SvenSpace

Watch this video and think about Christmas...

2009-12-09T00:26:00.000-08:00

I saw this Oscar-nominated short called "Most" a year ago (I think my friend Jessica showed it to me) and it was an extremely powerful reminder of the sacrifice that allows me to be alive to God.

Parks Boost Economy

2009-08-29T14:34:00.000-07:00

Check out this article in the Gotham Gazette about the effect parks can have on local economies.
Above is a photo of the High Line Park in NYC...built on an old elevated freight railway.

As the article points out, the establishment of the park is just the beginning...the cost of upkeep is often the harder part of the job.

After I read an article like this, I always try to ask myself what already exists here that might be a counterpart to that which is in the article...
Have you been to the Hoover Rec Center? I have walked through it, but I don't think I have really enjoyed the park that is just a short walk from my house.
If the Hoover Rec Center doesn't currently play a role in my life, what changes would make it more relevant?

-Sven

Mapping the Neighborhoods of LA

2009-08-28T15:35:00.000-07:00

Here are two really fascinating sites that utilize GIS (Geographic Information Systems) to map parts of Los Angeles:

LA Times

Healthy City
You can search a zip code for various types of services (food banks, preschools, job assistance centers) as well as finding out demographic information for a city or zip.

New Post

2009-04-24T15:21:00.000-07:00

I'm writing this post for three (3) reasons:

1. Because I can and there is minimal impact (positive or negative;)
2. Because I think you should listen to the song 'Signs' by BlocParty (in the '5 Fresh Songs' box on the left)
3. Because this blog has been pretty mundane/unused. If you want to read something slightly more interesting, head over to bicyclebread.org!

quote from Mr. Smith Goes to Washington: Your friend Mr. Lincoln had his Taylors and Paines. So did every other man whoever tried to lift his thought up off the ground. Odds against 'em didn't stop those men. They were fools that way. All the good that ever came into this world came from fools with faith like that.

new favorite place

2008-11-18T20:58:00.000-08:00

The Silverlake Reservoir has a lot going against: a tall, barb-wired fence encircling it, traces of bromate and a never-ending city project to build a running path around it. Nevertheless, it has become one of my favorite places to get some solitude in Los Angeles. There is something calming about staring out onto the blue waters.
I've been taking Tuesday mornings to be with God and I often try to get over to Silverlake. The key for me has been to leave my ipod and phone at home. just a Bible and a journal and nalgene. that's the life.

Rising

2008-10-20T00:06:00.000-07:00

I've had quite a time figuring out yeast...first I killed it, then I overproofed it and let it go a bit too crazy...
As a result, I am freshly intrigued by all the parables in the Bible about yeast.
Thanks to some prayer and some handy advice from my mother (Queen of Wheat Bread) I got some good results tonight!

The slightly crunchy, golden brown crust is key.

Richard and me finished off one loaf right away...he is one of my official taste-testers.

Bread time!

2008-10-11T21:33:00.000-07:00

I started baking at the church today and thought I would share some of the results;)

I am very excited to finally have an edible bread! It helps to have the right type of wheat. I finally got a co-op in Santa Monica that would order the Hard White Wheat...the fun part was taking public transit with a 50lb bag of wheat.

How Quaint Was My City

2008-05-19T17:00:00.000-07:00

I was wikiing Hollywood and came across some old pictures they have posted. Can you imagine Hollywood as an agricultural area? (picture from 1885)

How Hollywood & Highland has changed... (picture from 1907)

Leaving College + Frost poem

2008-05-13T21:24:00.000-07:00

Finals have ended and now I simply await the day of graduation. My grandparents and parents arrive tomorrow and I can't wait to share with them the city and community I've lived in for the past 4 years.
I'm excited they are coming.
I'm also wondering if I will soon be hit with the realization that college is over. It is underwhelming seeing everything come to a close. Retrospectively I try to add up my experiences and see if they all fit into a nice, cohesive picture. There are too many pieces;) I don't like thinking about regrets, but my mind seems to search for them at times like this. I can push them off by remembering that I'll soon be in Europe, soon be in the Rockies, and soon be on a new adventure.
I am about to leave one stage of life and enter a new one. There is so much unknown in the leaving.

Check out this poem by Robert Frost: Directive

I recently read a passage by Robert Greenleaf (author: Servant Leadership) where he responds to Frost's words:
To be on the journey one must have an attitude toward loss and being lost, a view of oneself in which powerful symbols like burned, dissolved, broken off – however painful their impact is seen to be - do not appear as senseless or destructive. Rather the losses they suggest are seen as opening the way for new creative acts, for receiving of priceless gifts. Loss, every loss the mind of man can conceive of, creates a vacuum into which will come (if allowed) something new and fresh and beautiful, something unforeseen – and the greatest of these is love.

