Ken Edelstein Jan 18, 2011
First of all, let’s admit that Top 10 lists can be kind of silly. But readers like them for their “gee-whiz” quality, and publishers like them because lists do well on search engines. Plus — hey! — they a good way to take a strategic view at the year ahead. Having perused a score or more…
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Ken Edelstein Jan 10, 2011
I’d just gotten back from checking out some phenomenal green homes in the great state of Illinois, when I ran across an interesting debate on Climate Progress about net-zero houses in sprawl subdivisions. The discussion harkens back to our own discussion here last month about transportation’s role in sustainable projects. But one of the houses I visited…
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Ken Edelstein Jan 5, 2011
Check out Jonathan Lerner’s fascinating article in Miller-McCune about the national “redfields-to-greenfields” movement, which appears to have its epicenter in Atlanta. The idea is to convert all those foreclosed commercial properties that are cropping up in cities and aging suburbs into parks, which in turn would increase the value of surrounding properties. Property values previously…
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Ken Edelstein Dec 8, 2010
Get 200-plus civic-minded people together in a room, ask them to envision a “sustainable” city, and you can be sure of one outcome: They’ll come up with some high-minded ideas. The ultimate question, of course, is how — or whether — anyone will ever convert those dreams into reality. But that’s not the question that the EnvisionATL brainstormers…
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Ken Edelstein Dec 8, 2010
Founding executive director Lynnette Young no longer is with Sustainable Atlanta, the nonprofit organization that serves as the city’s partner in its sustainability efforts, according to employees of the organization. She’s been replaced by interim co-directors Townsend Bailey and Scott Briskey, both of whom held positions with the organization previously. But, Briskey added, “the board…
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Ken Edelstein Dec 6, 2010
New World Home has gotten national attention for a business model based on the manufacture of upscale, traditionally styled, eco-friendly modular homes. But the Atlanta (and New Jersey) -based company unveiled a very different product line this morning at an event in Atlanta’s Reynoldstown neighborhood. New World’s “Essential Housing Collection” is the result of a…
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Ken Edelstein Dec 6, 2010
Another mover and shaker answers three big questions. This time it’s Brian Leary, CEO and president of Atlanta Beltline Inc., who also happens to be the visionary behind Atlantic Station. Leary describes how much private development already has gone up near the Beltline, the dense nature of that development and — most interesting to me…
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Ken Edelstein Dec 3, 2010
Expect Georgia conservation groups to unveil a coalition this winter to push for something the state sorely lacks: A funding mechanism to preserve critical lands. Also expect those groups to gather their fair share of support from property owners, developers and other businesspeople. “What you will see is our coalition growing and looking more like…
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Ken Edelstein Dec 1, 2010
The Atlanta Regional Commission was set this morning to certify Alpharetta and Decatur as the region’s first “Gold” level “Green Communities.” They’re among eight jurisdictions to gain the certifications for sustainability efforts today, bringing the total number of ARC Certified Green Communities in the 10-county Atlanta region to 15. Besides Alpharetta and Decatur, Norcross will be…
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Ken Edelstein Nov 12, 2010
Atlanta Beltline Inc. CEO Brian Leary told an audience of about 80 people at the Sustainable Atlanta Roundtable this morning that the most controversial tract of land along the Beltline is bound to be developed. Later, I’ll have more from the event, which featured Leary, Beltline Partnership Executive Director Valarie Wilson and Beltline concept originator…
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