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GBlist: GBLIST: GREEN SHOPPING CENTERS



LISA:  The City of Davis, CA had a General Plan in the 70's and 80's
that limited the size of shopping centers.  The intent was to make the
grocery stores & others services within easy walking or biking distance
in this "City of Bikes."  It seemed to work very well until the City
Council changed, the city faced major budget short-falls, neighboring
cities put in super shopping malls, and the only major source of revenue
for Davis was new develoment and new shopping centers.

Davis has a web site at:  http://www.city.davis.ca.us/  It includes the
new draft General Plan, which has had a lot of citizen input over the
last few years but now appears to be ignored by the City Council.

Also, the California Air Resources Board has funded research on
transportation issues around shopping centers:  http://www.arb.ca.gov
(contact Research Division, Economics section).  And the Institute of
Transportation Studies, both at UC Davis and UC Berkeley, have probably
looked at this issue...Hal Levin has worked on green bldg. design for
Walmart, I believe (hleven@cruzio.com)...we get a lot of complaints
about nail salons polluting their neighbors in strip malls, but I don't
know of similar problems in the big malls.

BTW, a green shopping center seems to be somewhat of an oxymoron, given
the huge amount of auto & truck traffic that they generate.  I think
some locales are now requiring better bus/transit access; light-rail
systems such as Portland's actually create a corridor of high-density
development with easier access to shopping services.

Good luck on your project, Tom
-- 
Thomas J. Phillips                             AIR     {)    FOOD
Air Pollution Research Specialist                      /|\	
CARB/RD, Box 2815, Sacramento, CA 95812        WATER    |    SKIN
916.322.7145/4357 FAX                                 _/ \_
http://www.arb.ca.gov/indoor/indoor.htm
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