Alternatives to car ownership and land uses that require paving

Publications

Sustainability and Cities: Overcoming Automobile Dependence, by Peter Newman and Jeff Kenworthy. Island Press, 1999.

Sustainable Transport Magazine. Institute for Transportation and Development Policy/ITDP, 115 W. 30th St., Suite 1205, New York, NY 10001; website: www.itdp.org. Website a resource in itself.

Car Busters Magazine, www.carbusters.org.

How to Live Well Without Owning a Car, by Chris Balish. Ten Speed Press, 2006.

Online (in addition to above)

www.carfree.com. Carfree Cities. Great examples and links.

www.flexcar.com. Flexcar car-sharing services. Members pay an hourly or monthly rate to use new vehicles located in reserved parking lots throughout a metropolitan region.

www.carplus.org.uk. Car Plus. A European non-profit helping communities and associations promote car-sharing programs called “car clubs.”

www.LessTraffic.com. This website features low-cost, self-help programs for cities, neighborhoods, schools, and individuals to calm and reduce traffic.

www.walkinginfo.org. Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center. A good site, and has a walking checklist about how walkable is your community

www.walkscore.com. This site rates the walkability of neighborhoods. Use it as an incentive to better the rating of sites everywhere.

www.americawalks.org. Good resource for tools to make your community more walkable.

www.walkable.org. Walkable Communities, Inc. Many publications and resources online.

Integrated sustainable stormwater projects including pavement reduction, urban forestry, and runoff harvesting for passive irrigation

Urban Small Sites Best Management Practice Manual, by Metropolitan Council’s Environmental Services. Online www.metrocouncil.org/environment/Watershed/bmp/manual.htm. Includes information on pavement reduction, stormwater management, and more.

www.TreePeople.org/trees/. Features TreePeople water-harvesting demonstration sites in Los Angeles, California and the effort to manage the city as a forested watershed.

www.ci.seattle.wa.us/util/About_SPU/Drainage_&_Sewer_System/Natural_Drainage_Systems/index.asp. Features Seattle, Washington’s Public Utilities SEA Streets Project. It’s full of progressive multi-use water harvesting, beautification, flood control strategies in the public rights-of-way.

www2.seattle.gov/util/tours/Broadview/slide1.htm. Slide show of the Broadview Green Grid Natural Drainage Project, Seattle, Washington. Features the multiple, integrated benefits of this Natural Drainage Systems (NDS) project spanning 16 blocks of a residential neighborhood.

www.growingvinestreet.org. Growing Vine Street Project, Seattle, Washington. This project is a laboratory for green solutions within an urban design context. The goals are three-fold: to treat roof runoff through biofiltration, to create a refreshing green space for the community, and to reintroduce the natural hydrologic cycle into our urban lives. Includes water-harvesting public art/cisterns, community gardens, urban tree planting, cistern steps, and more.

www.portlandonline.com/bes/; search “sustainable stormwater,” etc. Portland, Oregon’s Sustainable Stormwater Program. Features Natural Drainage Systems that are progressive multi-use water harvesting, beautification, flood control strategies in the public rights-of-way and beyond. Includes permeable paving, water-harvesting curb cuts, bioremediation of toxins, urban forestry, and more.

www.portlandonline.com/bes/; search “natural drainage tour,” “water harvesting,” etc. Self-guided walking, bicycling, and driving tours of Natural Drainage Systems, water-harvesting, eco-roofs, and more in Portland, Oregon. Look to these downloadable self-guided tours as models that can be replicated in your community.

www.portlandonline.com/bes/; search “stewardship,” “urban forestry,” etc. Portland, Oregon, Community Watershed Stewardship Program. Features eco-roofs, water-harvesting swales, restoration projects, urban forestry, and more.

www.wsud.org/tech.htm. Water Sensitive Urban Design (WUSD) in Australia. Features progressive multi-use water-harvesting, beautification, flood control strategies in the public rights-of-way and beyond.

