Smart Growth Initiative in the Face of NJ Landscape Change Essay

In 1969, Massachusetts fashioned the law 40B, famously referred to as the “Anti-Snob Zoning Act”, which allows developers to bypass land use restrictions in towns where less than ten percent of the housing meets the state definition of affordable. There are multiple positions and solutions to friction in Massachusetts largely inspired by controversy surrounding the State's affordable housing law, Massachusetts General Laws chapter 40B between housing advocates and open space advocates. This thesis reviews and critiques the current law, and diagnoses various legislative proposals for the progressive feud.

An issue that was present in few specific cities in Maryland have now expanded throughout the entire state. The Chesapeake Bay, a large estuary that has an extremely complex ecosystem that is vital to important habitats and food webs in this area. The Chesapeake bay is arguably one of the most productive environments in the United States. Over the years, this bay has been in a decline of wellness. Pollution, contaminants, and many other factors are destroying the overall well being of these waters, and completely messing up the important ecosystem that has been built there. Although there is an extreme amount of Marylanders fighting for the restoration of the Chesapeake, there are also who are not.

There is much preservation throughout this country. One that is most famous to New Jersey is the Pine Barrens. I don’t believe this bio diverse ecosystem should be developed on. This precious preservation should be saved. In these following paragraphs the author will discuss the animals involved, the plants, major parts, and the dangers facing it today.

In order to understand the goals of the Landfill to Landscape competition, it is necessary to explore how Fresh Kills became known worldwide as the World’s Largest Landfill in the first place. For millennia, Fresh Kills was as salt marsh bordered by the Arthur Kill, the waterway separating Staten Island from New Jersey. Though the

The conquering and development of natural land has in the past, been seen as a mark of human civilization. In the United States, our progress is often measured by growth and development, but should this be re-examined? There are many opinions on the subject of urban sprawl and its effects on wildlife, but one thing is for certain, we are expanding. From 1955 to 2005, urban and suburban areas grew by 300%, however, the population only increased by 75% over the same period (Ewing, Kostyack and Chen). According to NatureServe, a non-profit conservation organization, urban sprawl threatens one of every three endangered species in the United States. NatureServe’s analysis states, “rare and endangered species data shows that three-fifths (60

The Passaic and Hudson rivers are easily the top two environmental problems in New Jersey. Both have shared similar fates, being decimated by the industrial revolution, by factories dumping garbage, medical waste, even war materials during Vietnam. The pharmaceutical industry (huge in NJ). Another issue would be the huge tourist industry surrounding the New Jersey beaches. There is hardly any wildlife left down there because it’s all been urbanized and developed.

I care deeply about the planet Earth, the home humans originate from, so it pains me to watch “modern” society devastate natural life across the board. I feel personally connected to the issue of how we use our land. Having lived in the Lee County area since birth, I have noticed just in our own little part of the world how much “development” can change things. There used to be so much more plant life: trees, grasses, flowers and a myriad of other greenery. What was once considered “empty” lots, by some, have been adapted to suit human desires be it additional roads, restaurants, shopping malls, and a continuing spread of “chain” corporate industries. Beyond human structures, huge amounts of land also are cultivated for industrial farming

The California Gold Rush had a positive impact on California’s environment in many different ways, but along with the positives came the negative impacts. In 1848, people flocked to California in hope to make their gold filled dreams come true and strike it big, but with the more people moving to California, the more the population rose, leaving destructive effects on the state’s environment then and for the years to come. California’s physical environment was shaped not only by the influx of people, but also the manmade structures they added and how they manipulated the state’s land to embrace the large population that wasn’t there before the Gold Rush hit.

First, it felt slightly odd to read about a city other than New York City in a Macaulay Seminar class because most, if not all, readings I have read in such a class discuss a topic in the context of New York City; nevertheless, reading about Chicago, another major American city, and its comparison with St. Louis, were refreshing. Second, this is the first time that I was exposed to the “first nature vs. second nature” concept, which I found insightful and somewhat surprising. I began to ruminate on the aspects of New York City people assume natural that are in fact artificial. Immediately, the salt marshes near the John F. Kennedy airport in Queens came to mind. According to NYC Parks, the marshes serve to “absorb fertilizer, improve water quality, and reduce erosion,” which can be considered as, using Cronon’s phrase, “natural advantages.” However, they have clearly been positioned and altered in a way that is aesthetically pleasing. In this instance, the presence of human intervention exists, yet many people would be inclined to consider the park “natural.” Perhaps this is how people in the 19th century viewed the railroads. Lastly, the following questions might be worth discussing: in today’s world, given the prolific human activity, what is considered first nature and second nature? Can there even be a third nature or

The news article I chose is titled Songbirds Divorce, Flee, and Fail to Reproduce Due to Suburban Sprawl written by Michelle Ma (2017). This news article is about one of the potential effects of suburban sprawl. Suburban sprawl is defined as the expansion of the human population away from the urban areas. Many people argue that sprawl has many negative effects on the environment such as taking agricultural lands and forests and turning them into an industrial warehouse that causes additional pollution. The negative effect on the environment in relation to this article is the displacement of wildlife that could lead to extinction.

Unlike most of the persuasive essays needed many “power” words to persuade readers, R. Crumb’s comic, “A Short History of America”, reflects the change of the natural, ecological landscape to urban area without using any words. Nevertheless, his drawing deeply shows us the down side of the urbanization and we human-being are destroying our indispensable nature. We are going the exact opposite direction to a better life; we are going to live in the life where we totally rely on technology and advanced, luxurious materials. Humans will never be satisfied and keep changing. However, while we’re keeping changing, have we ever asked: What are we doing to our nature?

Iowa has changed rapidly from the vast prairie lands it used to be, but many of these lands are being slowly reclaimed and restored to their once natural splendor. The most rapid change in Iowa’s landscape occurred during the Industrial Revolution, and when large scale farming became a possibility. This has left serious consequences on Iowa’s landscape with erosion, but is being combatted by more productive farming practices. Iowa as the “middle lands” is continuously changing, for the better or the worse, alongside the people who call it

Environmentalism has always been two sided. Nature versus urban. locals versus national. Frequently, large tracts of public and federal land are bought and developed by industry. Pristine wilderness turned to bustling epicenters of human activity, all in the name of progress and economic growth. This tale of preserving natural wilderness is one that begins with John Muir, an advocate against the taming of Yosemite national park and the Hetch-Hetchy reservoir, while the head of the US Forest Service, Gifford Pinchot, insisted on the reservoir to supply the city of San Francisco with water. This timeless epic of conservation or preservation brings us to the Jumbo Valley, a vast expanse of uninhabited, pristine wilderness home to diverse

Audience Hook: Increasing community gardens and green spaces in urban areas can help decrease crime in some neighborhoods, revitalize neglected industrial areas and create healthy, livable neighborhoods (Kuo & Sullivan, 2001). Increasing trees in urban areas has been shown to lower asthma rates in resident

An emerging issue is that of urban sprawl. While some aspects of urban sprawl has been seen since ancient times, this phenomenon has started gaining the most momentum in the past century, aided by the advancement of technology, especially with the rise of mass produced automobiles, houses and highway systems. Many people unknowingly contribute to this environmental problem, as is the nature of it. Urban sprawl deals with the growth of the suburbs, the area between the urban and rural areas of a city. Most of America’s largest cities and states, in terms of population, are prime examples of urban sprawl. Opponents of urban sprawl usually cite the government as a major cause of sprawl. The government may be a major catalyst of