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Wiedersum Associates
Become a Supporter of Smart Growth Vision Long Island prides itself on having a broad range of supporters. Become one today. A donation as small as $50 buys outreach materials to help a community build support for their vision. $500 sponsors an entire newsletter. $5,000 makes you a lead sponsor of our Smart Growth Summit, buying 10 tickets and a key branding opportunity for your organization.
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Wiedersum Associates Architects, PLLC is a full-service architectural firm whose innovative building designs have significantly influenced the educational, cultural, and social communities of Long Island and the metropolitan New York area for over 82 years. Their design expertise is demonstrated in the Vintage Square project in downtown Riverhead, as well as many educational facilities throughout the region. See 
Register Now for the 2009 Smart Growth Awards!
The 2009 Smart Growth Awards are fast approaching. Register now to reserve your place at our annual event honoring the best and brightest in Smart Growth on Long Island. To read about past winners or to find out more about the Awards, visit our website here. Registration forms and rules for nominations are available here, along with a flyer here. Call our office at 631-261-0242 with any questions. Journal ad space is also available. SAVE THE DATE! |
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Everyone Wants to be First: Maryland Road Project Begins
President Obama has announced that over 200 such projects will be launched in the coming weeks. Schumer Seeks Funds for Moynihan Station
Read more in the New York Times. Schools of Thought Emerge
Now that stimulus has been in the mainstream news for several weeks, theoretical analyses are emerging. Trends show two main ways that states are spending their money, repairs versus new projects. Both are necessary; both create jobs. Within the header of new projects is where much of the controversy rests. Many writers are calling these projects "game changers" versus "highways to hell," or for some extremists, "transit versus roads." When folks ask what the government is looking for when approving stimulus infrastructure projects, the only answer we can knowingly give is "shovel-ready." According to Governor Paterson as quoted in Newsday last week:
Newsday continued: "Paterson said the state's crisis is like a house fire, it doesn't matter which wing a firefighter goes to 'as long as he's getting people out of the building and trying to save everybody. I don't think we should be quibbling over that.'" On the one hand, it is easy to agree with Governor Paterson. However, in the rush to get jobs back, we risk perpetuating sprawl development and missing the opportunity for real "game changing" planning projects. The projects that are shovel-ready are often the ones that have been pushed back for years due to community resistance. We must tread carefully (and quickly) to avoid using the stimulus for sprawl. Responding to this conundrum is the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU), who propose setting criteria for infrastructure spending, including a federal paving program "that supports both high-value walkable neighborhoods and the need for good trains and transit." As rules for spending in different programs begin to be established, the CNU is lobbying for the inclusion of New Urbanist principles. They say:
CNU also mentions the fact that the new high-speed rail projects that the country is taking on will need road contractors to build track beds and prepare right of way. Read more about the Stimulus in the New York Times, CNU, Newsday, and Treehugger. |
Last week, we announced the first official infrastructure project to have shovels hit the ground in Missouri. Now, Maryland is claiming that same title, with a road repair project on State Highway 650 in Montgomery County. This very busy road has not been fully repaired in 17 years, and has received $2.1 million in stimulus funds. The project is expected to create 60 jobs, many of which will be filled by construction workers who were recently laid-off: "And that's how we're going to get the country back on its feet," said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. 
U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer is seeking the revival of the Moynihan Station project with a request for $100 million in federal stimulus funds. The project will convert the James A. Farley Post Office Building in Manhattan (between 8th and 9th Avenues and 31nd and 33th Streets) into an expanded Penn Station transit hub, named for late US Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Amtrak, and potentially the Long Island Rail Road and New Jersey Transit, would divert trains here. The project would create thousands of jobs and help relieve Penn Station of massive congestion. Schumer is also seeking $1 billionfrom the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for this project.
A featured article in this week's New York Times presents an in-depth analysis of stimulus spending thus far in the country. From projects in Kansas (highway expansions) to Texas (a new toll road in a ring-shape around Houston) to Maryland (small road repair projects), infrastructure projects are moving forward. Putting Smart Growth considerations aside for a moment, it seems as though the jobs are coming and Economic Recovery has begun. 
