Urban Inquiry Blog #1

How easy is this.
I am an architect and planner in middle of the United States. This will be a very big generalization, but everything I read in these areas, seem to, originate from, are about, focus on or in someway are connected to things that happen either on the east or west coast or in larger cities. So it is my hope to begin a discussion on the architecture and urban planning occurring here in the small to mid-size cities of the U.S..
So if you have thoughts, pictures, experiences or whatever related to architecture, urban planning, urban policy, cities, infrastructure, environmentally beneficial practices or products, or related topics, please join in, I would love to hear from you.

Reflection. This is what Daniel Pink said us Boomers do when we hit 60, so bear with me.
This past April as the 40th anniversary of Earth Day occurred, (I was a sophomore in college that day in 1970) I asked myself what has happened since then and why are we not further off our dependence on oil and causing damage to our environment. Rhetorical question of course, but what was it. Cheap energy, cheap land, particularly here in the middle of the U.S.. Was it doing whatever necessary to earn a living, raise a family and attempt to put something away for the future. I know some of us continued to practice our profession in an environmentally sound manner, or certainly tried to do so.

What's different now. Does it take a generation for movements like this to take hold. There really is not much core content, practices or technology in the LEED program of USGBC that we didn't learn in architecture school. But the momentum seems to be much larger. And it is that momentum that I hope keeps building and is also the thing that concerns me the most. It's like after the oil embargo in the 70's,  President Carter put solar panels on the White House and then President Reagan took them off. I read recently that venture capital for wind turbine development and entrepreneur's has diminished considerably due to lack of movement on a climate bill. The momentum and financial support for environmentally beneficial technologies must continue.

Well time to end. Would appreciate your thoughts.