Bjorn Lomborg - Environrmentalist

Bjorn Lomborg is a very persuasive environmentalist. He presents logical arguments for economic growth and environmental improvements. I agree with most of his work.

Click to read his blog.

http://www.lomborg.com/

"Dr. Bjorn Lomborg researches the smartest ways to improve the environment and the world. For this, he was named one of the world’s 100 most influential people by Time Magazine, one of the 75 most influential people of the 21st Century by Esquire magazine, and one of the 50 people who could save the planet by the UK Guardian. He has repeatedly been named one of the top 100 global intellectuals by Foreign Policy."

"He is an adjunct professor at Copenhagen Business School and regularly works with many of the world’s top economists, including 7 Nobel Laureates. His think tank, the Copenhagen Consensus Center, was ranked by the University of Pennsylvania as one of the world’s "Top 25 Environmental Think Tanks"."

Detention Pond Video

Video of a detention pond in Dupage County, Illinois

The Pruitt-Igoe Myth

A rich history of the life and legacy of the Pruitt-Igoe housing complex in St. Louis, an urban renewal project that suffered from neglect, vandalism and crime and was eventually torn down (see Mark Byrnes's review of the film here). Despite Pruitt-Igoe being held up as an example of failed public housing and modernist architecture, the film explores misconceptions about the project and the feelings of the people who lived there.

New Urban Redevelopment in Lemont, Illinois

Nice new urban redevelopment in downtown Lemont, Illinois adjacent to the historic I and M Canal.  The development was supported by a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district prepared by Beth Ruyle.

The Illinois and Michigan Canal (I & M) was a public private partnership that greatly facilitated economic development. The canal connected Lake Michigan and Chicago to a fully navigable location of the Illinois River in Lasalle, Illinois.  The Canal is now a National Heritage Corridor and a State Park with the old tow path serving as a bike / hiking path.

"the opening of the Illinois and Michigan Canal in 1848 gave Illinois the key to mastery of the American mid-continent. The dream of the canal had animated every vision and under laid every plan for Illinois for 200 years before. As that vision was realized, the canal’s commissioners laid out a canal port that would grow into a great metropolis; their fellow citizens patented agriculture and industrial innovations that would make this the richest economic zone the world had ever seen. http://www.canalcor.org/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illinois_and_Michigan_Canal http://www.nps.gov/history/heritageareas/areas/ILMI.htm

Rebekah Bourland with Peoria Band

PEORIA BAND

Peoria Band Concert

The City Journal

The City Journal offers an excellent free on line journal with articles on a variety of urban issues.

http://www.city-journal.org