All I can say is “Thank goodness!”. I’ve always hated the looks of these out of place, ostentatious, monstrous McMansion homes, especially in rural areas where they are totally out of character with the surrounding landscape. It seems that McMansions are a thing of the past and there is some sort of McMansion backlash going [...]
I’m elated to announce that I just received a complimentary review copy of the beautiful new book, Conservation Communities: Creating Value With Nature, Open Space, and Agriculture, from LandChoices’ member Ed McMahon. Ed is someone I greatly admire for his wonderful work advancing conservation development. I’ve started to read this sensational book and love it! [...]
Our new “Top 10 Ways to Preserve Land and Water in Your Community” gives planners and officials in your community an easy guide to preserve clean water, natural areas, wildlife and working farmland by making the following mandatory for new developments in your community: 1. Inexpensive Preliminary Sketch Plan Include a sketch plan of greenway land, [...]
Envisioning Better Communities: Seeing More Options, Making Wiser Choices, the new planning book by Randall Arendt that I’m reviewing, is a book I have trouble putting down. (Full disclosure: Randall Arendt is a dedicated member of LandChoices. I’m a big fan of Randall Arendt.) I received a review copy of the book from the American [...]
Tryon Farm, my favorite conservation community and one of LandChoices’ good friends and supporters, recently sponsored an educational day for the kids of Lydia Home Association in Chicago. I learned about this wonderful event on the Tryon Farm Facebook page. The games and events were successfully led by educators from the Indiana Soil and Water [...]
The following is a repost from my earlier post (September 4, 2009): I like Randall Arendt’s approach to conservation subdivisions: “Do It Backward”. First, set aside land for conservation. This eliminates the left-over conservation areas that are traditionally created. Last, divide up the land into parcels. This allows the developer to penpoint the prime developable area, [...]
This post is written by guest blogger and friend Kaitlin Slattery. Thank you Kaitlin for the terrific information! In the next year alone, hundreds of acres of urban farms and urban gardens in Detroit will be operational—and those numbers are only growing. In the next 10 years, a vision (see “A New Harvest for Detroit“) [...]
Envisioning Better Communities, the new planning book by Randall Arendt, is a gem. (Full disclosure: Randall Arendt is a dedicated member of LandChoices. I’m a big fan.) This week I received a review copy of the book from the American Planning Association. I will review the book in a series of blog posts. The subtitle, Seeing [...]
Natural neighborhoods, also known as “conservation subdivisions“, “ecological development”, or “green development”, shown in this video, preserve natural areas, water, wildlife and working farmland. Wildlife conservation and farmland conservation are an important part of natural neighborhoods, along with water conservation as large swaths of natural areas filter and absorb storm water. Learn more about natural neighborhoods. [...]
Visit SaveCamps.org, our new blog to save Girl Scout, Boy Scout and other outdoor camps for kids. Please comment, share, subscribe and help us spread the word. A big thank you to volunteer editor Ken Jacobsen for stepping up and helping make this happen to preserve camps for future generations.
