Getting started

Thanks for visiting my blog.  I am going to endeavor to make this an interesting source of information, ideas and images that I gather during my Eisenhower Fellowship to Australia and Taiwan.   

If you know me, you know that I have long been passionate about transportation and politics.  Planes, trains, automobiles, ships, bikes or two feet, if it’s a means to get around I am intrigued by how it works and how it can work better.  Better can mean safer, more convenient, more energy efficient or even more beautiful.  In Philadelphia we’ve been working hard at all four of these areas.  

In the last few years, I have had an increasing interest in trash, from rubbish to recycling to organics. The question of turning trash to treasure, or at least a resource has had me thinking.

    

So, why travel to Australia and Taiwan? In the U.S. we look almost entirely to Europe for our ideas about transportation, waste management and energy efficiency.  The quality and quantity of research you can do at your desk about the state of policy, planning, and practice in Europe is remarkable.  So I thought I’d turn west for some ideas.  Australia is home to four of the most livable cities in the world (or at least that’s what the Economist says).    Taiwan has some surprising similarities with Philadelphia. Taipei, where I will spend much of time, was founded in the 18th Century, in the 19th Century was an important port city and has a street grid complemented by alleys. Sound familiar? Both Australia and Taiwan are pushing the boundaries of waste recovery.

During the next month, I’ll sit down with elected officials, planners, civic leaders, transportation executives and waste experts in three of the world’s top 10 livable cities.  I’ll have time with a similar set of folks in Taiwan, where I’ll consider how a different cultural context responds to challenges similar to what we grapple with in Philly. I’ll tour everything from a material recovery facility in suburban Sydney (a fancy name for where your trash and recycling goes after it’s been collected) to a bicycle factory in Taiwan.

I hope you’ll check back often or sign-up for an automatic feed.