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Editor’s note: Cascadia Scorecard 2006 was just released! This year’s focus is on the many connections between community design and health. Go to the press page for a full press kit and regional scorecards, look at new maps (pdf); read about our top solutions for health (pdf), or order or download a copy. And please let us know if you hear or see media coverage about the book (email elisa@sightline.org)....

Individuals and institutions can take simple steps to create compact, complete communities that enable residents to get around without a car and encourage physical activity and connections among neighbors.

Note: This is part of a series. Oddly parallel news articles this week: one from Oregon, where Measure 37 land-use is currently the law; and one from Washington, where Initiative 933 would do even more to reduce community input into land-use decisions. On Maury Island, Washington a group of residents is trying to stop a gravel and sand mine from starting operations, which will include barge traffic near homes. The community...

Just a quick note on a major event underway in Cascadia: This week, Vancouver hosts the United Nations World Urban Forum, a high-profile convergence of global leaders in sustainability. The Tyee is sending daily dispatches from the event . Yesterday saw a face-off between the U.S. Secretary of Housing and the head of Habitat International on affordable living, which is a critical issue in booming cities throughout our region—especially in...

Bummer. Looks like some scientists have found that ordinary bacteria can break down “deca-BDE”—the 10-bromine form of a class of toxic flame retardants known as PBDEs—into substances that are even more toxic. So far, deca-BDE—which is used as a flame retardant in consumer electronics and hard plastics—has escaped the restrictions placed on the penta- and octa-BDE formulations that, until recently, were used widely in furniture foams and industrial fabrics. Certain...

Six kids, to be exact. The Vancouver Courier profiles the Spino family—2 parents and 6 kids who live in a 3-bedroom condo in downtown Vancouver. It’s an interesting read, as well as a good reminder that, for some families, downtown living makes a lot of sense. Says the pater familias: “I don’t see the need for having rooms in houses that you don’t use. I don’t see why you have...

As if the world’s frogs didn’t already have enough problems. Now, rare amphibians in BC are being threatened by a lethal fungus carried by invasive bullfrogs. [A] University of Victoria research paper…finds that the alien American bullfrog—originally brought over in the 1930s for the province’s frog-farming industry—has infected native species such as the rough-skinned newt and the northern leopard frog… Although the fungus-carrying American bullfrogs are not affected themselves, [fungal]...

Signs of a parallel universe. If you live in BC, you already might be familiar with the “100-mile diet” movement launched by Vancouver, BC, journalists James Mackinnon and Alisa Smith. Last year, Mackinnon and Smith wrote an entertaining series of articles in The Tyee about their attempt to live for one year on only food that was produced within 100 miles of their home. The website, which they hope will be...

According to the Vancouver Sun, hybrids are now cheaper than conventional cars. Perhaps surprisingly, this seems like a big deal to me. Even though hybrids are (obviously) more fuel efficient than comparable conventional cars, they’re not necessarily cheaper: the fuel savings may not offset the higher purchase price. But higher gas prices are changing the equation. A year ago, the British Columbia Automobile Association assumed that gas prices would remain...

When I was in fifth grade, I walked a half-mile to school every day. Because I was in my bookworm phase, I managed to perfect the art of walking and reading at the same time, only occasionally tripping over the sidewalk. The Bellingham Heraldreported yesterday that there’s a good chance I wouldn’t be allowed such freedom today: Children who walk or bike to school are an endangered species. Cari McMullin,...