What will come into this vacuum after graduation?
Hopefully "something new and fresh and beautiful, something unforeseen"

Song for your enjoyment: Damien Jurado- Denton, TX listen
p.s. Picture taken downtown LA, Golden Gopher

Coldplay's new single

2008-04-30T23:27:00.000-07:00

Coldplay has released their newest single off their upcoming record, Viva La Vida. Check out Violet Hill here.
While I ponder the song (I really like it during its first 12 listens;), I thought I would list my favorite Coldplay songs of all time:

1. See You Soon - a beautiful acoustic guitar track off the Parachutes bonus cd. "
2. The Scientist - "Come up to meet you, tell you I'm sorry you dont know how lovely you are." The music video is beautiful and brings tears.
3. Sparks - Heard this for the first time at Greg and Julie's wedding back in August of 2005.
4. What If - I love the chorus. "How can you know it if you don't even try?"
5. Clocks and Yellow (Tie)- Clocks was the first Coldplay song I ever heard. It brings back many memories from a summer I spent working in Colorado at the YMCA of the Rockies. Yellow is just an amazing song.

Mobility in LA according to Wired

2008-04-09T15:26:00.000-07:00

Check out this post on a Wired Blog: Los Angeles' Future in Mobility: Many Goals But Many Obstacles He talks about the future of the Rapid network and rail.
Here's MTA's dreamy site: Imagine. It has links to the MTA's 2008 Draft Long Range Transportation Plan.

The Beauty of the Woonerf

2008-04-09T12:25:00.000-07:00

The Times has a great article by Jeff Byles called Taking Back the Streets in which he talks about new options available to urban planners as they look to design livable streets called

The Woonerf, originally created by our Dutch friends, is essentially an "outdoor living room" with the street and sidewalk at the same height level and the absence of traffic lights and signs. Very people-centric;)

The article talks about play streets and bike boulevards, but the coolest idea that it mentions has to be Lanescapes. This is the meshing of the culture and context of the area with the street that runs through it. Two examples that Byles mentions: "At Columbus Circle, for example, two lanes of Broadway could be devoted to Jazz at Lincoln Center, with bebop bands spilling into the street. At Times Square, portions of the streets could accommodate legions of out-of-work actors reliving the movie “Fame.” Another that I particularly like: "In Hunts Point in the Bronx, for example, where storm-water runoff pollutes the Bronx River, the lanes could be wetlands."

The beauty of this article is how closely it echoes the words of the prophets:

"This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Once again men and women of ripe old age will sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with cane in hand because of his age. The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there." - Zechariah 8:4-5

This verse has really sparked my imagination as I look forward to continuing to live in Los Angeles. Billions are being spent on lofts and entertainment downtown, but the needs of the working classes and families are being ignored. There's the opportunity. Can you imagine a Los Angeles with streets full of music and families?

Philippe's Birthday, Broadway Revitalization

2008-04-06T01:52:00.000-07:00

Two items of note in Los Angeles:
Philippe the Original is a cultural icon of a restaurant next to Union Station. Renowned for their French dip sandwiches, the historical spot is serves 2-3 thousand customers each day. Check it out if you are in the area, especially now that they have turned 100!

Interesting old LA Times' story on Broadway revitalization from January: L.A. to announce Broadway makeover

Worship

2008-04-03T09:36:00.001-07:00

Last night at our small group meeting we dove into the topic of worship. This quote by former Archbishop of Canterbury William Temple really intrigues my mind:

"Worship is the submission of all of our nature to God.
It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness,
nourishment of mind by His truth,
purifying of imagination by His beauty,
opening of the heart to His love,
and submission of will to His purpose.
All this gathered up in adoration is the greatest of
all expressions of which we are capable."
--William Temple

What does it mean to open our heart to God's love? His grace is the central ingredient to this...

"When we know that he alone is God, we fall before him in awe.
When we know that he alone is perfect, we fall before him in shame.
But when we know that he, the Holy One, so desires our fellowship that he ave his only Son to make it possible, we fall before him in gratitude and praise and sing the wonder of his holiness and the glory of his amazing grace" --Darrell Johnson in Discipleship Essentials

As I am caught up in thinking on His Holiness (separateness and purity), I am reminded of how incredible it is that His Spirit indwells us. We are so frail, so weak yet the Almighty extends His grace in order to not just be in relationship with us, but to be in us.

