Location

Gentrification... Gentrification is when a place, a neighborhood for example, has a class change. The gentry, or the wealthy, come into an area and begin to raise prices through capital investment. The residents who live in the area are usually displaced because they cannot afford the new standard of living and higher rents that accompany the investments. The term is often used positively by people who support economic development. Contrarily, it is also used negatively by people who are concerned for the displaced residents.

Insight... Insight is an inside look at something and can lead to newfound knowledge about that which one sees.

Dilapidated... This means run-down.

Row House... According to the Greenwich Village Society for Historical Preservation, "The row house form was ideally suited to meet the needs of a quickly growing population, the plotting of land and the method of speculative development so common in Manhattan. A simple form, it allowed efficient use of the standardized lot while still permitting individual ownership...In elevation and plan, Federal Period row houses were quite modest. Characterized by classic proportions and almost planar smoothness, they were ornamented with simple detailing of lintels, dormers, and doorways. Usually two to three stories high, three bays wide, with steeply pitched roofs, houses were of load bearing masonry construction. The brick facades were laid in a Flemish bond which alternated a stretcher and a header in every row. On early examples of the style, the brick was sometimes painted, often in red or gray. The basic form was frequently modified to provide commercial use on the ground floor and residential above."

Healthscape... The term healthscape is used to describe the "geography of epidemiology", including high quality food, water, and sleep. This could include the delivery and distribution of food or of something such as sanitation, health clinics, etc. (This information was taken from my notes in GUS 150, Urban Environment on January 17, 2006).

Ethical Argument

Ethical dilemma... This is the challenge of deciding between two goods. Everyone has different sets of values, and an ethical dilemma brings these value systems to the forefront of debate. I think the first time an environmental ethical dilemma was framed for me was when I was in 5th grade. A teacher asked us what we thought about the oil refinery in our town. Pollution was evident, but many of my friends' parents worked at the refinery. If we closed the refinery, then those people would lose their jobs, and a major economic force in our town would be lost. That is some heavy stuff for a 5th grader to consider, and now that I'm older I realize that it is a slippery slope even for adults to have to deal with these kinds of situations, maybe even more so because the responsibility is in our hands. In addition, the older people get, sometimes the more they become "set in their ways" or really, set in their values. After we form our values, it can be a tough and jaded road to a middle ground, or difficult to see from another's perspective.

Self-Reliance... What I mean by self-reliance is not even close to what Ralph Waldo Emerson meant in his essay, titled synonymously. I mean simply, being able to rely on oneself to attain the things one needs to survive. My papa is 92. He just had his license revoked. It was probably the hardest thing on him, because living in a rural area, driving was his key to not only freedom, but to self-reliance. Now he needs someone to come and pick him up to do everything... go to the grocery store, to church, to the post office. He cannot rely on himself to get something to eat, to pay his bills, or to go to the hospital if he is sick. His family needs to take care of his day-to-day activities for him.

Hierarchy... A pyramidal depiction of hierarchy is an accurate portrayal in this case, defined as, "a graded, or ranked series" (Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary). The Green Transportation Hierarchy is ranking transportation modes from the most environmental to the least environmental. Hierarchy is often used to describe the steps on a power ladder or to define classes or castes. I suppose that in many ways, the Green Transportation Hierarchy and the hierarchy of class are corollary. Often, those who have the most money are the ones who can afford to pay for vehicle insurance, gas and upkeep. Those who don't have as much money rely on public transport or walking. And as always, there are exceptions to the rule, those choosing to follow a different path from the mainstream and ride transit or bikes even though they have the money to maintain a car.

Challenges... I consider a challenge to be a positive force. My perspective on a "challenge" is much more optimistic than if I were to use the word "problem." I think that challenges are obstacles that can be overcome, and often the end result is growth of some kind. With bicycles and walking challenges for me include: inclement weather, distance restrictions, steep hills, not being able to cart around heavy or multiple objects, safety, dress codes for work with no place to change, no place to lock up, etc. For others, physical or health challenges may prevent them from being able to walk or ride at all.

Biodiesel... Rudolph Diesel originally invented the diesel engine to be run on peanut oil in 1895! This man had enough forethought to understand that vegetable oil could be the fuel of the future. Most people do not know the diesel engine can run on vegetable oil. It is often thought of as a dirty engine because after Diesel died in 1913, "the petroleum industry capitalized on the Diesel engine by labeling one of the byproducts of gasoline distillation 'diesel fuel' (Joshua Tickell, p. 23)."

Today, in the U. S. most of the commercial fleet of tanker trucks runs on diesel fuel. In addition, Volkswagen and Mercedes make hatchbacks and sedans with diesel engines, and some trucks like the Ford F150 can be purchased with diesel engines. Simply, biodiesel is just vegetable oil in which the glycerin has been removed to reduce the oil's viscosity (Tickell, p. 59). Currently, many restaurants throw away their "waste" fryer oil. The oil that is dumped into landfills could potentially be used to fill up our cars. Biodiesel can be used directly in diesel engines with no modifications, and straight vegetable oil could be used in the engines with slight modifications.

