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The world is still buzzing about the election of Barack Obama to the nation's highest office, and for good reason: the President-Elect is already making green waves. With his focus on alternative energy and the green economy, it's shaping up to be a pretty exciting time for the growing world of green, and there's one thing that has piqued our interest, in particular: his promise to create an Office of Urban Policy.
The proposed office, according to Transportation for America's David Goldberg, "is conceived as something of a supercabinet position that potentially could coordinate policy among the Department of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, environment, public health and other arenas." Essentially, it has the potential to make our cities more sustainable places to live, work, and play.
How are they going to do this? Only time will tell for sure, but, for now, you can engage in the democratic process and help give the new office some ideas, via a new site fittingly called Obama Urban Policy. Conceived by the same folks who brought us Walk Score, the mapping site that helps promote walkable communities, it's a public forum that encourages users to submit, comment, and vote on ideas for creating more sustainable urban places and cities.
How does this work? It's really quite simple.
Click on over, and start by taking a gander at what's there already. Currently, ideas like "Invest in a world-class rail network," "Change zoning laws to promote walkable development," and "End subsidies for car-dependent development" are atop the list. See something you like? Vote for it! See something that inspires you to comment? Sound off! Discover that your idea for creating greener cities hasn't made the list yet? Submit it yourself! This is democracy in action, people.
The site is hopeful that they'll generate enough buzz to attract the attention of the incoming administration, who can take the online forum's ideas and put them to work—ain't democracy grand? Click on over to Obama Urban Policy and make your voice heard (via Worldchanging).
Read more about sustainable cities and urban policy
How to Go Green: Public Transportation
Calculate Your Neighborhood's Walk Score
The World's Greenest Cities of the Future
How Green is Your City?
Focus Earth: The 25 Most Sustainable Cities
TreeHugger Forums: Can Sustainable Cities Save the Planet?
New York City: Sustainable City?
