PFALWNY

NEW YORK -- New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is announcing a new design for the wood and steel structures that protect pedestrians near construction sites.

So-called "sidewalk sheds" already dot the city, wherever buildings are going up or being renovated. Bloomberg says they haven't been redesigned since the 1950s.

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Appearing in the Wall Street Journal - January 23-24, 2010:

The Kids Will Be Alright
by Joel Kotkin

America's population growth makes it a notable outlier among the advanced industrialized countries. The country boasts a fertility rate 50% higher than that of Russia, Germany or Japan and well above that of China, Italy, Singapore, North Korea and virtually all of eastern Europe. Add to that the even greater impact of continued large-scale immigration to America from around the world. By the year 2050, the U.S. population will swell by roughly 100 million, and the country's demographic vitality will drive its economic resilience in the coming decades.

This places the U.S. in a radically different position from that of its historic competitors, particularly Europe and Japan, whose populations are stagnant. The contrast between the U.S. and Russia, America's onetime primary rival for world power, is particularly dramatic. Some 30 years ago, Russia constituted the core of a vast Soviet empire that was considerably more populous than the U.S. Today, even with its energy riches, Russia's low birth and high mortality rates suggest that its population will drop to less than one-third that of the U.S. by 2050. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has spoken of "the serious threat of turning into a decaying nation."

read the rest via NewGeography.com

Joel Kotkin is executive editor of NewGeography.com and is a distinguished presidential fellow in urban futures at Chapman University. He is author of The City: A Global History. His next book, The Next Hundred Million: America in 2050, will be published by Penguin Press February 4th.

Mission Statement – To bring about more livable communities by (i) formulating regional and local policies and regulations for cohesive neighborhood development, stabilization of existing neighborhoods, public transit oriented development, preservation of environmentally sensitive areas and intermunicipal and intramunicipal coordination and implementation of land use decisions; (ii) sponsoring educational programs encouraging practices supportive of such policies; (iii) assisting and promoting the efforts of public officials, developers, builders, architects, planners and members of the public who undertake or support land use, building design and streetscape initiatives reflective of such policies; and (iv) serving as a center for the collection and dissemination of resource materials descriptive of policies and practices designed to facilitate more livable communities.

• Formed in 1999 as a 501-c-3 not-for-profit corporation by 15 lawyers, architects, planners, builder/developers, traffic engineers, public officials and other concerned citizens.
• Has a 17-member board of directors.
• Founding member of New York State “smart growth” coalition “Empire State Future.”
• Has an e-mail list of more than 500 people concerned about the livability of Upstate New York communities.
• Has brought major speakers to Buffalo on land use and built environment issues including: author James Howard Kunstler, Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist, former Maryland Governor Parris Glendening, and planners Anton Nelessen, Jeffrey Speck and Victor Dover.
• Sponsored the spring 2003 “Smart Growth Tuesdays” series of 10 presentations and panel discussions at the Burchfield Penney Art Center.
• Co-sponsored: the 2005 monthly “Smart Growth is Smart Business” series at the Nichols School with speakers including John Norquist, former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman and planner/author William Fulton and the 2007 Niagara Falls series on “Revitalizing and Romancing the City”.
• Has power point presentations for group showings on “Smart Growth,” “The Ingredients of a Great Neighborhood,” and “Dealing with the Big Box Store.”
• Puts together teams of architects, planners, traffic engineers and others for Saturday morning walks of neighborhoods at the request of citizen groups or public officials; walks completed include the downtown areas of the cities of Lockport, Niagara Falls and Tonawanda and the Town of Eden, the City of Buffalo’s Allen Street, Connecticut Street, Bailey-Kensington, historic Black Rock, Niagara Street and University District areas, the villages of Akron, Alden, Blasdell, Hamburg, Geneseo, Lancaster, Orchard Park, Williamsville and Youngstown, and the Clarence Hollow area of the Town of Clarence.
• Gives “Livable Community Awards” for significant contributions to land use or the built environment in Western New York.
• Maintains an extensive library of written, video tape and compact disc resource materials on land use problems and solutions.
• Participates in the sponsorship of meetings and forums to discuss local and regional land use and development issues.

To receive the Partners for a Livable Western New York e-mail newsletters, to request a power point presentation to your group or to arrange a Saturday morning walk of your neighborhood contact: George R. Grasser, President-Partners for a Livable Western New York at 11 Summer Street, Buffalo, NY 14209. Telephone: 716/883-5070

E-mail: ggrasser@irdprojectmanagers.com 10-10-09