August 28th, 2008, 3 Comments »
This news is a few months old, but I just spotted it on Mark’s blog. It’s an analysis of the per-capita footprints of various American cities. As you can see by the cool Google Maps mashup, cities in the American west fair much, much better than those in the east.
The authors attributed the variations between cities to efficiencies generated by density and compact development, weather and access to mass transit. But that’s clearly not the whole story as evidenced by Seattle, for example, where it’s cold and mass transit is bad but emissions are relatively low. That’s because the northwest has access to emissions-free hydroelectric power.
Coal-heavy regions of the country generally look bad because the same amount of electricity has much higher emissions-intensity than electricity derived from hydroelectric or even natural gas power plants.
The greenest major city in America is, by this study’s metrics, Honolulu. I went looking for a similar analysis for Canadian cities, but didn’t find one. I did find some data on cities and towns in the UK, as well as countries (hurray, we’re greener than the Saudis!).
UPDATE: I meant to mention that I really liked the design (and, to a lesser degree, the message) of PickensPlan.com. It’s totally unambiguous, which appeals.
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April 28th, 2007, 4 Comments »
Back in 2001, we paid the equivalent of CAN $2700/month for a slightly shabby but spacious two bedroom flat in the centre of Dublin. That was considered a pretty good deal at the time.
I know rental rates and housing prices don’t necessarily run in parallel, but I just thought I’d mention that figure by way of introduction. I actually wanted to write about Dublin housing prices, which have soared since the Celtic Tiger phenomenon of the mid-nineties. Consider the facts that I read in today’s Irish Times:
- In 1991, the average price of a ’second-hand house’ (meaning not newly-built) was €76,075 (or CAN $115,935).
- In March, 2007, the average price of a second-hand house was €429,151 (or CAN $654,005).
Prices have increased over five-fold in a 16-year period! That’s just nuts. No wonder there’s extensive speculation about an Irish real estate bubble.
To compare with Vancouver:
- According to Stats Canada (via a PDF whose location I failed to note), in 1991, the average Vancouver home cost about CAN $200,000.
- In November, 2006, the average Vancouver home cost CAN $519,294.
Why that’s a measly increase of two and a half times.
I suppose to do a real analysis you’d have to compare GDP or average net income and these sorts of factors, but Lord knows I’m no economist. Apparently the US is undergoing a significant, uh, correction. Will Ireland and Canada follow?
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