simpler transition to public transportation.

4) Car share is an interesting idea because it is one of the methods discussed which foccuses on people's social behavior and attitude as opposed solely to fixing environmental problems. While The idea that people use cars more often when they have access to one is an obvious point often overlooked.

5) Incentives to hire locally and work locally could be possitive (or negative in that they could create even more segregated communities in some areas than already exist). On the other side they are likely to give jobs to many and possibly create mixed neighborhoods if planned right (but this would require a lot of planning and work to prevent gentrification in some neighborhoods). In areas such as west Philly/ University city there is currently a large seperation in population, hiring locally could place more of those with lower income into penn staff jobs. This could also cause professors to become more of a part of the community.

6) Creating car free zones would allow people to see how possitive carless areas are. In Philadelphia there are known and loved areas created with walkable areas, center city has a network of small parks such as love park and rittenhouse square. These are prime areas for people to sit and walk through. The problem is that one reaches and end and gets to the highway. These walkable areas could be extended (there is currently a path that does go back towards the other areas) but walking is still restricted across the river. Decreasing the highway here and implementing more walking areas with mixed uses could help the city with some of its sprawl problem

7) Creating car free housing and replacing it with different functions (such as farmers markets) could be useful. For many the issue of having a car can be that there is not the type of markets they need around their house, or they need to carry their purchases such as groceries, this would not be as large of an issue if the markets were closer.

8) raising the price of roads could help cause a fast change to public transportation, as it is more of a forced shift. While people do not want to use public transportation (it's really bad in Philly) this could cause more people to utilize it, making it safer and run better due to demand. It tends to be an endless cycle in Philadelphia, people don't use it because service is bad, so they cut service. Philadelphia public transportation needs to think of ways to become more used.

9) Above ground transport. Philadelphia has a confusing bus system which often takes much longer to get anywhere than it should (an hour for what would be a 15 minute drive) creating more direct roots which are more visible could increase usage. This could also help to destroy the raised train (market-Frankfurt line) which doesn't let light through therefore killing the neighborhood underneath.

10) Attempting to encourage biking by creating biking areas could also stimulate usage. Many people do bike in Philadelphia, but feel unsafe due to having to bike between parked and moving cars. Creating specific areas for biking (and locked facilities, most people I know in Philadelphia who bike have had their's stolen) would help.

Green Urbanism and EcoCities 10/14

It seems that there are two recurring themes echoed in the reading, which explain why cities in Europe are able to create “high-mobility-transit cities”. In European cities like Zurich, Dublin and Berlin there is public sentiment that supports public transportation as a necessary public good and essential aspect of promoting social welfare. In general residents in these cities are willing to entertain the notion of a car free society because improving the conditions of their communities is importance and, public transportation as a means of creating that improvement is thus important as well. In addition to public support of public transportation, local and municipal governments in European cities tend to set public transit as a high priority on the public agenda, which in turn has forced officials to be creative about ensuring that these priorities are met. Certainly, European cities face many of the same limitations that American cities face when it comes to the question of public transit. BUT, unlike American cities, European political officials are making commitments to improving their neighborhoods by using public transit. Instead, of abandoning progressive ideas of car free neighborhoods, these European city governments are stepping outside of the box and creating innovative solutions to land use problems. By making public transit “attractive and comfortable” as well as convenient and easy to use, cities such as Zurich are ensuring that its residents truly enjoy using public transportation. As native New Yorker I can speak from experience about what it’s it like to ride the Subway system. Like Zurich and Freiburg, the New York City transit system is fully integrated. Every subway station is connected to a bus route, which makes almost every corner of the city accessible. Because of this almost everyone rides the subway. New York, though, because of the high volume of residents, has packed subways and packed expressways. Thousands of people ride the subway but it still doesn’t free up the roadways. I digress: the reason that I mention New York and its subway system is that I want to draw attention to the lack of attention that the MTA pays to making public transit aesthetically pleasing. In New York there is a very visible bias related to the conditions of the subway stations. Subway stations located in poorer neighborhoods and consequently neighborhoods that are dominated by minority residents are in horrible conditions. There is no regular maintenance, so the stations usually look awful and smell even worse. As you move farther downtown on the subway to the more ritzy parts of the city the condition of the subway drastically improves. The stations are just short of immaculate. Its an interesting dynamic in that the city residents who use public transit out of necessity and have no other options cant enjoy their public transit experience, that is until they head downtown to work often times in the homes and offices of the more affluent. On the other hand, wealthier transit riders, who make the choice to ride the subway as a matter of convenience can sit back and enjoy their rides to work even further downtown. The problem with transit in New York City, among other things, is that many parts of the city are racially divided and services as well as conditions also vary along similar racial lines. The reading does not address equality of service or equality of access I assume that is because race is not as prevalent an issue as it is in the states, particularly New York. It would be extremely interesting to consider minority communities and how well they are serviced in these European cities. Is there equity in access and is there equity in services. If so, once again Europe would be surpassing America in the race to create sustainable communities committed to addressing the social welfare of residents. Furthermore, in comparing the New York transit system, which unlike other transit systems in the US is actually high utilized but still needs serious improvements, it also false to adequately accommodate elderly riders. Although buses are equipped to accommodate the elderly as well as the disabled, rapid transit systems in New York, such as the underground subway system does not at all accommodate the elderly or the disabled. It also definitely neglects the needs of parents with young children. I have seen many baby carriages get stuck in the doors of the subways cars as conducted attempt to speed to their next stop. I have also witnessed single parents struggle up or down a flight of stairs carrying their child and carriage in their arms as busy New Yorker wiz by. One extraordinary aspect of the tram system that many European cities are making use of is that it accommodates parents with small children, the elderly and the disabled. Timothy Beatley shares his observations in Green Cities in which he watch these disadvantaged riders easily make their way from point A to point B. Having a fully integrated above ground system really allows residents to have a comfortable, scenic, and convenient metro experience.