"We're in an emergency, we're in a crisis...One of the things that is disturbing me about a lot of people right now is they acknowledge that we are in a crisis in the academic sense, but then when you try to respond to the crisis, you start hearing regional and political interests." |
Solar Energy Plan Announced for Long Island
The Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) and New York Power Authority (NYPA) are working with BNL to host this project. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) plans to provide LIPA with $15 million to kick start the solar plan. New York Power Authority is working with BNL and LIPA to host this project. According to a release by BNL, "the 50 megawatt (MW) project would provide enough power to sustain more than 6,500 households and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20,000 tons per year." It will support the recommendations for solar power from Paterson's Renewable Energy Task Force, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce the consumption of fossil fuels, create clean energy jobs, and advance renewable technologies. The plan is to use flat spaces throughout the Island for solar generating facilities, including some space at the federal BNL property, schools, municipal buildings, parking lots, landfills, and public and private commercial buildings. This exciting plan will create an estimated 50,000 jobs. Fight Wal-Mart in East Patchogue; Bruce Springsteen Apologizes
The Town of Brookhaven Planning Board Meeting to discuss Wal-Mart in East Patchogue has moved to Monday, March 23rd. Come to Town Hall, 1 Independence Hill, Farmingville at 4pm and let the Planning Board know how you feel. Don't let Wal-Mart destroy downtown Patchogue! Informational community meetings are ongoing, so be sure to check out walmartli.org to stay up-to-date with meeting dates and learn more about how to stop Wal-Mart. Additionally, Stop Wal-Mart lawn signs are available for $5 (covers the cost of printing). Email epwalmartfree@aol.com to get your sign. You can also write letters to the local press. Sample letters and contact info are available on www.walmartli.org. In other Wal-Mart news, Bruce Springsteen released a Greatest Hits album in January to be exclusively sold in Wal-Mart stores. In a January New York Times article, the rock legend had this to say:
Read the NY Times article here. New Jersey Future Redevelopment Forum
On Friday, February 27th, New Jersey Future hosted its fourth annual Redevelopment Forum in New Brunswick, NJ in order to address these and other serious issues. Workshops included Redevelopment and Current Economic Realities, Using Redevelopment to Go Green, Affordable Housing & Redevelopment, Getting Jobs Near Transit, Getting Your Community Organized for Redevelopment, and more. Keynote speaker and Portland, Oregon-based Smart Growth advocate Robert Liberty said, “Redevelopment must become the dominant form of development in the United States over the next decade.” He mentioned the oft-cited example of Portland: in the 1970s the city faced many similar problems, including declining population, sprawl, pollution, poor air quality, and high racial tension. In response, Oregon legalized Urban Growth Boundaries (UGBs) in 1973, which required growth to be centralized within those boundaries. This meant zoning changes would have to occur to accommodate higher densities in existing neighborhoods. Since then, over 90 percent of Portland's growth has occurred within the UGB. Transit use has increased extraordinarily and quality of life is very high. New Jersey Future Executive Director Peter Kasabach said in his opening remarks: “Sprawl remains the path of least resistance” for many developers and municipal leaders, “yet it pits environmental concerns against development concerns … in a wasteful and unnecessary tug of war between two factions that have more in common at the end of the day than differences.” Liberty later added, “Environmentalists need to actively support densification and redevelopment.” Environmentalists and developers ought to come together and launch a common-ground land use agenda, said Kasabach. He also urged state officials to put stimulus funds into projects that would promote sustainable growth. Read more about the 2009 Forum here. New Report: Housing Discrimination Severe on Long Island
Elaine Gross, President of ERASE Racism, said, "With the historic inauguration of the first president of the United States who is African-American, some pundits, ordinary citizens and donors have mistakenly concluded that this single act has ushered in the age of post racism. On the contrary, racism, particularly in the housing market, education and social relations on Long Island, persists." Find a link to the full report here. Greener Gadgets Conference Explores Technological Sustainability
Keynote speaker Saul Griffith has earned a "genius grant" from MIT for his many green gadget companies and inventiveness. He explained how energy and climate change issues are really design issues, a perspective that is intuitive to planners. He also inspired a call to action for greener gadget literacy, relating it to a larger climate change mission: "There is no 'away' anymore — When you throw something ‘away’… that ‘away’ is your backyard," he said. Read more about the event at Inhabitat. |
In his State of the State address in January, Governor Paterson announced his "45 by 15" plan, which sets a goal of meeting 45% of the state's electricity needs through renewable and efficient sources by the year 2015. Now, Paterson is moving forward with his initiative. Last Friday, Paterson traveled to Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) to announce an ambitious solar program for Long Island. In fact, it will be the largest solar energy program New York State has ever seen, tripling the State's total solar energy production, and one of the first of its kind in the nation. 
