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• Columnists

  Denver: America’s Great Urban Canvas, Part I

  Simmons Buntin | Mon, Aug 4th, 2008 | Category: Commentary | City: Denver | Tags: tucson, simmons buntin, denver, new urbanism, civano, stapleton, town planning, boulder, neotraditional development, bradburn village, modernist architecture, longmont, urban planning, prospect new town, westminster | 0

  The metropolitan Denver area has become America’s greatest urban canvas, and a tour of some of the region’s New Urbanist neighborhoods demonstrates why. Join Simmons Buntin and his host, urban planner Carolyn Dooling, as they tour Stapleton in Denver, Bradburn Village in Westminster, and Prospect New Town in Longmont, discovering places with soul.

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• Columnists

  Knowing Your Neighbor, Online and Off

  Simmons Buntin | Fri, Jul 4th, 2008 | Category: Commentary | City: Tucson | Tags: tucson, simmons buntin, website, civano, interaction, discussion forum, community design, cohousing, virtual reality, neighborhood design | 6

  There are two communities in my community.  The first is physical—thin, tree-lined streets and pocket parks, Southwestern architecture and community gardens.  The second is virtual—a community website and discussion forum, registration required. 

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• Columnists

  Harry Potter and the City of Gold

  Simmons Buntin | Tue, Jun 17th, 2008 | Category: Commentary | City: Boulder | Tags: tucson, simmons buntin, architecture, alley, england, restaurants, streetscape, urban form, theme parks, boulder, amusement parks, harry potter | 0

  The release of a Harry Potter prequel this week creates a spell on one reader, who goes on to ponder: What does J.K. Rowling’s seven-book Harry Potter series tell us about urban form, and what might that form look like?  By 2010 we’ll know, as the Wizarding World of Harry Potter comes to life with hamlet, forest, and school grounds at Universal Studios in Orlando.  But how authentic can it be?

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• Columnists

  My Martian City

  Simmons Buntin | Fri, May 30th, 2008 | Category: Commentary | Tags: tucson, simmons buntin, building, architecture, pennsylvania, arizona, ecocity, planets, martian, mars, future city, colonization, space travel, arcology | 1

  All the recent Phoenix Mars Lander hullabaloo has got me thinking about what the first Earth-built city on Mars would look like.  Who would get the opportunity to plan that city, and would we find the amenities that make Earth’s best urban spaces also make for the best cities on the Red Planet?

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  The Wildflower Wars

  Simmons Buntin | Thu, May 15th, 2008 | City: Denver | Tags: environment, tucson, simmons buntin, denver, new urbanism, civano, hoa, sense of place, yard, master-planned communities, flowers, nature in the city, landscaping | 1

  A dazzling wildflower season spells trouble for the master-planned communities that spread like invasive weeds along the edges of urban areas across the West.  How are the wildflower wars being waged, and why is it important to have natural yards in cities, anyway?

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  Beyond the Ballpark: Thwarted Expectations for the Colorado Rockies and the Civano Town Center?

  Simmons Buntin | Thu, Apr 17th, 2008 | City: Civano | Tags: tucson, simmons buntin, denver, new urbanism, sports, civano, stapleton, colorado rockies, town center, belmar, coors field | 0

  Expectations are a tricky thing to manage, since they are both internal and external, based on solid design and a large does of guesswork. Heightened by the press and built at a frenzied pace, expectations for sports teams are also rooted in deep team loyalty, which itself comes from the host city’s sense of the place. So what do expectations for the Colorado Rockies and Tucson’s Civano town center have in common?

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• Columnists

  What Rock ‘n Roll and the National Register of Historic Places (Don’t) Have in Common

  Simmons Buntin | Wed, Mar 26th, 2008 | Category: Commentary | Tags: tucson, simmons buntin, building, growth, architecture, historic preservation, music, the economist, rock and roll, national register of historic places | 0

  Hey buddy, being old doesn’t make it classic.  The same is true for architecture, though here I substitute historic for classic.  A recent article in The Economist troubles me in a similar way. 

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• Columnists

  Dark Skies, Bright Future?

  Simmons Buntin | Tue, Feb 12th, 2008 | Category: Report | Tags: tucson, simmons buntin, arizona, observatory, light pollution, international dark-sky association | 0

  When plans are drawn for preserving urban environments, they often account for important systems like watersheds, transportation corridors, and infrastructure.  In Tucson, and throughout southern Arizona, the health of cities is also measured in light pollution — with a singular goal of maintaining dark skies.

  Of the 43 observatories, university departments, and institutions associated with astronomy and space exploration in Arizona — accounting for a statewide impact of $252 million…

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• Columnists

  The Greenest School in America

  Simmons Buntin | Mon, Jan 21st, 2008 | Category: Report | Tags: tucson, simmons buntin, new urbanism, civano community school, pam bateman, greenest school, kermit the frog | 1

  Kermit the Frog sang, “It’s not easy bein’ green,” and he’d know. Yet in this period of rapidly declining frog populations — amphibian mortality, like just about everything else, is now linked to climate change — being green does have its benefits.

  For the Civano Community School in Tucson, being green means a $50,000 award for the school, a green iPod with a solar charger for each of the school’s 66 students, and a year’s supply of All Small and Mighty concentrated laundry detergent…

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  Returning the Emphasis on Schools to Urban Trust Lands

  Simmons Buntin | Fri, Jan 11th, 2008 | Category: Commentary | Tags: tucson, simmons buntin, civano, urban trust lands, public schools, arizona state, arizona daily star | 0

  The times they are a-changin’ in southeast Tucson, where the metropolitan area’s largest remaining expanse of undeveloped open space was just approved for development by the Arizona State Land Department. It’s all for the good of the schools — or is it?

  All states entering the Union since 1803 have received land grants for support of public schools. In Arizona, a total of about 10.2 million acres was granted when Arizona became a territory and then a state. The Arizona State Land…

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• Columnists

  Fantasy Urban League

  Simmons Buntin | Tue, Dec 25th, 2007 | Category: Commentary | Tags: tucson, simmons buntin, denver, fantasy football, nfl, fantasy urban league, sustainability rankings | 1

  Today marks the championship game for many fantasy football leagues, including mine. If you’re not familiar with fantasy football, it works like this: Before the beginning of the NFL season, leagues comprised of ten or twelve teams — one team per manager, such as myself — hold a draft.  Each manager picks players in key positions, just as the NFL itself holds a draft of college players each year.  In my league, we draft key positions including quarterback, running back, wide receiver,…

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