Think of the possibilities to reduce polluting emissions, dependence on foreign oil, and getting better mileage on a tank of what is essentially vegetable oil. We have had this technology since the early 1900s. There was a revival of biodiesel use in the 1960s and 1970s in VW Beetles, but the interest has dropped off. Not enough biodiesel fueling stations are out there to meet my needs (the closest public biodiesel pump to the city of Philadelphia is more than a half hour away in Eddystone, PA according to the Biodiesel Board, much less the needs of an entire commercial fleet of vehicles.

As long as the federal government continues to subsidize petroleum, or as long as the public remains ignorant of alternative fuel sources, biodiesel will remain relegated to the shadows and neglected as one environmental solution to our current conundrum. I obtained much of this information from Joshua Tickell's book, From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank, however, much of the same info can be found on the internet at. Other information on alternative fuels in Philly can be found at Philly Clean Cities.

Sources:
Tickell, Joshua, From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank: The Complete Guide to Using Vegetable Oil as an Alternative Fuel. 2003. Bookmasters, Ashland, Ohio.

Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary 10th Edition. 1996 Springfield, MA.

Juxtaposition

Impervious... This means that it cannot be penetrated or broken. So when this term is used in regard to impervious surfaces, such as pavement, I mean that rain or other precipitation cannot get through the sidewalk to the ground underneath, and just runs off into gutters or streams. This term is often used with not only pavement, but also with structures like buildings or anything that gets in the way of water going from the atmosphere directly into the ground where it falls.

Cultural Conditions... Cultural conditions for plants are their general surroundings and include light, temperature, moisture and soil type. Most plants like moist, fertile, well drained soil, which has a neutral to slightly acidic pH, and usually want to be planted in full sun, meaning that they receive at least 6 hours of direct sunlight. There are plants that are exceptions to the rule. Some plants can tolerate a wide range of cultural conditions and thrive in various locations.

Climax Forests... Forests are successional, meaning they take time to grow into a mature system through a series of steps. If you cut down a forest, a new one won't pop up in a couple of years. In primary succession, grasses and other forbs will move into an area first, then pioneering shrubs and trees will grow up and, and eventually a mature forest with dominant species of trees will take over. This can take several hundreds of years. A climax forest is when you have dominant trees reproducing, reaching the end of their lifespan, and dying to make room for more plants in the forest.

Monoculture... A monoculture is when a single species is planted or grown. An example would be on North Broad Street near Cheltenham where rows of London Plane trees line the streets. These are the tall trees that look like American Sycamores (they have trunks that are splotched with white, bone, and grey-green). Monocultures can be detrimental because if they are susceptible to a disease or pest, then they can all be knocked out if that pest comes along. The antithesis of monoculture is biodiversity, and should be a goal of planting. Biodiversity helps establish healthy, resistant species and reduces the risk of pests and diseases.

Invasive Species... Invasive species are species that are not only non-native (see the term native below), but are weedy. They take over, or invade spaces just like people invade others' territory. Invasive plant species usually have one or more of the following charateristics. 1. They are generalists, which means they can thrive in many different cultural conditions, for example, sunny and shady locations. 2. They reproduce generously and/or rapidly. This could mean they have many seeds, or that they reproduce asexually by colonization (essentially cloning themselves). 3. They have a large seed bank, meaning the seeds that they produce can survive for long periods of time in the soil before germinating and developing. 4. They have no natural controls. Meaning that the pests or diseases or cultural conditions that normally keep them in check in their native lands are absent.

Urban Forest... According to the Mosman Council, an urban forest is "the totality of trees and shrubs on all public and private land in and around urban areas (including bushland, parkland, gardens, and street trees) and is measured as a canopy cover percentage of the total area, and is recognised as a primary component of the urban ecosystem." This is an Australian site, and is the most comprehensive definition I could find that matched my beliefs. Obviously, we don't have bushland per say.

Native... When talking about plants that are native to North America, that usually means those plants that were established here before the arrival of the colonists. It could also refer to plants that have evolved over a long period of time in a certain area (we are talking a long geological time, not a long time such as 200 - 300 years). Although native American tribes moved to the continent and altered the environment (through burning, cultivation, and spreading of plants) their hand was significantly lighter on the environment than the heavy and rapid change that the Europeans brought about. More information about native plants, especially to the Pennsylvania Piedmont region can be found at Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve.

Stewardship... I don't always like the term stewardship when in reference to nature. It means to care for or to manage. Stewardship has been alluded to as dominion or power-over. When used as a duty to care for natural systems, the term is okay by me. However when it refers to management or dominion, I'm not really a fan.