In September, Wal-Mart announced their plans to build a new, 120,000 square foot store in East Patchogue on Hospital Road. The community is viciously opposed to this plan, which will decimate downtown vitality, destroy wooded land, and disrupt a residential area. It has been called "the death knell for downtown revitalization projects." There are currently 5 Wal-Marts within a 15-mile radius of the proposed site. 
New Jersey has some unique problems, as well as some that are similar to those of Long Island. NJ has excessive highways and a decades-old development norm of designing sprawl. According to the 2003 National Resources Inventory, New Jersey is the most developed state in the country. In fact, it is the first state that will seriously have to address the problem of running out of developable land. Researchers from Rutgers and Rowan Universities estimate that 31% of NJ's land is already developed, 40% is environmentally protected or constrained, with 29% left for development. Furthermore, between 1995 and 2002, as the statewide population grew by 5.9%, developed acres increased by 7.9%. About 40% of this growth occurred in areas outside of official areas designated for growth by the State Development and Redevelopment Plan.
ERASE Racism has released a new report called "The Racial Equity Report Card: Fair Housing on Long Island." Not surprisingly, Long Island doesn't score too high. Cited as the third most racially segregated suburban community in the country, Long Island has problems with its laws, law enforcement, policies and practices of government agencies at all levels, and practices of real estate and other businesses. Housing segregation is extreme here: nearly 40% of Long Island African Americans, and 21% of Long Island Latinos, say that they or an immediate family member have experienced some form of housing discrimination by real estate agents, landlords, or homeowners. Between 2000 and 2007, almost every Long Island community has issued at least one fair housing complaint. Almost one-third of African Americans on LI said they have "felt out of place" most or some of the time while walking or driving in a local community. 
It's more than just Energy Star: last Friday, February 27th, the Greener Gadgets Conference was held at the McGraw Hill Conference Center in Manhattan. Innovators, entrepreneurs, visionaries, and eco-designers gathered to focus on the future of sustainability in the consumer electronics industry. The conference featured an engaging discussion on emerging energy technologies, real solutions for e-waste recycling, the business case for going green, and more. Not only did the event focus on exciting new technologies, but they placed those goals in a larger, global change context. 
New Report: Residential Development Shifting from Sprawl to Infill
The EPA found that the distribution of residential construction has significantly changed in many regions. Over half of the urban core communities studied have dramatically increased new residential building permits. Fifteen central cities have more than doubled their construction (including the New York City metropolitan region), and the increase has been particularly dramatic over the past five years. Many suburban downtown centers have exhibited this trend as well. 2007 data shows that this trend is continuing in wake of the real estate market downturn. Reasoning includes lower crime rates in central cities and changing demographics, as well as the recent high demand for walkable communities that are close to high-paying jobs. The report even notes, "In metropolitan regions with large and diverse central cities with strong ties to the global economy (New York, Chicago, Boston, Miami, Los Angeles) the market fundamentals are shifting toward redevelopment even in the absence of formal policies and programs at the regional level." However, the report found that in many regions much of the new residential construction still takes place on previously undeveloped land on the urban fringe. For example, in 12 of the 50 regions studied, there was very little change in construction distribution, and in 13 regions infill development increased but by less than 25 percent. Overall, the report concludes that this trend does reflect a growing appreciation in many regions for Smart Growth development. Read the report and a summary here. LEED becomes affordable?
Read more about LEED for Homes here. Read a blog entry by Inhabitat here. For the official project website, see heyday-la.com. |
Last Friday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released "Residential Construction Trends in America's Metropolitan Regions." The report looks at building trends in the 50 largest metropolitan areas between 1990 and 2007 and finds what could be a fundamental shift in residential construction. In many urban or suburban areas, old parking lots, underused properties, and former industrial sites are being replaced by condos, apartments, and townhouses. The question is whether this trend is actually a redevelopment shift. The report compares building permits obtained in urban centers and core suburban communities, as compared to suburban and exurban areas. 