Tim Keller on his new book:The Reason for God

2008-03-23T01:31:00.000-07:00

Tim Keller's words are really thought-provoking as he dives into the topic of the existence of the divine with an audience of Google engineers. I especially like the part about the blind men and the elephant- I've wondered about that argument a great deal. He also reference's Annie Dillard and her book, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, which I hope to read in the near future.
thanks to The Shepherd's Scrapbook.

Why is it so hard to blog? + 2 cool websites

2008-03-23T01:20:00.000-07:00

After some pondering, I have realized that I am hesitant to post on my blog after an absence because I feel that I have to put up a finished product. Or that I have to be ready to blog regularly (which seems to take a certain amount of discipline and/or time).
So I have decided to overcome my fear of posting by writing the paragraph above and by posting the link below, all with great reflexivity.

green LA girl recently posted a link to Walk Score, a site that rates the walkability of your neighborhood. My neighborhood got a decent 71 rating.

I have starting a myspace for my music. It's called Sven Goes to LA. Check it out and see what you think!

The Fallen State of Man According to Upton Sinclair

2008-01-23T22:55:00.000-08:00

It is rare that I leave a movie with such a profound understanding of the depravity of man. Paul Thomas Anderson's epic There Will Be Blood seized my attention with the first dissonant notes of its score and entranced me for the next 158 minutes with the tragic story of Daniel Plainview, portrayed brilliantly by Daniel Day-Lewis. Particularly engrossing was the relationship between Daniel and his adopted son, H.W. played by Dillon Freasier. H.W. goes deaf due to an accident and Anderson's harsh aesthetic elements and powerful use of sound bring the viewer into the world of a child, the son of a relentlessly distrustful, driven, calloused, self-made man. Also of note is the performance by Paul Dano portraying Eli Sunday, a fiery young preacher whose charisma and fanaticism leave the viewer unsettled in a build up to a dramatic and shocking ending. Well done, Mr. Anderson. Upton Sinclair would be proud.٭٭٭٭٭
5 Stars

Back in the City of Angeles

2008-01-08T10:09:00.001-08:00

Just arrived last night in LA. Got to spend Christmas in Black Mountain, North Carolina with the family and we stuck around for the annual Faithwalkers conference, where we worshiped God heard some great teachings. If you're interested in downloading some of the audio from the conference check out the Faithwalkers 2007 East Teachings.

I've been pleasantly surprised at how well Huckabee is doing in the primaries. The New York Times has an Op-Ed about the underestimation of Mike Huckabee by both the GOP establishment and the Democrats who seem eager for an Obama-Huckabee match-up.
Also TIME has article called Eating Up Huckabee and how the public and the media have become enamored with the Baptist pastor from Arkansas.

Huckabee Rises to 2nd in National Poll

2007-12-05T23:33:00.000-08:00

Mike Huckabee continues to surprise the naysayers as he takes the lead in Iowa and finishes in 2nd place nationally behind Giuliani in a recent Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll. And all this on a shoestring budget. In Iowa he has spent $370,000, or 1/20 of what Romney has spent.

Twentieth Century Summary

2007-12-03T00:47:00.000-08:00

I heard this in a Ravi Zacharias teaching and its words continue to echo in my ears:

Twentieth Century Summary By Malcolm Muggerdige

We look back upon history and what do we see? Empires rising and falling, revolutions and counter-revolutions, wealth accumulated and wealth dispersed. Shakespeare has spoken of the rise of great ones that ebb and flow with the moon.

I look back upon my own fellow countrymen, once upon a time dominating a quarter of the world, most of them convinced in the words of what is still a popular song, that the God who made them mighty will make them mightier yet. I’ve heard a crazed cracked Austrian that announced to the world a reich that would last a thousand years. I’ve seen an Italian clown that said he was going to stop and restart the calendar with his own ascension to power. I met a murderous Georgian brigand in the Kremlin, proclaimed by the intellectual elite of the world as wiser than Solomon, more humane than Marcus Aureleus, more enlightened than the Shoka.

I have seen America wealthier, and in terms of military weaponry more powerful than the rest of the world put together, so had the American people so desired, they could have outdone a Caesar or an Alexander in the range and scale of their conquest. All in one lifetime! All in one lifetime! Gone! Gone with the wind. England part of a tiny island off the coast of Europe threatened with dismemberment and even bankruptcy.

