Detroit and Jakarta Compared
Odd to see these two cities side to side… What inspired that? It’s from the World Resource Institute. I don’t know what can be learned from the comparison; it’s like apples and durians. But the individual profiles of the cities are interesting. Now, if they had compared Detroit and Kuching, my jaw really would have dropped…

A Comparison Of Sustainable and Traditional Landscapes
Conservation Design Forum of Chicago has compiled the cost of corporate campus landscapes over 10+ years. I’ve come across similar studies floating around, but not this thorough or as recent. Their figures are from 1999.

MNRTF Ballot Passed
The link is to Rails to Trails, a very hardwording non-profit boosting trail initiatives nationwide.
If you visit parks in Michigan, be they local, county or state, you’ve benefited from the MNRTF. There’s hardly a single significant park acquisition or expansion that hasn’t been partly funded through this program. I voted for the ballot proposal, but I do have a little concern about it. It swelled the cap for money into the fund from gas and mineral exploration revenue, which is great. But …

Forgotten Detroit
This is a very nicely designed site that showcases ruins and vacant buildings of Detroit. The photography is excellent, and the commentary is well-informed, too. I was always aware of the vacant lots, junkyards, burned down and abandoned homes that are all over Detroit. Even downtown has gaping holes where buildings once were. But it wasn’t until last year at an MASLA conference that I realized that every other huge towering gorgeous building still standing right downtown is vacant and abandoned. Empty skyscrapers! …

Do you enjoy staring out the window during your commute or while on vacation? Chances are pretty good you are gazing on land that is managed by state, county or city road departments. How they choose to manage that land directly influences what kind of experience you have on your commute. I remember as a kid growing up in Southeast Michigan staring out at the trees along the freeway and imagining what vast expanse of forest we were traveling through. The fact is that the strips …

More from OpenDemocracy.net
Planting has become an intensely political act. Palestinians are continuously planting olive groves to secure ownership of land not built on; Israel does the same, but with faster-growing pine trees. These kinds of trees became undeclared symbols of the two national groups’ ownership claims. In both cases planting is replaced by construction when the time allows for it.
The choice of trees is interesting. Perhaps the Palestinians are so close to the bone that they cannot afford to plant something that bears no food, even in strategic …

Following up on the previous post, here is a picture showing the Israeli-only modern freeway overpass with a winding dirt road below it for Palestinians.

Landscape Planning in the Occupied Territories
This is an amazing presentation. The aerial imagery is so powerful because it is apolitical. The land reveals the utter absurdity of the occupation without a single word being said.
Who designs the fortress-homes of the Israeli settlements? Who engineers the Israeli-only infrastructure that enables occupation? Professional architects and civil engineers, that’s who. What are the professional ethics of designing a home that you know will sit on stolen land? Great article here from the same site.

Alien Invasion
Damn immigrants! A new Asian (Russia?) bug, the Emerald Ash Borer has been found in SE Michigan. It kills all varieties of Ash “with surprising aggressiveness”. This is very bad news. Ash easily constitute one out of every three street trees planted around here. Only Honey Locust and Norway Maple are as prevalent. In parking lots, too, it is one of only a couple trees commonly planted, Red Maple being the only tree as heavily planted. If Ash go out the way …

Old Farm Hands
The Farm in Tennessee, as remembered by children who grew up on it.