One of the biggest critiques of progressive urban design practices is that they rarely offer affordable housing. A small project in Los Angeles is trying to address this conundrum by building the first LEED-certified units that are advertised as realistic for the average home buyer: "These fifteen fee-simple townhomes finally provide a realistic opportunity for quality homeownership." Located in the historic neighborhood of Eagle Rock, the Rock Row townhouses will be "40% larger than the typical bungalow home for competitive prices," at 1,300 to 1,540 square feet. These homes fall under the new Los Angeles City Small Lot Subdivision Ordinance, which encourages homeownership through Smart Growth practices. Never before have LEED-certified buildings been targeted to low- or middle-income brackets (granted, the "LEED for Homes" program is relatively new). The homes will include many sustainable components, such as a shared driveway with permeable grass pavement, instant and tankless hot water heaters, green roofs planted with water-efficient and drought-tolerant landscaping, wiring for solar power, excellent indoor air quality, and very low utility bills. The design incorporates ecological sustainability from design to construction. Each unit will have its own private decks and balconies, as well as a 2-car garage. The units are also structurally designed such that there are no common walls, which mean no noise transfer between units.
Now for the cost: the units will be sold at $475,000 to $550,000. Even without the economy being in shambles, that is over twice the national average--not quite affordable! Maybe home buyers are getting more bang for their buck, or maybe that's a good price for LA. But in this writer's opinion, this project does not adequately address affordable housing. Make no mistake: this is a great prototype in green design, which is why we brought it to you. There is still work to do before we can truly connect affordable homes with progressive, ecologically friendly design.
Tell New York State Legislators to protect open space funding! Long Island's last remaining open spaces are being replaced by strip malls, highways, and big box developments that are antithetical to livable neighborhoods. Open space protection includes protecting clean drinking water, recreational opportunities, and quality of life. It means protecting our beaches, forests, coastal areas, and groundwater recharge areas.
Take action to stop the proposed transit cuts! Vision Long Island, in coordination with Tri-State Transportation Campaign, ACORN, Long Island Progressive Coalition, and other advocacy organizations, are calling on Long Islanders to oppose the massive budget cuts and fare increases proposed by the MTA. Call your State Senators and Assemblypersons to seek alternative funding mechanisms to fund needed transit services. The recommendations proposed in the Ravitch Commission report spell out necessary funding offsets such as payroll taxes and tolling of East River and Harlem bridges. 
Governor announces Round 3 of Restore New York grant
Governor Paterson said of the program, "During difficult and challenging economic times, the innovative Restore New York program will be crucial to rebuilding our economy and launching New York on a path towards full economic recovery. This program will revitalize New York's cities, towns and villages by leveraging both public and private funds. Municipalities across the State can improve their businesses and community climates to attract industry, commercial enterprises and families to some of our most economically distressed areas. I look forward to announcing Round 3 recipients and witnessing the positive transformations that these projects will stimulate." A statewide Information Workshop will be held by Empire State Development on February 27th to answer questions that applicants may have. It will take place at 1:00pm in room 6 of the Empire State Plaza Convention Center in Albany. Applications are due by May 4th and awards will be announced in the spring. For more, see the Governor's press release. |
Beginning this week, municipalities are able to apply for a piece of a $150 million grant for economic revitalization. Round 3 of Restore New York's Communities Initiative encourages economic development and neighborhood growth by providing municipalities with financial assistance for revitalization of commercial and residential properties. There is a strong emphasis on economically distressed communities. Towns, villages, and cities can apply for the grants to aid with the demolition, deconstruction, rehabilitation, and/or reconstruction of vacant, abandoned, condemned, and surplus properties. 
