Here's a New Rubric & a New Rubrik's Cube

Building sustainable communities requires radical, pragmatic efforts. As opposed to the "copy and paste" mentality many developers have in regards to new projects, new planning modus operandi are supporting a more regional ecological sense to where new developments are placed. When we look at the new criteria adopted in manuals that are engineered for both planners and developers, such as the LEED v4 for Neighborhood Development, we can see a more regional painstaking that includes greater ecological requirements than those that came before it. These requirements tie into an understanding of ecosystem services, and the intrinsic value they possess for societal health.


As I take a closer look at some of the requisites to planning criteria that considers human health as interdependent to ecological health, I found slight nuances in design that, to my understanding, people have always utilized when constructing permanent structures. For instance, these requirements require solar orientation of the building to be considered, as well as an understanding of the area's geolocation- meaning its proximity to a floodplain, hill stability, and many other factors. Local food production has always been a key ingredient to the development of a human settlement, which has become increasingly distant from popular considerations of site design and implementation. New planning methodology that falls under the category of "new urbanism," or "green community design" takes into consideration a greater comprehensive view of how people not only live in a place, but how this place can add to the sustenance of the community. Local agricultural efforts are normal in places that have a history of farming practices, however, the implementation of a proximity requirement to urban food production and farmers markets is new in the urban planning world.


Think of sustainability as a Rubik's cube-you've got the cube, but you've got no idea how to solve it. You try different things, but you end up in a kerfuffle as you attempt different ways of solving it, but still you can't yield the solution. Then, you either get help from an expert, experience a revelation and figure it our yourself, or ask the internet for guidance; you find that its simple as long as you follow the correct algorithm. If you don't figure out the solution, you become frustrated, exhaust your efforts, and give up. We can look at our need to live more sustainably as a puzzle, and one that we've got plenty of answers and algorithms to solve, perhaps even more than a Rubik's cube. By following criteria that conserves resources, exploits natural capital, promotes the growth of local economies and agriculture, while implementing practical solutions to conserve species habitat, the puzzle will eventually be solved.

Unlike a Rubik's cube, there isn't one person that can solve the puzzle at a time, sustainable community design takes a great deal of effort stemming from the actions and voices of many individuals. 

Employing your rights in democratic society is a great privilege, one nobody should take lightly. You can create opportunities to be an active participant in your community and local government, and to combine your efforts with your fellow community members and city councilmen and women. While political discussion can seem sticky (like a Rubik's cube that you can't solve) you must remember that it is a critical piece in the puzzle that will help us master sustainability. Direction in the political arena arises from the peoples' need, and a healthy, habitable environment is something that every person most certainly cannot live without.  

When we begin to push for new urbanist guidelines to shape how our municipalities function and evolve, we will be ensuring a greater future for our children, and for ourselves, and even for our pocket books. 

Changing the Paradigm

We're victims of several decades of irresponsible sprawl patterned development, meaning that we've pushed the boundaries of our cities and towns as far back as possible, guzzling up land without a second though. Placing structures, roads, and the general infrastructure needed to create new settlements without a comprehensive strategy that greatly considers ecological factors has proven to be problematic.

Of course, when it comes to creating a new building, ecological factors are evaluated prior to construction. For instance soil stability, fault lines, wind patterns, noise pollution, amongst many other factors are investigated. But, what about the regional impact of repeated, isolated evaluations?

City planners and civil engineers don't forfeit a vision of what they want the future to look like, their practices consider many potential implications of their development choices and aim to fulfill people's needs to both live and thrive. However, critical loss of functional ecosystem services due to these impacts of urban development can neglect to consider the regional environmental impact. A pattern that is routinely placed over areas, despite its relationship and impact on a broader provincial area, will lead to increased car traffic on arterial roads, greater pollution, increased health problems (exacerbated by car dependency and pollution), and more money coming from the tax payer's pocket, due to the cost of wide expansion. In tandem with land use and other implications of suburban sprawl, the over arching threat of human induced climate change needs to be considered when proposing new developments.

