The Growth of Walmart Across America

http://projects.flowingdata.com/walmart/

People living in older neighbourhoods are less likely to be overweight !!

"Older Neighbourhoods" are "Jane Jacob's" neighbourhoods - short blocks, mixed use, WALKABLE, promoting sociability and appealing to the eye, to the foot and the mind. Most developers and planners seem to have been blinded to the obvious multiple good effects.
-John O'Gorman

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080730.NEIGHBOUR30/TPStory/?query=old+house

HEALTH: THE OLD-HOUSE DIET
REBECCA DUBE Globe and Mail July 30, 2008

Want to lose weight? Move to an old house.

People living in older neighbourhoods are less likely to be overweight than new-home dwellers, according to a study to be published in the September issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

For every decade added to their neighbourhood's age, women's risk of obesity decreased 8 per cent and men's obesity risk fell 13 per cent. Researchers found that people with old homes are slimmer because old neighbourhoods are more walkable.

"The data show that how and where we live can greatly affect our health," Ken Smith, co-author of the study and a professor of family and consumer studies at the University of Utah, said in a news release. His study examined height and weight data from the driver's licences of 453,927 residents in Salt Lake County and compared them with census data on median housing age.

The research doesn't mean all hope is lost for new neighbourhoods, Dr. Smith said, rather that developers should take their cues from the past to make it easy for people to walk around.
"We have the opportunity ... to create neighbourhoods that encourage less car driving, benefiting residents' health and wallets and shrinking our own carbon footprint," Dr. Smith said.

Highway Funding

Since 1956, federal, state and local governments have invested nine times more capital funding in highway subsidies than in transit. In 2004, state governments spent nearly 13 times more public funds on highways than on transit. On top of all that, the process for securing funding for new transit lines is far more onerous and less certain than for highway projects, with the federal government generally picking up a smaller share of the tab for new transit lines than for new highway projects."
http://www.planetizen.com/node/34151

Bagpipes on Wheels!

Solar Roof Kit for Prius

This SEV solar module for the 2004 through 2006 Toyota Prius generates 215 watts of renewable energy and is the first compound convex solar module to be commercially produced
The SEV system provides up to 20 miles per day of electric mode driving range and increased fuel economy by up to 29%.
But more than that it looks schweet.

http://www.groovygreen.com/groove/?p=3063

Chevy Volt Is (Really) A Go!

It's a milestone day. GM's CEO has announced that the Board of Directors has OK'd mass production of the Chevy Volt beginning in late 2010 -- moving that date from a goal to a commitment. That also sets the stage, we hope, for earlier preliminary rollouts of the vehicle in California and other receptive markets, which we think will become more likely as the presidential candidates weigh in with more details of their plans to promote plug-in cars.See http://gm-volt.com/ for coverage and commentary. That website picks up a story from The Auto Channel:http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2008/06/03/088775.html

Bus Rapid Transit

Metrolinx has taken immediate steps to address our congestion and environmental problems. Called “Quick Wins” an early win was the approval of $57.6 million to cover the capital costs of a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service along the Dundas Corridor (Highway #5) from Hamilton to Mississauga.

"This could be really good news, especially IF it is a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and not just a bt... bus transit. The BRTs have dedicated lanes so that they can actually be “rapid” and it would be a fantastic line, very well used. With the BRT people would go much faster than in a car and then there would be a real incentive to use it. People could link to it either through “feeder buses” or even walking or bicycling. When I was working for the City of Mississauga, it would have taken me 1:25 minutes each way using Oakville and Mississauga’s “transit systems” as opposed to 25 minutes by car; it would not make much sense to spend 2 additional hours per day of quality time on the bus, the equivalent of 15 working weeks per year!

People need the environmental incentives, but the minimum system has to be good enough to make sense."
-Gil Penalosa, Executive Director of Walk and Bike for Life