finding a walkable neighborhood

its starting to get really hot here, rising mercury doesn't sit well with my already weak resolve for going out for a run around the neighborhood, the gym still seems like a much nicer place to sweat out, fuel at more them $4 a gallon is still not prohibitive for the trip to the gym, at least for those of us who have been crying wolf for sometime and have prepared for this carnage by sticking with fuel efficient vehicle like toyota prius.

Though its uncomfortably hot for a walk out in the sun, one can still enjoy a late evening stroll, but then even that might pose a few problems for those who live in the suburbs.

With memories of San Francisco still fresh in my mind, wouldn't it be great to have more safe and affordable walkable neighborhoods here in northern Virginia, the ones I know off (old Town Alexandria, Reston Town center) are still too expensive for anything even half decent, but then thats just me, there may be many hidden gems scattered around this area which are just that, but since they are more designed to be walkable (one of the things that make a neighborhood more walkable is less traffic) so I might have not come across them during my regular commute (which is often in a vehicle).

Now to address this issue of finding walkable neighborhoods somebody came up with a nice idea for a website (at least the idea is quite appealing), what it does is it gives every neighborhood a score on a scale of 1 to 100, if the area you punch in has a score less then 25 then its not a walkable neighborhood, the 'walkability' rises with the score.

you can check it out here.

near zero-energy house in northern virginia

its the worst of times for established home builders and the best of times for new and emerging construction companies.

My rational behind that statement? its the worst of times for established home builders as they sit on huge inventories of houses built the conventional way and the only way for them to move that inventory is to slash their prices (and hence their profits), its the best of time for new builders as they can buy land on the cheap and hop on the green building bandwagon. As long as they can deliver a product that is designed with all or some of the zero-energy mantras, they can fetch a premium for it, in many cases even if the house isn't in a desirable school district.

I have been interested in green building and zero energy houses for sometime now, a while back I came across a near zero energy house that has been built in Purcellville, Virginia. Thought about it again when I started looking for green houses (the zero-energy green) in northern Virginia, I didn't find many, Virginia legislature is in dire need to move swiftly on some green energy incentives for home builders, so that we can come shoulder to shoulder with other states that have advanced much further in that area (case in point California).

The house in Purcellville is still one of the very few well documented near zero energy houses even though it was built in 2001, its interesting because the Department of energy has also done a study on this house, you can access this report here.

The other great aspect about this project is the willingness of the owner, Alden Hathaway to share his own experience about the project which he funded himself (so he is under no obligation to share) you can checkout the Family's perspective (who lives in this house) in this youTube footage.


Department of energy finds it a good model though based on the energy usage recorded at the house, the report suggests the household would have been better off with an 8 KW solar system rather then the 6 KW system that they presently have due to their use of computers and other gadgets.

Alden Hathaway has also written a book titled "Building an Affordable Solar Home" you can download the entire book in pdf format here.

fit Fenty

excerpts:

"The Discipline That D.C. Mayor Brings to Cycling, Running Also Marks Politics, Some Say.

Many know that Fenty (D), a triathlete, likes to start his mornings with an early run three times a week. But what's little known are his twice-weekly midday cycling and swimming sessions, reserved by his staff as two-hour blocks of personal time."

"You've got to squeeze it in. If it's a priority, you'll find the time," Fenty said of his workout after he had completed a 33.8-mile course in about 90 minutes. "To be honest, there are times I wish I could be out there longer."

"At 6 feet and 180 pounds, Fenty appears the picture of fit, but he hasn't always been that way. In 2000 -- the year his twin sons were born, he wrapped up a long campaign for a D.C. Council seat, and he and his wife renovated their kitchen -- Fenty did not run a single time. He also reached about 215 pounds, Shawn said."

read the rest about the mayor here

Dealing With Close-Mindedness

Steve Pavlina is the author of a popular web site and blog dedicated to personal development, you can wiki the author for his bio, here is an interesting post from 2006 about close mindedness:
excerpts:

"How can you intelligently deal with people who are close-minded, totally stubborn in their beliefs and unreceptive to new ideas? Perhaps you feel certain you’re right and they’re wrong, but you can’t seem to convince them to see things your way. And maybe you are in fact right, but that doesn’t prevent the other person from resorting to irrational arguments to keep from agreeing with you. What can you do in such situations?...

...You’ll probably notice that when you get into an argument with a close-minded person, you become more rigid and close-minded yourself, at least temporarily. You might even argue with the other person in your head for days. But the more you develop the ability to compassionately accept people wherever they are, the more open-minded you become. The less you resist, the more you can forgive and accept...

...Being open-minded doesn’t mean being gullible. Being open-minded means that you’re receptive to new ideas and willing to consider other perspectives to see if they hold any value. If they hold no value for you, dump them. If they strike a chord with you, explore them further. The more you can openly consider ideas without resisting the people behind them, the faster you can grow as a human being...."

read the rest here: