What’s This Blog About?

When I was a junior in high school, my civics teacher gave me a copy of Natural Capitalism, by Paul Hawken, Amory and L. Hunter Lovins. At the time, I didn’t really understand why he gave it to me; I didn’t think I came across as an environmentalist. Of course, now I know it wasn’t just about the environment, but instead a book about changing the way we think about everything from carpet to cities. The chapter on Jaime Lerner and his city of Curitiba, Brazil changed my life. I loved reading about novel solutions to typical urban problems like transportation, poverty, and suburban sprawl. I majored in Urban Studies because of that chapter. I’m not sure if my teacher intended all that by recommending the book, but I have to thank him for it!

Since college, I’ve been lucky enough to work at Idealist.org. The only downside to an otherwise great job is that I don’t get a chance to think about cities, the environment, and urban design. That’s what this blog is for.

Here’s a 15 minute video of a presentation by Jaime Lerner so you can get a quick look at what drew me to the topic in the first place:

# • Posted on May 23, 2008 • Tags: