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Kaidslist: the trendy Ins and Outs of smart growth & sustainability

Kaid Benfield

Posted February 15, 2011 at 1:33PM

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As I mentioned last post, I just returned from a strategic planning retreat with my NRDC colleagues.  Intense, but amiable and very productive.  Somehow, to top it off, my first day back at work in DC – yesterday – was spent in part assisting another organization’s strategic planning.  I’m not sure that’s the way I would have ideally conceived my schedule, but that’s the way it went down, and I actually enjoyed it, being a big fan of the organization.

My topic was “emerging trends and opportunities” in sustainable communities.  In the spirit of having fun by being provocative and tongue-in-cheek (but not entirely, heh), I came up with the following list, which I offer here for readers’ enjoyment:

Oklahoma City (photographer unknown, public domain)  Southern California (by: Calthorpe Associates, for Southern California Compass)

Out: cities -- In: regions

Out: carbon obsession -- In: holistic sustainability

Out: big cars -- In: streetcars

Out: green buildings -- In: green neighborhoods

Out: energy systems -- In: food systems

Out: “affordable housing” -- In: mixed income

freeways in Houston (photographer unknown, GNU free documentation license)  East Blvd, Charlotte (courtesy of Complete Streets Coalition)

Out: freeways -- In: complete streets

Out: exclusive -- In: connected

Out: building architecture -- In: landscape architecture

Out: demolition -- In: restoration

Out: Portland -- In: Paducah

front lawns (by: John Shappell, creative commons license)  front vegetable garden, Vancouver (by: Al Pasternak, creative commons license)

Out: lawns -- In: gardens

Out: new urbanism* -- In: old urbanism

Out: techno-green -- In: original green

Out: “gated community” -- In: public spaces

office park, Illinois (by: EPA Smart Growth)  Capital Bikeshare in DC (by: James D. Schwartz, creative commons license)

Out: parking lots -- In: bikeshare spaces

Out: HOV lanes -- In: road pricing

Out: expanding suburbia -- In: retrofitting suburbia

Out: stopping development -- In: shaping development

Out: drive-in -- In: walk-up

rooftop solar panels (by: Robin Murphy, World Resources Institute, creative commons license)  green roof (courtesy of American Society of Landscape Architects)

Out: solar panels -- In: green roofs

Out: 24-hour city -- In: 20-minute city

Out: Massive paving -- In: Master planning

Out: Built for speed -- In: Built for everyone

Out: park & ride -- In: walk & ride

Out: business district -- In: arts district

*(CNU friends, you know I’m just pulling your leg, right?)

The floor is now open for readers’ nominations of additional In-and-Out trends, of which I hope there are many.

Move your cursor over the images for credit information.