CitiesGoGreen - December 2008 - (Page 5)

From the Editor the sustainability magazine for people in local government December 2008 Issue 5 Daimon Sweeney Publisher & Editor Daimon@CitiesGoGreen.com Judith Sult Publisher & Marketing Director Judith@CitiesGoGreen.com Stephanie Hopkinson Creative Director Stephanie@CitiesGoGreen.com Page Buono Editorial Assistant Page@CitiesGoGreen.com Elizabeth Johnson Circulation Coordinator Elizabeth@CitiesGoGreen.com Jennifer Karchmer Proofreader/Copyeditor Anna Koeppler Production Assistant Anna@CitiesGoGreen.com Sam McNeil Associate, Website Editor Sam@CitiesGoGreen.com Letters to the Editor Editor@CitiesGoGreen.com Subscriptions (866) 686-8101 or www.CitiesGoGreen.com Digital subscriptions are free to those with a government email address. Print subscriptions are $72 for 12 issues per year CitiesGoGreen is published by Verde Publishing, Inc. 1155 North State St., Ste 510 Bellingham, WA 98225 We can be reached at (360) 306-8101 or (866) 686-8101 © 2008 by Verde Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved Cover photograph: Lynn Hinkle and Dan Nelson in one of Kansas City’s 10,000 Rain Gardens. Photo Courtesy Chris Vleisides The Community Organizer-in-Chief arack Obama will be president. These are still unfamiliar words as I write them, but you’re getting used to the idea by the time you read this. One fascinating aspect of this election and what might follow comes from Obama’s grounding in community organizing. Much discussed in the campaign, the strengths of that approach were visible in the extraordinary ground game we witnessed. It brought in uncounted numbers of volunteers and reached millions who would otherwise have been left out of the loop. This influx of new energy and engagement, facilitated by previously unseen mastery of the new media, changed the game and the map of national politics. I would wager that community organizing will not be forgotten now that the White House has been attained, but built upon. It will be interesting to see how it becomes integrated with policies to support green jobs, with building new infrastructure, with community service in exchange for college tuition, and other community-building initiatives. If you’re in a city, you may find new support for citizen engagement. Here’s hoping, and here’s one reason why, which goes to our focus here on sustainable communities: On our Fast Forward page, Peter Block points out that it is not technology or policy that are the key to sustainability, but people in community. Regarded in that light, this issue is about community involvement, and just happens to be about stormwater as well. Communities are also built around stories. That humans are not part of nature was an assumption of western culture for hundreds of years, part of the story. It was simply accepted that we could do anything that occurred to us, and that nature would absorb whatever we did and continue to be there as benignly and abundantly as ever. Well, it doesn’t work that way. In terms of water, it doesn’t work to regard water as waste, to be discarded as quickly as possible. We’re learning the greatest benefit is from cooperating with the original patterns of nature, including the age-old interaction of rain, plants and soil, streams and rivers. How can we integrate our living patterns with those? As we learn how and do it, we get healthier and more beautiful communities. As an example, rain gardens must be created and maintained primarily on private land. Kansas City’s 10,000 Rain Garden project relies on engaging people for their personal enjoyment and collective benefit. Collective benefits also include lower tax burdens from reduced needs for grey infrastructure, as Portland OR, and Suamico, WI, can attest. The keys to Philadelphia’s movement toward becoming America’s “Next Great City” are a new story and community involvement. The “Next Great City” is a story around which the community is coming together. We didn’t have space to go into the very extensive public process that led to the “10 Actions” and a major new understanding and direction on the riverfronts, but that was the real key. Other stories in this issue are also about community involvement and value, about choices that matter. We’re part of nature. Our cities and towns and their surrounding lands are part of nature. What we do and how we do it goes beyond immediate results to affect our long term benefit or detriment. Now that we’re asking how to do things better, in cooperation with patterns we cannot ignore, we are rapidly developing and evolving techniques, from green infrastructure to transit-oriented development to recycling and all the rest. They are essential. We have to learn what they are and how to use them. Even so, what makes it all happen is communities who understand the real choices and who choose what works, as individuals and together. How that comes about has a lot to do with local government. It’s an exciting time. I hope you’re seeing possibilities for positive change and making your own choice to be part of them. Warmly, B Daimon Sweeney December 2008 5 http://www.CitiesGoGreen.com http://citiesgogreen.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CitiesGoGreen - December 2008

Citites Go Green Contents In Motion We’re Taking Steps 10,000 Rain Gardens in Kansas City Chicago Center for Green Technology Connecticut’s ‘One Thing’ Green Infrastructure for Stormwater Management Philadelphia The Economics of What Matters New Context: New Possibility

CitiesGoGreen - December 2008

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