A few of the articles are of the “now that you mention it, that makes sense” variety.
A piece from Grist summarizes some interesting research, the bottom line being those who live in poor neighbourhoods are more likely to experience the phenomenon known as “heat islands”.
And because people of colour are disproportionally poor, there is a racial component as well. Green infrastructure/living architecture could help alleviate this, of course, but if municipalities aren’t investing in GILA, it may be up to individuals to lead the charge of cooling their neighbourhoods, one home at a time.
But we shouldn’t just assume having a ton of trees, green roofs or any green infrastructure will fix the problem...they could actually make more! I had no idea how virulent some soil borne fungal diseases can be. This leads me to think soil scientists should be more involved in designing soil mixes for any urban soil installation!
-If you’ve been watching the web, no doubt you have seen that some cities (spearheaded by individual residents and city officials) are moving forward with and strongly supporting urban agriculture. For instance, Indianapolis (yes, Indianapolis) an urban agriculture store opens soon. And Denver has a developer offering urban gardens when you purchase a unit. Some cities, like LA, seem to be a bit more inconsistent. What is absolutely clear is that even cities, like New York and Vancouver, with progressive urban agriculture agendas passed by city councils, if money and land are the bottom lines, there will be a tug of war.
-The last story for sharing today features the San Francisco Giants turning some concrete at the ballpark into an organic vegetable garden. One minor quibble. The article calls the project “ambitious”. I don’t have all the figures, but I tend to think if you have a payroll of over $136 million dollars, you have money to burn and it won’t be that hard to get done.
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