City Structure and Design

A listener from Flagstaff, Ariz. wants to know what fate awaits his town in the post oil future. The verdict from Jim? At least it's not Phoenix, but most of Flagstaff looks like the service road around Newark Airport. The caller also asks about the new Honda hydrogen fuel cell car, which reminds Jim to bash so-called environmentalist Amory Lovins' fantasy to keep the motoring scene going at all costs. With transcript.

Ya seen one town in America, ya seen 'em all. But that's because they're all mandated to look that way! In this episode of KunstlerCast, James Howard Kunstler tells the tragic story of zoning codes in the United States. At one time, zoning was a rational response to unpleasant conditions of the newly emerging industrial city. But the fanatical level to which zoning became worshiped by public officials has reduced urban planning from an art form to the mere administration of curb cuts, signage and statistical analysis of traffic flow. With transcript.

James Howard Kunstler describes the impending end of cheap oil, which he calls The Long Emergency. Suburbia is a living arrangement with no future. Things are going to get pretty gnarly in the big cities, too. But small cities, that exist at a scale that can be rebuilt, are the places of the future. With transcript.

In this new weekly audio feature called "The KunstlerCast," author James Howard Kunstler and interviewer Duncan Crary explore the tragic comedy of suburban sprawl, with oil depletion as its backdrop. The first program takes a critical look at the American drugstore. With transcript.

Author James Howard Kunstler talks with Duncan Crary of the Institute for Humanist Studies about the tragedy/comedy of suburban sprawl, what makes a successful town, and the fantasy of alternative fuels.

What happens when citizens apply permaculture principles to a city grid? They create friendly places within the grid that invite people to come together. Mark Lakeman, co-founder of Portland, Oregon's City Repair Project describes these "creative intervention" projects as placemaking at its best. People learn to work together, build trust and have fun. The results, from painted intersections to cob benches and other organic structures, invite people "to inhabit the planet on our own terms" rather than the grid-locked culture imposed by the city. Episode 76.

Cal Broomhead and Melissa Capria of the Energy & Climate Program discuss the rationale, aggressive plans, and activities for city-wide energy self-reliance and greenhouse gas reduction. Tools include energy efficiency in buildings, transit alternatives, alternative vehicle fuels, generating electricity with renewable energy, and solid waste reduction. Episode 74.

Smart municipalities are planning and preparing for energy vulnerability and climate change. Daniel Lerch, manager of the Post Carbon Cities project, has prepared a guidebook including case studies of cities large and small planning how to maintain essential services in the face of energy and climate uncertainty. Episode 73.

San Francisco is the first American city to formally address the challenges of oil depletion. Dennis Brumm and Allyse Heartwell recount how members of SF Oil Awareness envisioned, wrote and presented to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors a Peak Oil resolution, which was passed unanimously in April 2006. They explore next steps: public hearings and plans to create a task force to assess the city's energy vulnerability. Episode 47.

Inflation and building big things: the case of the Willits bypass and the prospects for alternatives. What is behind cost increases for construction, will they continue, and if so what does this mean for our transportation future?