Monday 21 November 2011

Transfer of Development Credits

Transfer of Development Credit (TDC) programs are similar to Transfer of Development Rights  (TDR) programs widely used throughout the United States. TDCs allow municipalities to direct development away from areas which are threatened by development, and toward more suitable areas, using a municipal planning framework that allows development potential to be bought and sold on the open market, and perpetually extinguished on the valued landscapes. Landowners in designated 'sending areas' are able to sever and sell their development potential to landowner/developers in a designated 'receiving area', who in turn are able to increase development density beyond the base amount allowed by zoning. Sending area parcels receive long-term protection through a deed-restricting mechanism which limits certain activities.
There are several municipalities in Alberta exploring this opportunity, including Red Deer County and the MD of Bighorn.  Thanks to the Miistakis Institute for the Rockies for the supporting background information and documentation

Wednesday 16 November 2011

Ellen Dunham-Jones: Retrofitting suburbia

I have one question: Is this the greatest idea we've seen of late. . . or is she already too late?  What do you think?

Sunday 13 November 2011

HARVEST TIME IN RED DEER - OCT 2011

Perhaps, it's the fact that I grew up on a farm; for whatever reason, harvest still excites me.  There is nothing I love more than the smell of grain dust in the air; clouds of it billowing out from under combines in every direction; a big orange moon casting a glow over the earth; the taste of a homecooked meal delivered to the field.  It's a lot of hard work but it's the kind of work that soothes the soul.  How fortunate we are that a couple of very talented people decided to share their world and how especially fortunate for me that the director is part of a family  that has always been a part of the fabric that makes up my world.  Well done, my friends. . . well done!