Using an infrared thermometer to measure the difference in temperature between mown paths and the unmown areas in my garden

One year ago Boston’s Copley Square felt like a true public square, connected to the rest of the City in the midst of the Copley Connect placemaking intervention that turned Dartmouth Street into a pedestrian plaza and a Celtic’s playoff run.

When computers can create anything you can imagine… It doesn’t make your imagination less valuable… It makes it more valuable.

A big reason why people love college campuses is because there is a great and deliberate effort to be attractive. Shockingly, people are attracted to the sorts of places that put their best foot forward!

It’s pretty commonly understood that a main reason why people love their college experience is because it’s one of the few times in one’s life they get to live in a walkable community close to all of their friends, fun things to do, & to do so fairly affordably (outside of

Every generation would pay more to live in a walkable neighborhood, including 92% of Gen Z

ALL GARDENING ADVICE IS LOCAL. I just read an article where a pro gardener declared some plants to be totally a bad idea because they were "invasive". I know and love one of the plants mentioned and was surprised by the assertion (what! how did I not know it was invasive???).

We need cooler cities - everywhere. This is one of the real catch-22's of designing cities for cars: lots of asphalt, by default. Asphalt is hot. Designing cities for transit, walking and cycling opens up the possibility of significantly less surface area that contributes to

This is a very good idea. Make a catalog of your town's favorite buildings. Make it legal to duplicate them.

We need to remind U.S. Department of Transportation that it’s not their job to prioritize cars. It’s their job to transport people, whether by walking, biking, driving, or taking transit.

With 89% of the 1,092 votes cast… the “make it permanents” have it. #opennewbury

You don’t “grow plants”, you provide the environment in which they grow themselves Applies elsewhere…

"No crop is more wasteful or more useless than turf that’s never harvested and never feeds, clothes or fuels anyone or anything, while producing no revenue." Los Angeles Times editorial board calls for California to ban nonfunctional grass lawns: latimes.com/opinion/story/…

Humans outlive their ability to drive safely by ten years, yet most cities are built on the assumption they’ll do it forever. To allow for successful aging in place, we must rethink our car-first streets and provide amenities within a short walk or roll. john-adams.nl/the-age-friend…

Back in 1985, Carl Sagan told Congress that continuing to burn fossil fuels will increase global temperature, cause climate change, melt glaciers and ice sheets, and cause sea level rise. His solution: Fewer government subsidies for fossil fuels and use of renewable energy.

City design is making cities hotter. Here’s the fix: the hottest spots in cities have less than 6% vegetation cover, while the coolest spots in most cities have over 70%. Add trees everywhere to cool cities. forbes.com/sites/jamiehai…

It might be hard, but definitely not impossible to change our streets. We did it before, and we can do it again! —Barbarosseplatz, #Cologne (1900, now and future) (📹 by digital gardener @jan_kamensky) x.com/i/status/16942…

Redeveloping just 10% of the Boston area's 3,024 strip malls into mixed-use housing and commercial space could provide 125,000 new homes for the Boston metro region.

What if—instead of misery and stress—our streets could bring us joy? What if—instead of incentivizing physical inactivity—they could help us build movement into our daily lives? What if—instead of isolating and pushing us apart—they could encourage cooperation and conviviality?