Thanks for visiting Top Portland Tickets, your source for Portland Concert Tickets, concert ticket information for shows in and around Portland, Oregon. Among all of the Rock Concerts, Rap Concerts, Country Music, Pop, Blues, RnB and Alternative Concerts that happen in Portland, OR every year there are also a number of lesser known genres of music being performed in the Portland metro area.
The Greening of American Cities
Today, merely collecting the garbage, running a bottle recycling program and creating the occasional park doesn’t cut it in our increasingly eco-concerned world. The buzzword now is “green” and each city in order to compete for workers, investment and tourists had better have a full compliment of eco-programs and environmental plans. Pollution and dirty air are longer acceptable byproducts of living in a city. Those cities that can provide their citizens with clean air, clean water and a healthy environment are proving to more competitive and desirable places in which to visit and live.
While the US federal government has refused to sign onto the international Kyoto Protocol and has steadfastly refused to recognize the issue of global warming, a growing chorus of economists, environmentalists and scientists are beginning to sound ever-increasingly dire alarm bells. In response, many cities have taken the initiative to address environmental concerns in their jurisdictions without federal support. Innovative urban planning, green building, park construction, public transportation initiatives and recycling programs are now making many American cities much healthier and better places to live.
Smaller cities have distinct advantages over their larger counterparts. While they have less revenue with which to implement specific initiatives they also have fewer infrastructure costs and often fewer urban issues like crime and poverty.
Many reviews of “Green-ness” are released each year and the usual suspects of Portland, Oregon; Bellingham, Washington; Oakland, California and Austin, Texas are regularly listed among the most environmentally progressive cities in the United States.
Portland is usually held up as an example of how committed and sustained political will can change the environment and livability of a city. In the 1970s, city politicians turned against conventional wisdom and instituted changes and programs that transformed the city from an example of poor planning and urban blight into a paradigm of environmental sustainability and eco friendliness. Green spaces, restriction of suburban development, use of sustainable energy sources and encouragement of environmentally friendly businesses are all examples of Portland’s green leadership.
Smaller centres such as Burlington, Vermont and Madison, Wisconsin have used community-based programs to tackle issues such as pollution, clean ups and recycling programs with significant success. People at the grassroots level do want better environments and in some cases have put their money where there mouths are. Boulder, Colorado for example voted on raising local taxes in order to secure more green space and preserve wild areas within city boundaries.
Larger cities have made significant inroads in recent years. Under the guidance of Mayor Richard Daley, Chicago has been one of the most audacious in attempts to make the city more environmentally friendly. Planting more than 400,000 trees, encouraging solar powered buildings and subsidizing energy saving renovations for historic buildings have moved the windy city to the forefront of the urban environmental movement.
A number of US communities are doing a great job at putting their residents first and are inventing novel ways of ensuring clean air and clean water, finding renewable energy, running environmentally-friendly public transportation systems, creating parks and greenbelts, and enabling opportunities for community involvement.
The shift from global to local responses to global issues has taken root in American cities and bodes well for all our futures.
About The Author
Kevin Fields is the Editor of http://citybloc.com a site dedicated to demographic data, statistical analysis and features on US cities.
I hope you’ve been enjoying my posts lately. I thought I might do something different today and rustle up a few bits of info from around the WWW. These are some of the news items and blog posts that have been popular over the last few weeks. Leave me your thoughts.
Lil Wayne Shows Respect To Nate Dogg At Tour Opener
Make some noise for my n—a Nate Dogg,” said Wayne. “Make some noise for Michael Jackson, y'all. All the people I named taught me one thing. And that's how to hustle.” Wayne hasn't been the only superstar rapper to address the loss of G-Funk singer … Read More…
Gospel Duo Mary Mary on Their New Album–and Singing At Nate Dogg's Funeral
Mary Mary recently sang the funeral of famed rapper/singer Nate Dogg, who also hailed from California. “We don't agree with everything that he sang but I liked his voice,” Tina Campbell said. “There are artists that don't sing that what I sing about … Read More…
With two individual state tournament trips under his belt from his freshman …
11:40 pm LOS ANGELES — Singer Nate Dogg, who helped define the sound of West Coast hip-hop, has died at age 41. Nate Dogg, whose real name was Nathaniel D. Hale, died Tuesday of complications from multiple strokes, attorney Mark Geragos said. … Read More…
That’s all the news for today guys, so until next time, thanks for stopping by.
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