Community

Ecological Plant Community... According to Kricher and Morrison, in A Field Guide to Eastern Forests North America, "A forest [community] is an assemblage of plants and animals coexisting and interacting." Community makeup is decided by factors including climate, geology, soil, fire, biotic interactions, and human influence (Kricher and Morrison). Examples of plant communities are savannahs, beech-maple forests, mixed Appalachian forests, heath balds, etc. I think of a plant community as a community that is defined by the plants that make up that community. Certain plants, microorganisms, and animals are not able to survive unless they are co-existing.

Global Community... Often, people think of a global community as the worldwide community of humans, of all ethnicities and nationalities. I think of a global community in an even broader, ecological sense, including people, as well as all biotic and abiotic beings and processes. The global community to me is dynamic, interconnected and circular.

Herbaceous... According to Allan Armitage, Horticulture professor at the University of Georgia, an herbaceous plant is one "having no persistent, woody tissue above the ground." Usually we think of herbaceous plants as those that die back to the ground in the winter in northern climates. Examples of herbaceous plants are vegetables, lilies, petunias, hollyhocks, etc. The other major category of plant type would be woody plants. These are trees, shrubs or vines that do have woody persistent growth above ground through the year.

Intentional Community... Intentional communities can be conceived as "hippyish" or "cultish" or "commune-like." I'm sure this is true for some intentional communities, but these qualifiers can be stereotypical and myth-laden. I would define my intentional community as one where we were trying to live purposefully as a community. We tried to make decisions based on the greater good of the commons. We shared chores, funds for food, and our lives. It wasn't like we were 5 people sharing space in a house and pitching in for rent.

Consensus... The method we used to make decisions was this: If we had an issue with anything (house affairs, finances, conflicts, chores, etc.) we would write it down on a piece of paper and put it in a jar. Then we would have meetings (which started out weekly, moved to every other week, and then monthly later on) where we would discuss the things in the jar. Our meetings were timed for an hour apiece. So we would prioritize the issues as a group and then attempt to come up with a solution. To do this, suggestions were made as to how we could handle the issue. Then, we would "vote" on the suggestions. Each person would give their own rating from 1 - 5, 1 meaning they strongly disagreed with the proposal, 5 being they completely agreed, and so on. If one person threw out a 1 and four people threw out 5s, we would continue to try to come up with an amenable solution. So, we could only move on if everyone threw out at least a 3 or a 4. I cannot even begin to explain how utterly frustrating this process was.

My housemates and I did not know each other before we moved in, and we did not choose the people that we wanted in our intentional community. We were of different social, religious, gender and age bents. What was crucial to one was not even on the radar of another. Some members would kick their heels into the mud and not budge on an issue. I am a peacemaker, an in-betweener, a pleaser. So when it comes to things like dishes, I can do them if you want them done, but I also don't care if they sit there for a while. I have my opinions, but I also respect the opinions of others and am willing to compromise.

Compromise, however, is not consensus. Compromise means that you have to be willing to sacrifice in order to receive, a kind of swap. Consensus means that everyone has to be willing to come to mutual agreement.

I am a laid back person, and would go so far as saying that I am even patient. But I loathed those meetings. Unfortunately, I was turned off by consensus decison-making in my community because I was invested in it, hopeful that it would work smoothly, willing to make changes in myself, and respectful of others, but not everyone else felt the same way.

Although community living was challenging when we had to make consensus decisions, I think it was ultimately satisfying and worthwhile because the world isn’t made up of people who are all thinking along the same lines. In order for there to be equity and consensus among people, hard work is involved.

Sources:
Armitage, Allan M. Herbaceous Perennial Plants 2nd edition, p.1099. 1989, Stipes publishing, Champaign, Illinois.

Kricher, John and Morrison, Gordon. A Field Guide to Eastern Forests, North America: A Field Guide to Birds, Mammals, Trees, Flowers, and More. 1998, Houghton Mifflin, New York, New York.

Horse and Carriage

Spectrum... A spectrum is a continuum. Different points along the specturm correllate to different ideas along the spectrum. These ideas are often related to or formed from other ideas along the spectrum.

Rickshaw... Rickshaws are small carts pulled by people on foot or by bicycle. Their purpose is to carry goods or people. They are often used as taxis, especially in "developing" countries. A popular place for rickshaws around this region is at the Jersey Shore.

Middle Ground... This is the thinking that there is a meeting point in between two extremes. Middle ground usually encourages people to see things from another perspective, or to come to a more creative or mutual solution.

Perspective... Our perspective is the way we see or experience the world around us.

Displace... This can mean that people or things are moved from where they originally were. It can involve the use of force to kick-out, relocate, exclude, etc.

Greenspace... These are areas of "green" or natural areas. Examples can be parks, woodlots, or gardens. Just because an area is green, or has plants does not necessarily mean that it is a healthy area. Often urban greenspace is just turfgrass, or overcrowded with exotic invasives.