Not Exactly the Lone Voice in the Wilderness

When I first started this blog, it felt like I was embarking on a great adventure through the intellectual wilderness of sustainable urban planning. I had recently moved to a new community, which seems to be locked in an inexorable urban crawl up the Fraser valley, in which traffic problems is something to be solved with more bridges and roads. "Green" language had crept into city planning documents, such as the oddly-named "Eco-Cluster" concept (think "cull-de-sac", but with better concept art) in the Silver Valley Development Plan; but a huge gulf still existed between what I perceived as the needs and what I saw as the slash-and-burn reality. My choice to move here was driven by a desire for a less car-dependent lifestyle, yet my new community was apparently rushing headlong in the opposite direction!

So, armed with an over-developed sense of civic duty, and an under-developed sense of time management, I figured that the only sensible response was to launch a full-fledged program of study, blogging, and political activism. In the process, just as Jane Jacobs revolutionized urban planning in the face of social injustice, I would do the same in the face of peak oil and climate change. Surely, I could get this all done during my 45-minute commute, right?

Now that I'm well into my new "hobby", my hopes of revolutionizing anything have pretty much vanished. It turns out that the field of sustainable urban planning is already well-established. There are conferences, lots of them, books and more books, television shows with podcasts, etc, etc. It's basically a rockin' party of sustainable development out there! Click on any of the links in this paragraph to find out. In fact, one could probably spend a lifetime just immersed in all of the incredible things going on right now. I know I could.

As fun as that sounds, it doesn't seem very productive, does it? So I'll focus on being a connector and communicator for these ideas. Feel free to join me! I'm going to head on over to the Transit Lab and sign a petition or two...

Later!