The built environment in its best incarnations addresses such issues as social justice, open space, planning and place-making, design and sustainability. In its worst incarnations, the built environment is a shadow of these things, built to provide temporary stop-gap measures for on-going problems. When the built environment reflects the good intentions of as many participating citizens as possible, it begins to be like a patchwork of riotous color and flavor, ritual and specialness, pattern and promise. Civic centers, for example, should not only represent the agency using the buildings but serve as an asset for the communities those agencies serve. The extremely personal nature of place-making means investing in the home, making the home secure, just, sustainable, comfortable, and an anchor for the development of cities that thrive on healthy, beautiful places. This month's newsletter is dedicated to the idea of great places in our cities, which make our lives rich and make where we live so special.

UAS Green Movie Night & Forum - Green Plans & Smart Growth

Greenplans presents a hopeful look at how two countries have moved beyond the usual environmental conflicts to develop widely supported national plans for sustainable development. Competing interests in the Netherlands and New Zealand were brought together to hammer out a comprehensive national environmental policy - or Green Plan - aimed at creating both a sustainable environment and economy within one generation's time.

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The Big One 2008

Community Convergence for Conscious Change- A village of engagement for healthy body, home, family and community:

The Big ONE is a movement, a tectonic shift in thinking towards sustainability. It is now surfacing as the first two-day annual community building event that's free.

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Greening the Mainstream at 525 Golden Gate

By Mary Klipp

"We believe it will be the greenest high-rise office building in the United States." Sue Black, project director of 525 Golden Gate, said as she described the plans for the new offices of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. "We feel that we are a leader in building design. Our plans can be used as a model - a template for future buildings around the country."

San Francisco has become the center of the "Green Movement," taking bold, brave steps to better the world by taking care of our environment. Therefore, it is fitting that this city be the threshold of an up-and-coming form of architecture incorporating ecology in the new designs. The Public Utilities Commission is no exception, and is leading the way with the construction of their new office building, which will raise the bar for greener standards across the country.

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From Co-housing to Eco Villages and Beyond: Pushing the Envelope on Sustainable Living

By Eckhart Beatty

Increasingly, people are exploring alternative housing community options-be they urban, suburban, or even "exurban." They are awakening to the truth that to "live within our means" or reduce our footprint on the planet, we need to give thought to our housing design.

One solution gaining momentum is co-housing, a cooperative living arrangement in which members share facilities and responsibilities-- such as managing activity rooms and preparing meals in the dinning hall-- which adds to a greater sense of community.

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Reconsidering Local Food: Putting it in your own backyard.

How can we think about urban land use in a way that enables more people to grow their own food?

Though maybe it isn't practical to think of growing all our food in the city, there are 1822 acres of open residential space in San Francisco according to a recent civic survey, and mild climate, and lots of opportunities to learn about gardening here. What would it mean if more of those available acres were growing veggies that could go to the dinner table, rather than abandoned weeds, or maybe inedible landscaping?

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