James Howard Kunstler

Urbanist, Long Emergency writer http://www.kunstler.com/

finally using blog http://jameshowardkunstler.typepad.com/clusterfuck_nation/

books - City In Mind ISBN:0743227239, Home From Nowhere ISBN:0684837374, Geography Of Nowhere ISBN:0671888250, etc.

in City In Mind he declares Boston Ma to be possibly the most promising American city for the 21st century, but he doesn't provide much useful direction for copying its lessons:

• he gives lots of credit to MichaelDukakis for updating the Mass Transit system, particularly to serve the outer areas (which seems like it would encourage Commute-ing from the 'burbs?)
• he gives credit to the booming economy and Defense Spending, noting how much the local economy crashed harder than the rest of the country
• but concludes that somehow it re-spread the idea of making a city livable

Writes about NYC in Home From Nowhere

• Born/raised in NYC, except for a couple years in Long Island
• left for college and never returned (to live)
• Though I have lived in a classic Main Street town nearly two decades now, I am always impressed at how much better Manhattan actually functions as a pedestrian village. (Urban Village)

lives in upstate NY - Saratoga Ny - writes online newsletter about it

supports the New Urbanism movement

believes the whole Edge City/SUV/Monoculture is dependent on Cheap Oil

believes: see Long Emergency

• we've passed the point of Peak Oil production
• there's a shortage of Natural Gas coming
• Alternative Energy are not going to happen soon enough to help

believes that people who don't do anything to change our Cheap Oil dependence shouldn't pretend to be horrified at War On Iraq