Hitler and Mussolini dead and remembered only in infamy. Stalin a forbidden name in the regime he helped found and dominated for some three decades. America haunted by fears of running out of those precious fluids that keeps her motorways running and the smog settling. With troubled memories, and painful memories, of a disasterous campaign in Vietnam, and the victory of the Don Quixotes of the media as they charged the windmills of Watergate.

All in one lifetime! All in one lifetime! Gone! Gone with the wind.

Behind the debris of these solemn supermen and self-styled Imperial diplomatists stands the gigantic figure of one person because of whom, by whom, in whom, and through whom alone mankind may still have hope. The person of Jesus Christ. The more I look at the saviors of men, the more beautiful the Lamb of God looks to me.

—Malcolm Muggeridge, Former Editor of Punch Magazine, and a former BBC Anchor

MORE (by Mark Osborne)

2007-08-26T10:00:00.001-07:00

This short was shown at SPARK!, the opening for USC's Visions & Voices. What do you think?

Groningen and Bike Transportation

2007-06-15T05:25:00.000-07:00

In the Netherlands there is a town called Groningen where 37% of the commutes are made via bicycle. With that much biking, they will probably never get to experience the joys of smog. Check out Worldchanging's article on how the city officials helped to make this happen through a "Continuous and Integral" biking infrastructure (including dedicated bike paths and bike parking facilities) and the help of a city bicycle planner.
Maybe that is what Los Angeles needs...a bicycle planner!

Hundertwasser's Green Roof

2007-06-15T05:08:00.000-07:00

Check out this amusing article from the Times about the late Friedensreich Hundertwasser- a free-spirited, ecologically-minded painter/architect/activist. The above picture is of the Waldspirale (English: Forest spiral)in Darmstadt, Germany. basically he was able to place a green courtyard on the gentle incline of the roof. It seems that something like this would only be found in a child's fairytale book.

The Daily Dose of Architecture also has a cool article on a similar project planned in the South Bronx area.

(via A Daily Dose of Architecture) (photo via NY Times)

Sudan relenting on hybrid UN-AU force?

2007-06-12T13:50:00.000-07:00

It is hard for me to believe that Sudan is actually going to follow through with this latest news from BBC that says that Sudan is accepting a joint United Nations/African Union Force. According to the article, the "AU will run day-to-day operations, while the UN is expected to have overall control of between 17,000 to 19,000 peacekeepers"...but Sudan has yet to agree to the make-up of the force. The article says that the earliest that this force would be deployed is next year. It is frustrating how well al-Bashir has mastered his stall tactics. Back in November of 2006, Khartoum "accepted" the idea of a hybrid force and then denied it that it ever had according to the Genocide Intervention Network. Will this be any different?

Design for Developing countries

2007-06-11T19:44:00.000-07:00

When I saw this picture of the Q Drum, I immediately thought "why didn't I think of this?" It allows people in rural areas to roll their water supply from the source back to their home. Check out these inventions and products developed by designers to meet needs that are especially present in the third world. Many of them are already in use and have proved effective.
Altruism aside, how rad would it be to have a LifeStraw to filter water when you go camping?
Via Inhabitat

Flight of the Conchords

2007-06-07T08:33:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my bros, I am now a full-fledged fan of of this folk-parody group from New Zealand- the Flight of the Conchords. Funniest part: when Bret says: "It's just gonna get into this ridiculous Russian doll situation, isn't it?" Check out this amazing video!

I saw Mother Theresa last night

2007-06-06T08:28:00.000-07:00

Last night we went with a small group of college students from our church to help out at a transitional housing project in town where homeless families stay in community dorms while they get back on their feet. We brought some cookies and a volleyball net so that we could play sports with the kids.

After we had been there for a little bit, one of the college students asked me if I could push a crying little baby around the lawn in his stroller. The baby initially calmed down but began to cry again as we rounded the sidewalk circle for the fifth time. I looked down at the baby in the stroller...his clothes were stained and dirty and looked like they hadn't been changed in weeks, his arms looked like they had eczema or some sort of rash, his diaper was bulging and probably wet as well. And whenever I would try to catch his attention or smile at him, no emotion or acknowledgment would even register on his face. I was glad that all I had to do was push him around in the stroller. He continued to cry louder and louder, and I kept pushing the stroller around and around.

I would have continued in the pattern except that my little sister Kelly ran over from her volleyball game because she heard the baby crying. She looked down at him and said tenderly "He just needs to be held!" She reached down, undid his belt and picked him up into her arms. She held him close. He stopped crying immediately and his eyes lit up as he looked around and she hugged him. Humbled and amazed by the example of my sister, I took the baby back and held it the rest of the time we were there.