Suburbia may seem like a dream, but when you factor in its alluvial impact on the nearby region it, its cost can be deadly.  Due to a lack of consideration regarding wildlife habitat, species migration, and deforestation, amongst other things, negative ripples in the environment are nothing to take lightly.
Equal consideration needs to be given to both ecological characteristics of an area, as well as the amenities and infrastructure that humans are dependent one.





We need to "degreenify" the environmental movement, we need to make it normal and second nature in how our society functions. 













In an effort to repair some of the detriments of suburban sprawl, the greatest thing that needs to be constructed differently is transportation accessibility. The current layout of these common neighborhoods developments depend solely on cars for access and mobility. Generally there is a city bus system located near the neighborhood's boundary and freeway access, although it can alleviate congestion by decreasing the number of cars on the road, it doesn't do much by means of altering the development pattern. The implementation of light rail transit or a subway system that connect a satellite community to a more dense metropolitan center will reduce traffic, mitigate air pollution, and create greater commuter efficiency. These areas that connect suburban areas to transit will also help create miniature nodes of commercial activity, which will enhance the local economy by creating greater economic development and job opportunities in the area.

While the pattern of suburban growth doesn't fully encompass sustainability, new community guidelines and standards can help people embrace greener criteria for their homes and communities. Creating strict, and well known guidelines around community development in an environmentally friendly way will impact people to see that it isn't impossible to think and act with the Earth in mind.

While ecological sensibility in design of new structures and development plans may seem extravagant, useless, and a waste of time and energy, the longterm cost effectiveness, greater resiliency to environmental turbulence, and benefits to human will likely change peoples' minds. Adherence to Green Community standards will likely play a large role in our ability to adapt to climate change and reduce our impact on future generations.

Our Society Needs Doctors and Environmentalists

I transferred to the University of Utah to study exercise science, or therapeutic recreation. I've always led an active lifestyle, and have been fascinated by the human body. I hoped to become a specialist that could help inform people of ways to incorporate activity and the outdoors into their lives for greater health and happiness. The summer prior to my first semester at the University, I interned at a physical therapist's office in Park City. I enjoyed helping the patients, and geeking out when the PT's explained the science, or anatomy of what they were working with people on. It was an environment that was clean, new, and fostered an amazing view of Park City's Olympic Park.

I had first attended Utah State University to delve into an environmental science degree but became depressed after my first environmental science class. To understand the trickle down of human behavior in ecosystems worldwide, and to grapple with the scale to which these things occur was overwhelming to me. I decided that it would be best for me, and my happiness to delve into a field of human health as opposed to one that focused so much on environmental degradation.

During my internship I was excited to imagine myself in this kind of a work environment in the future; one that helped people heal, gain strength, and restore their bodies health. Yet, somewhere in my mind I couldn't shake this feeling of disconnect between human health and ecosystem health. People cannot thrive without a healthy planet.

This dichotomy of my two interests and passions have led me to the field of Urban Ecology. I wasn't satisfied focusing on just environmental science exercise or science because they are both areas I care deeply about. Urban Ecology focuses on improving people's ways of life through urban design, active transportation, and myriad of other details in the fabric of a city or community that can serve both the environment, but the people in the community as well.

Although I still feel overwhelmed by the scale of issues regarding sustainability in today's modern world,  I feel empowered by the idea that there are so many solutions to the problems we are facing today. When we combine our understanding of what aspects of our modern lives negatively impact human health there will be nothing to hold us back from working towards mechanisms of sustainable interest. When health care professionals and environmentalists collaborate, I am confident that our attitudes towards land conservation, water conservancy, automobile dependency, pollution mitigaiton, and our current pattern of suburban sprawl, will be seen in a new light. Perhaps these topics won't be as controversial as they have been, perhaps they will become a means of common ground for people.

After all, at the end of the day all we have is our health, each other, and the planet that sustains our lives.

Rather than grappling with the massive scale of environmental degradation that takes place each day, lets focus on the fact that future generations are worth fighting for, and that we've truly got power in our hands.