Читать книгу The Outdoor Citizen. Get Out, Give Back, Get Active онлайн

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It’s time to recalibrate our development goals and restore natural areas to their full potential. Historic maps and photographs can provide a starting step, showing us what natural areas used to look like; what once existed. We should also look at neglected spaces with a fresh eye, considering which could be transitioned into green spaces. Imagine changing the spaces beneath highways and bridges or above rail yards and rail lines into lush green spaces. We could also transition highway median strips and unused roadways, and do away with disruptive and unused electricity and telecom infrastructure, including grids, poles, and wires tarnishing what could be an attractive and thriving green space. The changes would improve the aesthetics of a city and the addition of trees would clean the air.

Emergency Preparation

It’s critical that cities have plans to prepare for natural disasters, particularly as global warming causes increasingly devastating ones. The disaster response plan New York City had in place when Hurricane Sandy hit in October 2012 was critical. The storm left many residents without food, electricity, and clean water and caused billions of dollars in damage, but the devastation would have been far worse without the advance planning the plan implemented.