Green Metropolis : Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less Are the Keys to Sustainability

**Read David Owen's posts on the Penguin Blog.****A challenging, controversial, and highly readable look at our lives, our world, and our future.** In this remarkable challenge to conventional thinking about the environment, David Owen argues that the greenest community in the United States is not Portland, Oregon, or Snowmass, Colorado, but New York, New York. Most Americans think of crowded cities as ecological nightmares, as wastelands of concrete and garbage and diesel fumes and traffic jams. Yet residents of compact urban centers, Owen shows, individually consume less oil, electricity, and water than other Americans. They live in smaller spaces, discard less trash, and, most important of all, spend far less time in automobiles. Residents of Manhattan— the most densely populated place in North America —rank first in public-transit use and last in percapita greenhouse-gas production, and they consume gasoline at a rate that the country as a whole hasn’t matched since the mid-1920s, when the most widely owned car in the United States was the Ford Model T. They are also among the only people in the United States for whom walking is still an important means of daily transportation. These achievements are not accidents. Spreading people thinly across the countryside may make them feel green, but it doesn’t reduce the damage they do to the environment. In fact, it increases the damage, while also making the problems they cause harder to see and to address. Owen contends that the environmental problem we face, at the current stage of our assault on the world’s nonrenewable resources, is not how to make teeming cities more like the pristine countryside. The problem is how to make other settled places more like Manhattan, whose residents presently come closer than any other Americans to meeting environmental goals that all of us, eventually, will have to come to terms with. Read David Owen's posts on the Penguin Blog. A challenging, controversial, and highly readable look at our lives, our world, and our future. In this remarkable challenge to conventional thinking about the environment, David Owen argues that the greenest community in the United States is not Portland, Oregon, or Snowmass, Colorado, but New York, New York. Most Americans think of crowded cities as ecological nightmares, as wastelands of concrete and garbage and diesel fumes and traffic jams. Yet residents of compact urban centers, Owen shows, individually consume less oil, electricity, and water than other Americans. They live in smaller spaces, discard less trash, and, most important of all, spend far less time in automobiles. Residents of Manhattan the most densely populated place in North America rank first in public-transit use and last in percapita greenhouse-gas production, and they consume gasoline at a rate that the country as a whole hasnt matched since the mid-1920s, when the most widely owned car in the United States was the Ford Model T. They are also among the only people in the United States for whom walking is still an important means of daily transportation. These achievements are not accidents. Spreading people thinly across the countryside may make them feel green, but it doesnt reduce the damage they do to the environment. In fact, it increases the damage, while also making the problems they cause harder to see and to address. Owen contends that the environmental problem we face, at the current stage of our assault on the worlds nonrenewable resources, is not how to make teeming cities more like the pristine countryside. The problem is how to make other settled places more like Manhattan, whose residents presently come closer than any other Americans to meeting environmental goals that all of us, eventually, will have to come to terms with. Look out for David Owen's next book, Where the Water Goes.A challenging, controversial, and highly readable look at our lives, our world, and our future. Most Americans think of crowded cities as ecological nightmares, as wastelands of concrete and garbage and diesel fumes and traffic jams. Yet residents of compact urban centers, Owen shows, individually consume less oil, electricity, and water than other Americans. They live in smaller spaces, discard less trash, and, most important of all, spend far less time in automobiles. Residents of Manhattan—the most densely populated place in North America—rank first in public-transit use and last in percapita greenhouse-gas production, and they consume gasoline at a rate that the country as a whole hasn't matched since the mid-1920s, when the most widely owned car in the United States was the Ford Model T. They are also among the only people in the United States for whom walking is still an important means of daily transportation. These achievements are not accidents. Spreading people thinly across the countryside may make them feel green, but it doesn't reduce the damage they do to the environment. In fact, it increases the damage, while also making the problems they cause harder to see and to address. Owen contends that the environmental problem we face, at the current stage of our assault on the world's nonrenewable resources, is not how to make teeming cities more like the pristine countryside. The problem is how to make other settled places more like Manhattan, whose residents presently come closer than any other Americans to meeting environmental goals that all of us, eventually, will have to come to terms with.

in This Remarkable Challenge To Conventional Thinking About The Environment, David Owen Argues That The Greenest Community In The United States Is Not Portland, Oregon, Or Snowmass, Colorado, But New York City.

most Americans Think Of Crowded Cities As Ecological Nightmares---as Wastelands Of Concrete And Garbage And Diesel Fumes And Traffic Jams. Yet Residents Of Compact Urban Centers, David Owen Shows, Individually Consume Less Oil, Electricity, And Water Than Other Americans. They Live In Smaller Spaces, Discard Less Trash, And, Most Important Of All, Spend Far Less Time In Automobiles. Residents Of Manhattan---the Most Densely Populated Place In North America---rank First In Public-transit Use And Last In Per-capita Greenhouse Gas Production, And They Consume Gasoline At A Rate That The Country As A Whole Hasn't Matched Since The Mid-1920s, When The Most Widely Owned Car In The United States Was The Ford Model T. They Are Also Among The Only People In The United States...

the Washington Post - Jonathan Yardley

the Deservedly Respected Journalist David Owen Spent A Lot Of Time In Recent Years Patrolling The Environmental Beat, Doing Research For The Excellent Book We Now Have Before Us…owen's Style, Here As In His 13 Previous Books, Is Cool, Understated And Witty; It Does Not Appear To Be In His Nature To Be Alarmist. But This Is A Thoroughly Alarming Book, Perhaps All The More So Because Owen Is So Matter-of-fact: The Facts Alone Are So Discouraging That No Rhetorical Flourishes Are Necessary To Underscore Their Urgency.

Upending the environmentalist viewpoint that urban areas are "anti-green, " New Yorker staff writer David Owen argues that sustainability is achieved in areas like New York City, while open space, backyard compost heaps, locavorism and high-tech gadgetry like solar panels and triple-paned windows are formulas for wasteful sprawl and green-washed consumerism