Filed under: News | Tags: Baltimore Business, James Howard Kunstler, State of Downtown Baltimore Report
State of Downtown: Mega Structures, Big Boxes Will Not Go On Forever
Urban development author and keynote speaker for the annual State of Downtown report, James Howard Kunstler, delivered an address to Baltimore business people Tuesday stressing modesty. According to an article in the Daily Record, Kunstler stated to the crowd that “Skyscrapers are over — they’re only possible with cheap energy,” and “Think the big box stores will go on forever? Forget about it”. Kunstler explained that the high cost of fuel, energy and materials will be a factor in running and maintaining mega-structures, but Baltimore is one of the “lucky” cities poised to adapt to the urban future.
From the Daily Record:
“Keep it modest,” he said. “We’re not going to be building mega structures anymore.”
It’s for those reasons Kunstler said Baltimore is a “poster child” for future American cities, saying that it already has many of his required elements, including early 20th-century buildings waiting to be renovated.
“You’re lucky you have so much fabric left from the … pre-auto age,” he said.
He predicted a population explosion for Baltimore if the city continues to work within its existing infrastructure and grows organically. Meanwhile, “overbuilt” cities like New York could struggle with no means of keeping up their modern skyscrapers.
For the full article in the Daily Record, CLICK HERE.
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Hopefully once everything settles down in Washington we can get back to mproving our communities by making them more green. Good work.
Comment by Green News March 24, 2010 @ 7:43 pmThe day after his talk, Kunstler gave a virtual “walking tour” commentary on the city of Baltimore on The KunstlerCast podcast, using Google Street View.
Part 1 was released this Thursday. The second half will be released next week.
To listen, look for show’s number 104 and 105 at:
Comment by Duncan Crary March 26, 2010 @ 1:27 pmhttp://kunstlercast.com