I was struck by my sister's loving heart and her simple love: she saw a baby that was crying and needed to be loved and so she loved it in the way that meant the most to the baby: touch. In that moment I could imagine Mother Theresa doing the same thing...looking down at a crying, dirty, sick, unresponsive baby- and hugging it with God's love.

...and a little child will lead them
(from Isaiah 11:6)

Smart Growth + the Grove and the Ritz

2007-06-05T06:46:00.000-07:00

I am back in Florida with my family for a month before I head to Honduras. It is extremely humid and the best way to describe it might be to imagine a feeling of continual perspiration. But Florida is much more green than Los Angeles, and I must say that am enjoying being surrounded by trees and separated from 10 lane freeways.

Now for some interesting articles about Los Angeles development:

David Zahniser of LA Weekly has a very in depth piece on the city's plan for higher density smart growth. This plan revolves around a village model (where you can walk to amenities like grocery stores) and mixed use developments near transit stops to discourage the use of cars. The article points out that while this plan is good in theory, the public transit system in Los Angeles mainly consists of buses, which are hindered by traffic. Zahniser looks at Pasadena and its Gold Line as an example of how density can accompany rail transit, to effectively gain high ridership and up the sustainability factor. The MTA's plans for future expansions seems to be slowed by lack of funds according to this LA Times article. For now, we can all keep dreaming of that subway-to-the-sea.

Columbus, Ohio is tackling its lack of transportation infrastructure in a unique competition, put on by American Institute of Architects Columbus. They are calling for proposals for how to develop a public transit system that will facilitate mobility in the 8th largest city in the US. (Via Good Magazine)

Elsewhere in Los Angeles, Rick Caruso and the Ritz-Carlton are capturing the headlines. The LA Times has an article on Caruso, the man behind The Grove and the forthcoming Americana at Brand in Glendale. The article looks at his "scripted" neighborhoods and the theme-park community that results. It will interesting to see the future of Americana, which builds on the success of the Grove, while combining retail and residential. The new Ritz-Carlton, a part of the LA Live project, broke ground with great fanfare and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger expressing interest in a condo. (Via blogdowntown) (Image via Curbed LA)

Google again shows its amazingness

2007-05-30T21:21:00.000-07:00

Google Maps just unveiled a Street View for its maps. It is only for a available for a limited number of cities. You can walk down streets and look around 360 degrees. Talk about being a virtual tourist...
Amazon's constantly changing A9 search engine used to have a similar function that was linked with its Yellow Pages but that seems to have been discontinued. Via A Daily Dose of Architecture.

Sudan says that new sanctions are "untimely"

2007-05-29T23:52:00.001-07:00

A month and a half after he first proposed further action, Bush announced increased sanctions to be placed on Sudan. The government of Khartoum has become well-versed in their delay tactics, and called these sanctions "unfair and untimely." These sanctions primarily affect 31 Sudanese-owned companies and a company that is suspected of shipping arms to Sudan. Also the assets of three individuals involved in the genocide were frozen. While this is a good move, according to the New York Times this will have "limited effects on the country’s oil production and exports" which make up the majority of the country's revenue. The LA Times also questioned the effectiveness of the new sanctions because of the conspicuous companies that were left off the list of sanctioned companies including Gum Arabic Co. which exports to many US manufacturers.

On the same day as Bush's announcement, China pushed for more foreign investment and downplayed the alleged atrocities taking place in Darfur. Just to assure the world that there is not a humanitarian crisis taking place in Darfur, the Chinese ambassador to Sudan Liu Guijin stated that he "didn't see a desperate scenario of people dying of hunger." Thanks Liu for the good report. (Via Washington Post)

Michael Gerson writes for the Washington Post that the "new sanctions were opposed by the U.N. secretary general, the Chinese, the Saudis and the Egyptians, who all want "just a few more weeks" to perform diplomatic miracles." He says that two options face the US: negotiate for peace under the current level of sanctions or begin a "ladder of escalation" to force Sudan to allow a UN peacekeeping force. Gerson says that there is no clear answer at this stage in the game.
Given Sudan's history of deception and obstruction, I think that the US should put firm time-tables on Khartoum and then multilaterally move towards the "ladder of escalation" if the deadlines aren't met.