This week’s reading is extremely applicable. It can help us to re envision Ithaca and develop a sustainable 10 year plan for public transit in Ithaca. Ithaca as well as the surrounding cities and towns are extremely scenic. There is so much to see in Ithaca and so many places that could potentially serve as transit hubs. An above ground transit system that is fully integrated and non intrusive could be designed to fit the character of Ithaca and surrounding areas. It could connect Ithaca to surrounding hubs and make Ithaca a much more desirable place to be. As a college student I love the idea of incorporating a more developed transit system. I think that it would be extremely exciting to experience not only Ithaca but surrounding communities as well.

Europe vs. the US...

Transportation has always been an interest in my life. When I was young, all I wanted to do was be an engineer on a train. Though I have now moved on to being an actual engineer, my interest in trains stays. This past summer, I was fortunate to have saved up enough money to afford to travel around in Europe for a month. This had always been a desire of mine and I’m extremely glad I got the chance to do so. As I have been reading through these chapters, a number of the topics the authors bring up are very evident in European cities and I remember seeing them and thinking about them during the trip.

My first gripe, which goes back to my youthful love of trains, is how pitiful the train system in the US looks compared to nearly every public transportation system in Europe. We did nearly all of our traveling by train, many of which were high speed trains. These trains were easy to get to with hubs in or around the centers of every city. They were also very comfortable and enjoyable and offered private cars and pristine views of the countryside which would have been missed by air travel. I happen to prefer this kind of travel as it allows for more relaxed travel and walking around is far easier than on a plane. Seeing the countryside roll by also makes the trip far more interesting and a true taste for a country can be formed. Europe also offers a system where a rail pass can be bought for a single day up to several months making train travel flexible to any schedule. A big issue in the states is being able to travel between cities. Transportation systems often only span out from a single city and serve the surrounding areas. There is little emphasis on traveling by train between cities. Amtrak serves the eastern coast, and I try to take it whenever I can, but is unfortunately horribly inefficient and I often feel that I could walk faster. The biggest hurdle they have to overcome is the lack of attention they get for travel and privately owned rail lines often result in lengthy delays as the Amtrak train must wait for the commuter trains to pass. These delays cause people to fly more and the result is the extreme congestion that is seen at our nation’s airports.

My second gripe, though still on trains, is with city transportation. I grew up on Boston’s subway lines and have since moved to the subway lines of New York City. Until this past summer when I was forced to learn the 4-5-6 lines to get to work, I was baffled by the NYC subway system. There seems to be few or no maps and likewise with people to help you out. This is not the case in Europe. Even in countries where I didn’t even speak a single word, I could usually find my way around. Every major area was accessible by subway and the stations were clearly marked making them easy to find and navigate with. The subways were also linked together and nearly every station had a board displaying which train would be coming when and gave up to the minute estimates on when they would arriving. This system is in place in Washington DC and would greatly benefit New York City’s subway system.

My third and final rant is on bicycle transportation. I would be terrified to ride a bike anywhere in New York City, even on their “dedicated bike paths.” Roads are extremely crowded with cars and taxis and no one seems to even see pedestrians. The bike paths are also few and far between and only allow travel up and downtown, but offer little in cross town travel. In contrast, many cities in Europe have highly dedicated lanes and paths for bikes, and I often felt like I had to be more aware of walking on a bike path and getting hit by a bike than being in the road and getting hit by a car. With cities that had these major bike systems, I saw a substantial decrease in the number of cars. I also saw a number of cities such as Barcelona, Munich, and Amsterdam where bikes could be easily rented and deposited around the city at different locations. We took advantage of this in Amsterdam and I had one of the most pleasant trips through a city that I’ll probably ever have. Being on the bike got me away from the pollution and noise of cars and allowed me to slow down a little and enjoy the city. I think New York City could easily adopt a bike share system or at least a more substantial bike path system by taking away one of the lanes from the wide avenues. These lanes could also be used for rapid bus transit. Essentially what it comes down to is keeping the cars away from bus and bike lanes.