No Child Left Inside on March 12th
For more information, call (516) 304-5480 or visit the website. *DATE CHANGE* Nassau County Master Plan Kickoff Workshop Postponed To March 16th
County Executive Tom Suozzi is hosting a 2009 Master Plan Kick Off Workshop on Monday, March 16th at 5:30pm. It will take place at the Theodore Roosevelt Executive & Legislative Building/Legislative Chamber, 1550 Franklin Avenue, Mineola. The workshop will include a brief summary of the master plan process and how it will relate to the County's 10-Point Exonomic Development Plan and County & Local Priority Initiatives. It will also include an opportunity for public comment and suggestions. For more information, see Nassau County Planning's website. Asian American Cultural Festival of Long Island To Be Held March 21st
From 1:00-6:00, enjoy free admission to the Multipurpose Room for multicultural booths, arts and crafts, live performances, an Asian market (including food!), lectures and films from Asian countries, a tea ceremony, workshops, and more. From 6:00-9:00, a $30 ticket will let you into the Little Theater at Knapp Hall for classical stage performances by Asian Artists, "Exotic Taste of Asia" VIP reception, a raffle drawing, and a presentation of awards. For 4 or more people, tickets are discounted to $25 each. The festival is organized by Chinese Cultural Programs. For tickets to the evening portion of the event, send a check payable to the AACFLI (include your name, phone number and email address) to 23 Fernwood Drive, Commack, NY 11725. To volunteer, become a Corporate Sponsor, or for more information, call (631) 543-5768 or visit their website. 1st New York Women's Conference for Sustainability March 27th-29th
Conference activities will include speakers and conversations, music and dance performances, an information fair, community focus dialogues, networking opportunities, yoga, hikes, meditation, tea tasting, and meals provided. Speakers thus far include Margaret Wheatley of Berkana Institute, Harriet Fulbright of J. William & Harriet Fulbright Center, Wendy Gordon Rockefeller of Mothers & Others for a Livable Planet and The Green Guide, Richard Leakey of Wildlife Direct and the Turkana Basin Institute in Kenya; Sara Gordon of The Climate Project and Greener Days, Patti Wood of Grassroots Environmental Education, Sarah Newkirk of the Coastal Resilience Project and The Nature Conservancy, and Beth Fiteni of Neighborhood Network and LI-Climate Action Network. Themes from the keynote addresses will be integrated into a series of participatory conversations and focus groups: attendees will actively engage in developing tools for grassroots leadership, action plans, and post-conference networking. The conference organizers are looking for partners to join in outreach for the event. See their website for details. Costs are as follows: There is a discount until Feb 15, making tickets $145. Registration from Feb 15- March 15 is $165 and registration taking place after March 15 is $225. Tickets to attend Saturday's dinner are $22. WISE, based out of Southampton, is on a mission to assist one another to lead communities and the world toward social, economic, and environmental health by focusing on climate stabilization. Women hold keys to change – the power to create a sustainable future for the planet. For more on WISE and on the conference (and to register), visit their website. Reducing your home energy costs seminar from LI Sierra Club - April 18th
Presenters at the event will include a tour guide from the Heritage Center at North Shore Heritage Park, Chuck Schwarz from L.I. Green, Leah Sontag from Sun Power Systems, and Anita from Majestic Son and Sons. Jane Jacobs' Legacy Celebrated in Jane's Walk May 2nd-3rd
Now, community lovers throughout the U.S. and Canada are coming together to celebrate Jacobs' ideas with "Jane's Walk." Jane's Walk began shortly after Jacobs' death in 2006, when a group of her friends and peers organized to honor her legacy. Anyone can join in for one of several free neighborhood walking tours, with the intention of fostering connection to the built and natural environment, as well as to one another. Jane's Walk promotes urban literacy by combining insights into urban history, planning, design, and civic engagement. The walks are accessible, fun, and free. "It's about getting out and walking, observing your city, meeting your neighbors, discovering new areas, and learning about civic institutions and agencies that shape our urban existence. Jane's Walk helps knit people together into a strong and resourceful community, instilling belonging and encouraging civic leadership." This year's Jane's Walk will take place on May 2nd and 3rd, with participating cities so far including New York City, Anchorage, Boston, Chicago, New Orleans, Ogden, Salt Lake City, and Washington, D.C. Tours are generally kept under an hour and a half. You can also create your own walk--all you need is an enthused tour guide, a knowledge base of your neighborhood, and the capability to plan a route that is logical and wheelchair accessible. You do not need to be an expert on your neighborhood, but rather need to be passionate about it (and have some stories to back it up). More details can be found on the Jane's Walk website. After all, as Jacobs once said, "No one can find what will work for our cities by looking at ... suburban garden cities, manipulating scale models, or inventing dream cities. You've got to get out and walk." Learn more about Jane's Walk here. |
On Thursday March 12th, Long Island Nature Collaborative for Kids (LINCK) will host their "No Child Left Inside: Connecting Kids with Nature" conference. From 8:30am-6pm at the Islandia Marriott, the day will address the vital role that nature plays in childhood development. As so many kids today default to video games and the internet, children are deprived of basic outdoor skills and important creative experiences that guide development, not to mention the obesity epidemic and the high rate of allergies among children. Speakers at the conference will include Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, Nancy Rosenow of Dimensions Educational Research Foundation, John Rosenow of National Arbor Day Foundation, and Dana Friedman of The Early Years Institute. Panels will discuss exciting new ways to use parks, schools, early childhood programs, after-school and youth programs, neighborhoods, and backyards to get children back outside. The conference will be filled with interactive events and looks to be a very exciting and important event for Long Islanders. 