Separated Bike Paths

2007-05-28T23:19:00.000-07:00

Check out this StreeFilms video about the factors that help to make biking a safe, efficient and attractive mode of transportation in metropolitan areas. It looks at the use of physical separators (rather than white lines) that are used in cities such as Copenhagen and London and includes comments from Enrique Peñalosa (former mayor of Bogotá) among others. What would LA look like if it had dedicated bike lanes that are set apart by curbs or barriers, ensuring the safety of the bikers? Just as NYC would benefit from further implementation of separators, there is definitely a need in Los Angeles for Class I Bike Paths that are separated by more than a painted line.

As downtown LA continues to revitalize, it would do well to look to the Indianapolis Cultural Trail, a bike path initiative in the works for Indianapolis. It is encouraging how they are planning sustainable forms of transportation as an integral part of their overall $9 billion vision for downtown renewal as reported by The Post-Bulletin. Check out their renderings here.

Sunflowers

2007-05-25T16:13:00.000-07:00

A beautiful solar-powered light via Inhabitat. This is functional, environmentally-friendly art at its best.

Affordable housing in downtown...hmmm

2007-05-25T16:09:00.000-07:00

Curbed LA has noted that affordable housing IS available in the new developments. If you call $1.8 mil for a two-bedroom affordable.

NYC taxis and London go green....

2007-05-25T10:56:00.000-07:00

London promotes green spaces in Trafalgar Square...for two days. Why stop at two days?! Via BLDG BLOG and BBC.
This is similar to a green roof project that myself and a friend did this spring with green spaces. We laid down sod on roofs around campus in a gesture towards sustainability. Check it out here.
Bloomberg is pushing for a plan to switch all NYC taxis to hybrids under his new five-year plan. Looks like drastic steps such as this are going to have to happen for NYC to reduce emissions by 30% by 2030.

Downtown Development continues, but where is the affordable housing?

2007-05-22T21:03:00.000-07:00

I was excited to find that Downtown News has created an map that allows you to see all the developments that are in the works downtown. Here is a written update on all 137 projects.

I was startled at the sheer number of projects and a little curious to see what provisions had been included to provide housing opportunities for the lower-income families. So I did a little research: according to the Downtown Center Business Improvement District (DCBID) affordable housing account for 9,083 of the 19,904 existing units in Downtown LA (45%). Of the 23,834 units that are in the projects that are under development and in the pipeline for Downtown, only 1,316 are affordable housing(5%). Those numbers, from this DCBID pdf, signal a drastic shift in the socioeconomic makeup of the downtown community...ultimately gentrification.

Marc Haefele of CityBeat has an excellent article that gives an in depth look at the factors that have brought on the lack of affordable housing. He looks at the density issue and downtown adaptive reuse developer Tom Gilmore's suggestion that there should be a different strategy for affordable housing- one that provides incentives that make it financially viable and profitable to develop low-income housing.

Curitiba: the Exemplar of Sustainable Urban Planning

2007-05-22T00:45:00.000-07:00

Curitiba is often looked upon as the holy grail by urban planners and environmentalists alike. Its BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) system has been mimicked effectively in Bogota (which I wrote about here) and Mexico City, and its recycling programs are lauded around the world. Check out this article in the New York Times magazine for an up close look at Curitiba and the innovations championed by its mayor Jaime Lerner.
There are a few other articles that you might find of interest in the magazine as well, especially on the difference between Europe and the US when it comes to designing environmentally-friendly buildings.
Via Inhabitat

New LA Live Dreams

2007-05-22T00:36:00.000-07:00

Here are some new renderings of LA Live from LoftLA.com. Though I will most likely never stay at the Ritz Carlton, I am still excited that it will be gracing the skyline.

Cargo Container Dwelling in Venice

2007-05-18T13:36:00.000-07:00

Curbed LA writes about a mixed-use project being built in Venice with cargo containers.
This seems to be following a trend in architecture, where containers are re-used and recycled into dwellings. Here is a clip from the History Channel about Container City in London. Also mentioned in the video is the potential for containers to be used for relief work and refugee housing. According to my architect friend E, these work well only in certain climates, but their ability to be transported to set up in a short time-frame makes them a great option. Check out this Washington Post article on architect Sean Godsell's FutureShack for the dispaced.
Here is artist/architect Adam Kalkin's beautiful use of the container, folding out into a dwelling.
I would be curious to find out if this has been used in any of the recent natural disasters to provide housing?

Love Triangle: Beijing, Moscow & Khartoum

2007-05-17T23:42:00.000-07:00

China
According to this story in the BBC, China is managing a slow-motion balancing act where it is offering military aid to Sudan and investing in it heavily, even as it faces strong criticism from the international community. A few changes are taking place, but nothing substantial. So far, it is China's use of veto power in the UN that has been one of the biggest stumbling blocks to seeing the genocide come to an end.
One factor that might be influencing change is the threat of a boycott of the 2008 Olympics. We can only hope that China is so self-conscious about its image, that it cleans up its act and withdraws its support from Khartoum.