www.drachmaninstitute.org. The Keeling Neighborhood Greenway, Tucson, Arizona. The plan can be found at the listed website under the “portfolio” section. It includes a lot of passive water harvesting off streets and sidewalks to irrigate native shade trees.

www.lid-stormwater.net/biotrans_home.htm. Transportation Bioretention in Maryland and Minnesota.

www.lowimpactdevelopment.org/. The Low Impact Development Center.

www.lcrep.org/fieldguide/techniques.htm. Portland, Oregon: Lower Columbia River Field Guide to Water Quality Friendly Development, Strategies and Techniques.

www.lcrep.org/fieldguide/examples.htm. Portland, Oregon: Lower Columbia River Field Guide to Water Quality Friendly Development, Integrated Site Examples.

www.DesertHarvesters.org. A grassroots effort promoting, celebrating, and enhancing, local food security and production by encouraging the planting of indigenous, food-bearing shade trees (such as the velvet mesquite) in water-harvesting earthworks, and then educating the public on how to harvest and process the bounty.

Traffic calming (in addition to above on “Alternatives to car ownership”)

www.trafficcalming.org. Great examples of traffic calming strategies and info on their effectiveness. Tweak these designs so they also reduce hardscape and harvest stormwater by depressing planting areas to hold rainfall or by directing runoff from adjoining pavement to planting areas with curb cuts. Plant the vegetated areas with shade trees to reduce the heat-island effect while improving comfort for all.

www.harvestingrainwater.com/image-gallery/water-harvesting-traffic-calming/. Examples of water-harvesting traffic calming.

Green streets and roads

Green Streets: Innovative Solutions for Stormwater and Stream Crossings, by Metro, 2002.

Handbook for Forest and Ranch Roads: A Guide for Planning, Designing, Constructing, Reconstructing, Maintaining, and Closing Wildland Roads, by William Weaver and Danny Hagans. Mendocino County Resource Conservation District, June, 1994.

Water Harvesting from Low-Standard Rural Roads, by Bill Zeedyk. Quivira Coalition, 2006, www.quiviracoalition.org.

Skinny Streets and Green Neighborhoods: Design for Environment and Community, by Cynthia Girling and Ronald Kellett. Island Press, 2005.

Reducing building footprints, cohousing, garden cities, and creating more sustainable neighborhoods

Publications

Little House on a Small Planet, by Shay Salomon. Lyons Press, 2006.

The Small House Book, by Jay Shafer. Tumbleweed Tiny House Company, three volume set.

Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves, by Kathryn McCamant and Charles Durett. Ten Speed Press, 1994.

Designing Sustainable Communities: Learning from Village Homes, by Judy Corbett and Michael Corbett. Island Press, 1999.

Superbia! 31 Ways To Create Sustainable Neighborhoods, by Dan Chiras and Dave Wann. New Society Publishers, 2003.

The Great Neighborhood Book: A Do-it-Yourself Guide to Placemaking, by Jay Walliasper. New Society Publishers, 2007. A wonderful manual for building vibrant community one practical step at a time.

Online

www.resourcesforlife.com. The Small House Society, P.O. Box 2717, Iowa City, IA 52244-2717.

www.tumbleweedhouses.com. Tumbleweed Tiny House Company. Site features many efficient tiny house designs and features Jay Shafer’s excellent book, The Small House Book.

www.TinyHouses.net. Great links and inspiration.

Websearch “Katrina Cottages” for designs of many efficient, quick-to-build, small homes.

www.NaturalBuildingNetwork.org. Great resources on more environmentally sound natural building practices.

Where to recycle asphalt and concrete

Asphalt Recycling and Reclaiming Association, www.arra.org.

City and state transportation departments can often link you to concrete recycling services. Better yet, try to beneficially reuse that heavy, non-toxic concrete on site as a material for pavers, check dams, or retaining walls.

Recycler’s World, www.recycle.net.