Nassau County has announced its new master plan for future growth, development, and preservation, "Drawing on the Past. Planning for the Future." The plan will address County needs for the next twenty years and provide guidelines on how to address them. 
Save the date for Saturday, March 21st, when the 3rd Annual Asian American Cultural Festival returns to promote awareness and appreciation for cultural diversity on Long Island. The event will be at Farmingdale State College, Roosevelt Hall, 2350 Broadhollow Road in Farmingdale. 
The newly formed non-profit, Women's Initiatives for a Sustainable Earth (WISE), presents The 1st NY Women's Conference in Sustainability: "Mobilizing for Climate Stability One Conversation at a Time." From Friday, March 27th through Sunday, March 29th at SUNY Stony Brook- Southampton campus, women and men of all ages and backgrounds are invited to participate in this great event. Learn innovative techniques to build a dynamic movement through grassroots leadership; strengthen networking strategies and passion for protecting life on Earth; move from ideas to crystallized action strategies for green mobilization; and help build a sustainable future where the climate is steady, the environment is hearty, and the economy is humming. The conference will increase awareness of predictable, potential outcomes from global warming; suggest personal and community actions to achieve carbon footprint reduction; enliven a network of people with shared concerns about the Earth's future; and provide a safe, supportive space for exploration of these concerns and possible outcome. 
The Long Island Sierra Club will be hosting an upcoming presentation called “Reducing your Home Energy Costs.” On April 18th at 1:30pm at the Heritage Center in Mt. Sinai, come to this free, 2-hour community meeting to learn how to save money on your energy bills. The educational program will give you a tour of a very efficient public building and provide ways for you to reduce energy consumption while making your home more comfortable. The meeting will also explain how to become free from paying LIPA for all the electricity you use with no upfront costs, with monthly payments less than or equal to your current ones. You will also learn about energy audits and how to get one for little or no cost, as well as home-ready solar systems that are no more than what you currently pay. 
Jane Jacobs is a legend in the planning world. Some would call her the anti-Moses (Robert Moses, that is), a staunch advocate for pedestrianized communities and dense urban living. Build mixed-use, she said, and communities will flourish. Build smaller blocks, she said, and there will be more opportunity for commercial and residential development, not to mention walkable communities with high quality of life. Most importantly, Jacobs believed in a community based approach to planning. She organized grassroots efforts to block urban renewal projects that would have decimated communities, such as Moses' Lower Manhattan Expressway. In 1961, her masterpiece The Death and Life of American Cities was published, and remains to this day one of the most widely read and praised planning books.
Friday Night Face Off
Tickets are $12, with specials on drinks. Theatre Three is located at 412 Main Street in Port Jefferson. Friday Night Face Off will perform on the theatre's second stage, the Ron Peierls Theatre. See their website for more info. Jodi Picoult Book Signing in Huntington
Book Revue is one of the largest independent book stores in Long Island, and is proud to serve as a social and cultural gathering space for the local community. Even if you don't go for Jodi Picoult, take a trip to the store this weekend and see what else this vibrant downtown has to offer. |
This Friday at 10:30pm, Theatre Three in Port Jefferson will host the weekly Friday Night Face Off, a night of audience-interactive, competitive, improvisational comedy. The comedy troupe, now in its sixth year, creates hilarious scenes and characters based on suggestions from the cabaret audience. 
On Friday night, 3/6 head over to downtown Huntington to meet celebrated author Jodi Picoult. She will be appearing at Book Revue (313 New York Avenue) to sign copies of her new book, Handle With Care. It starts at 7pm but you are encouraged to get there early. For more info, see Book Revue's |
Eyesore of the Month This month, we take a look at a strip mall in Arkansas... or is it Commack? You decide.
Sight for Sore Eyes Inhabitat.com offers a sight for sore eyes this month: grass-lined trams! Enjoy these examples from The Hauge, Netherlands 
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"The street, which is the public realm of America, is now a barrier to community life." - Andres Duany |
SMART GROWTH NEWS Newsletter Editor: Michelle Dutchen, Communications Director We strive to provide continued quality publications such as this each week. If you are interested in becoming a newsletter or news blast sponsor, please call the office at 631-261-0242 for rates and opportunities. If you have any news or events that you would like to add to our newsletter, submit them to info@visionlongisland.org for consideration.
For more information about Vision Long Island, visit http://www.visionlongisland.org or contact us at: |
