Gulf Coast Green Recap: Can Houston Become Denser?

A model made from Ike debris, on display at Gulf Coast Green, showing a rehabilitated and roof-supplied future for Maya's Grocery in Galveston [Photo by Raj Mankad]

Sarah Gandy
Apr. 25, 2009
2:10 AM

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Diazepam Pharmacy No Prescription, A model made from Ike debris, on display at Gulf Coast Green, showing a rehabilitated and roof-supplied future for Maya's Grocery in Galveston [Photo by Raj Mankad]

From April 16 to 17, several hundred environmentally-minded individuals gathered at the 2009 Gulf Coast Green Symposium. While keynote speaker Alex Steffen addressed the issues of a growing worldwide middle class (and the largely-inevitable consumption that comes with it), Steve Mouzon, diazepams mode of action, AIA, Alprazolam vs diazepam, LEED AP discussed "living traditions" right down to the detailing of an organic kitchen garden for a sustainable home. But it was the local speakers who took on the specific challenges Houston faces.

Representatives from the City of Houston gave updates on recent efforts, diazepam identifer. According to the Mayor’s office, Diazepam myasthenia gravis, this petroleum-driven city now gets 20 percent of its facility and infrastructure energy from renewable sources (largely wind). The goal is to double that to 40 percent, Diazepam Pharmacy No Prescription. Twenty-one LEED buildings (representing over 8 million square feet) are underway within the city, METRO and city vehicles are rapidly switching to hybrids, cheap diazepam mexico, and the George R. Diazepam shortage, Brown convention center is set to receive a 100-kilowatt solar panel system on its roof this year. Three permitting offices will move to a recycled rice warehouse off Washington.

And while there were many pings of excitement, is diazepam the same as valium, a small pit developed in my stomach with each speaker. Diazepam Pharmacy No Prescription, Each cited one element as the cornerstone for the green movement: density. No rx overnight diazepam, It reduces vehicle miles traveled, greenhouses gasses emitted, the energy and materials needed to extend infrastructure farther and farther out, diazepam cod or money order. According to speaker John Jacob, Diazepam harmful, Ph.D., density improves rainwater runoff quality (assuming that extensive wilderness areas are then left intact outside the city). But Houston’s not dense, diazepam vs clonazepam. The bulk of this city is organized around strip malls and freeways and freestanding single-family homes. Even with all the strides that have been made, I couldn’t help but wonder: Can Houston ever really be a green city, Diazepam Pharmacy No Prescription. Diazepam pediatric, Or are we destined to hit a wall the size of our freeway system.

There are glimmers of a different trend, though, mechanism of diazepam, as smaller town centers have emerged from within the larger city. The secret ingredients of diazepam, Speaker Jeff Taebel, FAICP and number-cruncher for the Houston Galveston Area Council (HGAC), sees potential in denser regional areas such as the Medical Center, generic diazepam asian pharmacy online, Downtown Houston, Diazepam vs xantax, the Woodlands and Sugarland Town Centers, and Galveston’s Strand District. If population projections for this region are correct --- and we appear to be on track to absorb the equivalent of today's Los Angeles by 2035 --- the question is not whether Houston will become more dense, diazepam no prescription us, but how well the built environment will accommodate people's needs. Diazepam Pharmacy No Prescription, According to Taebel, “livable centers” of varying size developed throughout the region would be a more cost effective response to mobility needs than expanding freeways. European diazepam purchase, Livable centers linked to an urban core by mass transit would reduce the number of miles traveled by car. (See the graphic below.) More jobs, amenities, diazepam no prescription overnight fed ex, and resources close to people’s homes means fewer miles traveled on any given day. Picture of diazepam pills,
The production of the Gulf Coast Green event itself suggests Taebel’s vision is not alien to this region. The lightrail stop outside the Reliant Center front door allowed some participants to leave their cars at home. And the efforts at walking the walk did not stop there, Diazepam Pharmacy No Prescription. Catered foods were all organic, identify diazepam, served without the use of disposable products, On rx legal diazepam, and all food waste was composted. Recycling receptacles were widely available. Energy offsets were purchased by the group to compensate for the energy used during the symposium, diazepam cipla, and a CD was available to attendees in place of a myriad of disposable paper handouts. Tramadol interaction diazepam, Mike Marcotte, DEE, Director of Public Works and Engineering Department for the City of Houston, diazepam suppository, weighed in on planning for density in response to a question about the absence of zoning or other restrictions. Diazepam Pharmacy No Prescription, “We are a city of villages—not one kind of city,” he said, adding, “Right now people have choices. They can live on a half acre of land or they can choose to live in a smaller apartment in the city or in between. And that’s what we want. We don’t want to tell people how to live. We want people to have choices.”

Perhaps living in a country and, especially, a state that values the individual, a compromise that lets people choose between the density of city centers and the openness of the suburbs is the best of both worlds.

And perhaps the people on those half acres can grow organic kitchen gardens.

Sarah Gandy
IALD, LC, IES, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP