Author name: Zach

is the director of CleanTechnica, the most popular cleantech-focused website in the world, and Planetsave, a world-leading green and science news site. He has been covering green news of various sorts since 2008, and he has been especially focused on solar energy, electric vehicles, and wind energy since 2009. Aside from his work on CleanTechnica and Planetsave, he's the founder and director of Solar Love, EV Obsession, and Bikocity. To connect with Zach on some of your favorite social networks, go to ZacharyShahan.com and click on the relevant buttons.

10 Most Climate-Ready Cities in the U.S.?

1 Comment / City Planning / By

Boyd Cohen, Ph.D. recently came up with a methodology to rank large cities in the U.S. based on how much they are preparing for or trying to counter climate change. He then went on to create and publish a top 10 list of the most “climate-ready” cities. While I think the term “climate-ready” is sort of a mistake, since he focuses more on efforts to stop climate change not adapt to it (which is what I would assume “climate-readiness” would be about), I think the overall idea and methodology looks great.

New Bike-Sharing Program in Wrocław, Poland! {Videos & Pictures}

22 Comments / City Planning / By

I’m a bicycle lover. In particular, I’m a huge proponent of bicycling for transportation purposes. Bicycles are super efficient (perhaps the most efficient transportation option out there), meaning they are very environmentally friendly and also save you and the city a ton of money. They are also a ton of fun to ride, good for your health, good for your mind, and highly accessible. But, in some cases, using your own bike for transportation purposes is impractical. For, this reason, from the first time I heard about bicycle sharing programs (like the huge one in Paris, Velib), I fell in love with them.

15 Things I Loved about Living & Bicycling in Groningen (the Netherlands) +25 Pictures

21 Comments / City Planning / By

I meant to complete this “things I loved about living & bicycling in ________” series before National Bike Month ended, but it didn’t happen and, anyway, bike month should be every month! Here’s the second-to-last post of the series….

I lived in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands for 5 months in 2007. With a bike commute rate of about 50-60% and about 2/3 of inhabitants, in total, using the bike from time to time, Groningen is a top-notch bicycle city. It has been named Bicycle City of the World on more than one occasion and the following are probably the main reasons why.

7 Things I Loved about Living & Bicycling in Sunnyvale, Palo Alto, & Redwood City, CA

2 Comments / City Planning / By

Following up on my posts about what I loved about living and bicycling in Sarasota, FL and Chapel Hill-Carrboro, NC, here are 7 things I loved about living and bicycling in Northern California. In the middle of graduate school, I lived in Sunnyvale for a summer, worked in Redwood City, and did most of my grocery shopping in Palo Alto. So, despite being 3 different places, they were sort of one place to me and I’m combining them all for this.

10 Things I Loved about Living & Bicycling in Sarasota, Florida

3 Comments / City Planning / By

To wrap up National Bike Month, I’m doing a little series on what I loved about living and bicycling in the various places I’ve lived and bicycled. (But don’t worry, even after this month, I’ll do plenty more writing about bicycling as well.)

To start with, I’ll start with the first city I lived in, the city where I started bicycling as a main mode of transport and gave up my car. Living in Sarasota, Florida from birth until the age of 22 or so, I know that city better than any other.

Berlin — Bike Paradise

5 Comments / City Planning / By

I recently took a short little vacation to Berlin (just about 5-7 hours away by train from where I live). While I had noticed when I visited the first time (2 years ago) that it was a tremendous bike city and put it at #7 in my bike city photo tours series, I didn’t bike around the city on that visit. Additionally, it was rather cold and rainy, so biking wasn’t in full bloom there.

This time around, we (my partner Marika and friend Salah) were set on biking, a bit at least. The weather was nice and our friend got us some bikes. We ended up going on a bike ride that lasted 5 hours or so on our first full day there.

How Does Your City Compare to Others in Bicycling, Walking and Transit?