Russia
But China is not alone in its close, working relationship with President al-Bashir. According to Lawrence Rossin, with the Save Darfur Coalition, Russia has also been supplying weapons and slowing any progress made in the UN. Breaking the UN arms embargo placed on Sudan, Russia is responsible for selling Khartoum the helicopters that are often used in the attacks on the villages in Darfur. Check out the recently issued Amnesty report issued on this sale of weapons.

The Mayors Come Together

2007-05-17T01:33:00.000-07:00

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa presented his plan to lower green-house emissions in LA by 35% by 2030 at the C40 Large Cities Climate Summit this week in New York City. He said that this plan, called GREEN LA, will help LA set "the green standard."
According to this article in the LA Times, the plan doesn't seem to address a minor concern: Funding.
Building Metro lines isn't cheap. Ask the MTA as it looks at extending the Red Line to the sea at a cost of $300 million per mile. That would put the cost tag of the whole extension over $5 billion.
A more economical route that I've discussed before might be the installation of dedicated bus lanes as advocated by Michael Woo (a former prof of mine) and Christian Peralta in this opinion piece for the LA Times.

Outside of the LA bubble, the C40 conference had some interesting headlines. Here is the ambitious plan that Clinton unveiled with mayors of some of the world's most populous cities and the backing of some of the financial giants (JP Morgan, Citi, etc).
It will be interesting to see if this initiative really affects the pollution and emission rates.

Photos of Los Angeles when it existed only in black and white

2007-05-12T03:18:00.000-07:00

UCLA has just put up a site with 5,700 archived pictures from newspaper photographs of Los Angeles. Its a beautiful snapshot of history...I'm partial to the pictures of the Trojans as they play in the very same stadium where we watch them dominate. But check it out...there are shots of everything.

And another billion into downtown LA

2007-05-09T14:53:00.000-07:00

$2 billion for the Grand Avenue Project, $1 billion for L.A. Live, and now a $1 billion hotel and condominium complex is slated to be built. At 76 stories, it would be the tallest building in the west.
I like the design and I'll be honest: I am partial to any development that might make downtown LA more like New York. But the sheer amount of money being poured into downtown LA is mind-boggling.

Interactive Guide to Genocide

2007-05-09T12:36:00.000-07:00

Available on the Council on Foreign Relations website, the Crisis Guide on Darfur is an amazing, interactive source of information about the genocide in Darfur. Chapters II (Historical Background) & IV (International Involvement) were especially interesting to me.
Check it out if you want to become more informed about the crisis.

The Importance of Being Informal

2007-05-09T10:18:00.000-07:00

If you live in a metropolis, such as Los Angeles or New York, you have undoubtedly been approached at one time or another by a member of the informal sector. While this title, "informal sector," sounds very official, its function is anything but orderly. The informal sector is comprised of the squeegee men that clean your car windows for some change, the "heart-attack dog" (hot dogs wrapped in bacon) vendors, the and any other economic activity that operates outside of the regulation of the government.

The informal economy has often been looked upon with disdain by the policy makers in our government. Rudy Giuliani, famous for his impressive crackdown on crime in the Big Apple, enacted many policies that effectively outlawed street vending. According to this 1998 article in the New York Times, many former supporters of Guiliani were "alarmed by what they see as his efforts to sanitize and suburbanize the city." More recently, Giuliani's security consulting firm was hired by Mexico City to provide advice for its police force. While there were some successes that emerged from their recommendations, it was the members of the informal economy who got the short end of the stick. Giuliani's "zero-tolerance" policy, which was implemented in Mexico City to decrease disorder, has eliminated many individual's ability to earn income or provide for their family. According to an article in the Seattle Times in 2004, "street vendors, child beggars and squeegee men" have been targeted and arrested as a result of this policy. This has led to "Few Cheers for Giulani" in the Distrito Federal.

Deden Rukmana, in a recent article on Planetizen, writes that city planners and government policy makers should work to accommodate the informal economy rather than work to stamp it out. The informal sector plays an important role in providing economic opportunities for the impoverished and recent migrants from rural areas. Rukmana says that efforts to work with the informal sector will allow it to "accelerate urban transformation and increase the quality of life in many developing urban areas."

So the next time you are woken by the yells of the neighborhood Tamale Ladies, remember that as members of the informal sector they play a vital role in the economy of the metropolis.

