Sustainable Community?

[Greg Brown <gregb@alaskapacific.edu>]

Visionaries,

   Is Moscow a "sustainable community"?
Pullman?  Compare your community characteristics
with the criteria below.


Characteristics of Sustainable Communities
(Adapted from Beatley and Manning,
"The Ecology of Place", 1997)

1) Compact Urban “footprint”
  • minimal conversion of natural and open lands
2) Restorative and regenerative
  • degraded and blighted areas are reversed/healed
3) Focused on high quality of life
 • livable, vibrant, and active communities offer safety, adequate and
affordable  shelter, health care, essential services, humane and
stimulating work environments
4) Integrative and holistic—problems viewed comprehensively
 • avoids quick fixes that address only symptoms
5) “Place” Matters
 • topography and natural setting, sense of history and character,
rituals and events  build and strengthen social fabric in community
6 ) Promote Full-Cost of Public and Private Decisions
 • reflect consequences of economic incentives/disincentives and
governmental action
7)  Embodies New Ethical Posture
 • embraces land ethic, regional contextual, present and
intergenerational equity

--
Greg Brown (gregb@alaskapacific.edu)
Associate Professor
Environmental Science Department
Alaska Pacific University
(907) 564-8267
http://polar.alaskapacific.edu/gregb