1 Comment / Uncategorized / By

An EcoLocalizer reader recently shared a great site of his, Modes of Transportation, that helps you find and compare the percentages of people that use varying modes of transportation to get to work in U.S. cities. That is, you can compare: who walks to work more, residents of New York or San Francisco; who bikes more, …

How Does Your City Compare to Others in Bicycling, Walking and Transit? Read More »

Hundreds of Mystery Stop Signs in Cranston (RI) to Become Legal

Leave a Comment / Uncategorized / By

The city of Cranston in Rhode Island (near Providence) had a strange problem on its hands recently. Over 600 stop signs mysteriously appeared around the city. This was discovered after municipal court judges had to dismiss a number of tickets because they couldn’t find the stop signs on the books. Cranston city officials had to …

Hundreds of Mystery Stop Signs in Cranston (RI) to Become Legal Read More »

Southern California Investing in Bike Paths!

3 Comments / City Planning / By

Southern California is known for its beautiful weather and, ironically, for its auto-centric development patterns. Why not take advantage of that beautiful weather more, some have argued. And they are actually being listened to, finally,.. in Long Beach at least. Long Beach is now constructing a network of separate bike paths. The city currently doesn’t …

Southern California Investing in Bike Paths! Read More »

Peak Oil & Sustainable Development Expert Talks about the Situation Today In-Depth [VIDEOS]

4 Comments / City Planning / By

James Kunstler, a renowned writer and a long-time expert on city planning, suburbia, sustainable development (in particular, New Urbanism), and peak oil, goes into depth on the worldwide peak oil crisis we are starting to face. His most well-known books are “The Geography of Nowhere (1994), a history of American suburbia and urban development, and the …

Peak Oil & Sustainable Development Expert Talks about the Situation Today In-Depth [VIDEOS] Read More »

How Perugia, Italy Said Goodbye to Traffic, Hello to Improved Quality of Life

Leave a Comment / City Planning / By

If you want to see an idyllic, small Italian city, Perugia may be the place for you. It fits all the characteristics of those beautiful Italian towns from the movies. However, it hasn’t forever. It took visionaries with a green spirit to turn the city around. National Geographic recently covered the transformation of this town …

How Perugia, Italy Said Goodbye to Traffic, Hello to Improved Quality of Life Read More »

World-Leading Sustainable Community in Germany: Vauban District

4 Comments / City Planning / By

The Vauban district is a green, planned community in the city of Freiburg in southern Germany. Construction of this community began in the mid-1990s and opened in 2000. By 2001, it had 2,000 inhabitants living in a greener, more sustainable way. Now, the Vauban district is said to have 5,000 inhabitants and 600 jobs. A …

World-Leading Sustainable Community in Germany: Vauban District Read More »

Searching for Parking: Enormous Waste of Time & Money (Note: Cars Don’t Fit in the City)

1 Comment / City Planning / By

Parking, if only there were more of it your life would be easier, right? Not really. Look at the parking lot of a Wal-Mart Supercenter. It spreads everything out so much you “have to” drive from one side of the Wal-Mart to the store on the other side of the shopping center to avoid walking …

Searching for Parking: Enormous Waste of Time & Money (Note: Cars Don’t Fit in the City) Read More »

CicLAvia 2011 Will Be in April, July, AND October

1 Comment / Uncategorized / By

CicLAvia 2011 (that would be Ciclovia in Los Angeles) will be held three times this year, according to… CicLAvia. “The route will be more-or-less the same as 10-10-10, with expansion to South L.A., Boyle Heights, and/or Chinatown as CicLAvia works with these communities and gets the new extensions ready and permitted – most likely in October,” …

CicLAvia 2011 Will Be in April, July, AND October Read More »

Happiest City in U.S.? (No Cars on Main Street, No Fast Food, No Smoking, Bike Valet)

1 Comment / City Planning / By

Oprah recently featured San Luis Obispo, “America’s Happiest Town” (if the video above doesn’t work for you, that’s the link to it). Jenny McCarthy actually does the leg work for this video story. Highlighted features of the city are that it shut down its main street 40 years ago — “experts say if your town …

Happiest City in U.S.? (No Cars on Main Street, No Fast Food, No Smoking, Bike Valet) Read More »

Obama Administration Proposes $53 Billion More for High-Speed Rail [VIDEO]

Leave a Comment / Uncategorized / By

The Obama administration announced a proposal to dedicate $53 billion more towards high-speed rail in the next 6 years this week. That would significantly increase federal funding on high-speed rail. The administration awarded $8 billion to a national high-speed rail network early last year and another $2.5 billion later in the year, but a lot …

Obama Administration Proposes $53 Billion More for High-Speed Rail [VIDEO] Read More »