What is a street? I envy Bogotá.

2007-05-07T09:34:00.000-07:00

Geoff Manaugh has an interesting post on how we define "streets"- are they merely places for cars to roam, or can we work towards having streets that facilitate people movement and pedestrian traffic as well. Great streets, campuses, and pedestrian nostalgia makes me hopeful that someday Los Angeles will start closing down some of its superfluous streets and turn them into grassy, walkable avenues and bike paths! But for now, we are stuck with this car-culture.

Where could Los Angeles look for examples? While Europe has done well with creating sustainable transportation systems, LA might be better served to look at how cities in Latin America are approaching the problem. Bogota and Mexico City have both recently undertaken programs to broach traffic and congestion that is similar to what we face here in LA. Bogota is an especially interesting case, as it has focused its transportation planning around two elements: bike paths and a ""sexier" bus system" called the TransMilenio. When the bike paths (seen in the picture above) were instituted, it led to a 900% increase in bike use. 900%!!! The Transmilenio system has also been an astounding success as an example of BRT (Bus Rapid Transit)- similar to the Orange Line that we have here in Los Angeles. A few months ago, Enrique Peñalosa, the former mayor of Bogota who helped to institute these changes gave a talk in Los Angeles. One amazing initiative that Bogota took on was to build "pedestrian-only streets" with some running 20 miles. Can you imagine a Los Angeles where there were dedicated bike paths along all the main travel corridors and pedestrian-only streets in the denser parts of the city?
We can only hope that Antonio Villaraigosa begins to start some of the drastic changes that will be necessary to accomplish his goal of making Los Angeles the "greenest city in the country."

2 Questions:
1. Which streets in LA would you add bike paths/dedicated bike lanes to?
2. Which streets in LA would you turn into pedestrian-only greenways?

Barn's burnt down...

2007-05-06T01:12:00.000-07:00

I would so like to be in the middle of nowhere right now. just looking at the sky.

Ashes and Snow

2007-05-05T21:24:00.000-07:00

Ashes and Snow was in Los Angeles last year, but I never got a chance to go. The website is a visual treat. Click on Explore once you are there.

$10 off with Google Checkout

2007-05-05T15:30:00.000-07:00

Google Checkout has a $10 off your first purchase of $10 or more. I have used this with both of my Google accounts, most recently paid $4 (including shipping) for a book at Buy.com. Sounds like the deal ends on May 15th, 2007.

While I am usually in favor of economic development...

2007-05-05T14:42:00.000-07:00

It looks like China is taking Carpe Diem seriously when it comes to investing in Sudan. While most Western countries have curtailed their economic involvement due to the genocide being waged, China has ramped up its oil ventures and looks to be the benefactor of a new, exciting Khartoum. At the center of this is the Al-Mogran Development Project with "11,000,000 square feet of office space, 1,100 villas, housing for 45,000 residents and visitors, and jobs for 60,000 Sudanese". Joseph Winter with BBC News reports on how Sudan's economy is currently experiencing one of the highest growth rates in Africa, despite the threat of sanctions from the US or the ongoing international outcry against the situation in Darfur.

Peter S. Goodman with the Washinton Post did a disturbing report on the economic ties between China and Sudan back in 2004.

And today the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. voted overwhelmingly to keep $3.3 billion invested in PetroChina, the "largest player in Sudan's oil industry."

It seems that the almighty dollar is expanding its influence at the expense of human rights.

What if it happened here?

2007-05-05T12:15:00.001-07:00

I stumbled on these graphics that ODESIGN made for SaveDarfur.org. Powerful to think of how we would respond if the murders taking place in Sudan were happening here.

Thinking about graduate school...

2007-05-05T02:47:00.000-07:00

After an end of the year dinner tonight, got a chance to talk with RC M. about his path to graduate schools. As I have been in my development classes, I have become more and more excited about the prospect of getting my masters at a university in the field of International Development. Prof M. at Fuller suggested taking a year off and working overseas, then looking at going to a grad program where I could gain technical proficiency that I could bring to an organization. He said that it is highly unlikely that I could study the role of faith in development and gain that specialized knowledge at the same institution. As of right now this is what my ideal future plans would look like:

Graduate from USC in 2008
Work for a year abroad with an NGO (preferably one focused on microcredit)
Study economic development at UWashington, American, Harvard or a school in the UK. Though they seem like a long shot, I would love to study in the UK, especially at a storied institution like LSE or Oxford.

Doesn't hurt to dream, does it?