“A Food Forest is a gardening technique or land management system that mimics a woodland ecosystem but substitutes in edible trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals. Fruit and nut trees are the upper level, while below are berry shrubs, edible perennials and annuals. Companions or beneficial plants are included to attract insects for natural pest management while some plants are soil amenders providing nitrogen and mulch. Together they create relationships to form a forest garden ecosystem able to produce high yields of food with less maintenance.”

Seattle creates a ‘food forest’ in the middle of the city. (Forbes. HuffPost)

(via thegreenurbanist)

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Metropopular (by brainpickings)

An animated short film about what American cities would say to one another if they could talk.

More: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2011/08/31/metropopular/

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New CityCenter Brings Green Public Space to Downtown D.C. | Sustainable Cities Collective The 10-acre CityCenterDC, the largest redevelopment project currently underway in any downtown in an American city, looks like a people-friendly design. Incorporating a generous new park and central plaza, along with green roofs and gardens set within commercial and residential buildings, the development may present an improved model for how to integrate sustainable design elements into a major urban redevelopment project. The redevelopment of the site of the old DC convention center is being led by Hines | Archstone. Gustafson Guthrie Nichol, a landscape architecture firm, is creating the site master plan along with Foster + Partners, and also running the landscape design, working with DC-based Lee & Associates. Kathryn Gustafson, FASLA, said “in addition to creating a major new residential and retail hub, CityCenterDC will create a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood, with park and walkways.” According to Gustafson Guthrie Nichol, the design of the new public spaces were guided by a few core ideas, namely restore the original DC street grid, limit car access, and create green public spaces set within mixed-use development. The team recognized the need to restore L’Enfant’s original plan and “reinstate I Street and 10th Street, thereby extending the urban fabric of the city;” integrate the development into the neighborhood by “incorporating small pedestrian alleyways with limited vehicular access”; and create an “inviting and exceptional destination featuring signature retail and dining establishments, engaging public spaces with seasonal programming, and a mix of housing opportunities.” Using L’Enfant’s original street grid as a “framework for a pedestrian-oriented” neighborhood, the development will include a new Northwest Park and central plaza. “The centerpiece of Northwest Park are a pair of fountains which frame the experience of entering the park with the sound of rushing water and a controlled perspective view of the new neighborhood and the entrance to Central Plaza. On either side of the fountains, two areas provide a variety of seating options under a generous canopy of trees.”

New CityCenter Brings Green Public Space to Downtown D.C. | Sustainable Cities Collective

The 10-acre CityCenterDC, the largest redevelopment project currently underway in any downtown in an American city, looks like a people-friendly design. Incorporating a generous new park and central plaza, along with green roofs and gardens set within commercial and residential buildings, the development may present an improved model for how to integrate sustainable design elements into a major urban redevelopment project. The redevelopment of the site of the old DC convention center is being led by Hines | Archstone. Gustafson Guthrie Nichol, a landscape architecture firm, is creating the site master plan along with Foster + Partners, and also running the landscape design, working with DC-based Lee & Associates. Kathryn Gustafson, FASLA, said “in addition to creating a major new residential and retail hub, CityCenterDC will create a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood, with park and walkways.”

According to Gustafson Guthrie Nichol, the design of the new public spaces were guided by a few core ideas, namely restore the original DC street grid, limit car access, and create green public spaces set within mixed-use development. The team recognized the need to restore L’Enfant’s original plan and “reinstate I Street and 10th Street, thereby extending the urban fabric of the city;” integrate the development into the neighborhood by “incorporating small pedestrian alleyways with limited vehicular access”; and create an “inviting and exceptional destination featuring signature retail and dining establishments, engaging public spaces with seasonal programming, and a mix of housing opportunities.”

Using L’Enfant’s original street grid as a “framework for a pedestrian-oriented” neighborhood, the development will include a new Northwest Park and central plaza. “The centerpiece of Northwest Park are a pair of fountains which frame the experience of entering the park with the sound of rushing water and a controlled perspective view of the new neighborhood and the entrance to Central Plaza. On either side of the fountains, two areas provide a variety of seating options under a generous canopy of trees.”

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First Capital Bikeshare station installed

BeyondDC

 

The first Capital Bikeshare station was installed today at 18th and Bell Streets in Arlington, adjacent to Crystal City Metro.

With 19 bike docks, the station will be the largest in Arlington as well as the first. The components all came pre-fabricated and just had to be unloaded and pieced together. It took workers a little over an hour to perform the job, which they did with the help of a small crane.

In addition to bike docks, the station includes panels for paying and maps. Bikes will come in a couple of weeks when the system is closer to launch.

See below 41 photos showing the installation process from start to finish.

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Next American City » Columns » To Build or Not To Build (Custom Apps) To the delight of open government advocates everywhere, an increasing number of cities and towns across the country (and around the globe) are embracing the idea of open data. Yet, data itself is usually just a starting point, and while there are usually a handful of people happy to have access to raw numbers, simply publishing a data catalogue online is not exactly helpful to most citizens. To make open data worthwhile, you need worthwhile applications that use the data in question. Thus, the issue most cities encounter once they’ve decided to unlock their data is what to do about applications. Anyone interested in open government has probably come across some very cool applications that make use of public data (some fun examples here, here and here). Yet, building applications can be expensive and complicated, and many cities lack the budget and expertise to commission such projects (let alone ensure that they will result in useful tools). So most cities have sought out help from third parties.

Next American City » Columns » To Build or Not To Build (Custom Apps)

To the delight of open government advocates everywhere, an increasing number of cities and towns across the country (and around the globe) are embracing the idea of open data. Yet, data itself is usually just a starting point, and while there are usually a handful of people happy to have access to raw numbers, simply publishing a data catalogue online is not exactly helpful to most citizens. To make open data worthwhile, you need worthwhile applications that use the data in question. Thus, the issue most cities encounter once they’ve decided to unlock their data is what to do about applications. Anyone interested in open government has probably come across some very cool applications that make use of public data (some fun examples here, here and here). Yet, building applications can be expensive and complicated, and many cities lack the budget and expertise to commission such projects (let alone ensure that they will result in useful tools). So most cities have sought out help from third parties.

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