Page 6 RAIN April 1982 ACCESS COMMUNITIES Design Resourcebook for Small Communities, edited by Anne Smith Denman and the staff of Small Town, 1981,96 pp., $10.00 from: Small Towns Institute P.O. Box 517 Ellensburg, WA 98926 this Design Resourcebook is to Small Town magazine what Knowing Home is to RAIN. The staff of Small Towns Institute has had this baby in the works for about three years. The format includes articles and case studies, a compendium of areas of design interest (from downtown plans to historic preservation to public art), and a resources section, all of which combine to make a publication that towns-people and, especially, planners should find valuable—particularly in conjunction with Knowing Home. Of note is Marilyn Dulfey-Armstrong's article, “Environmental Design Implications of Energy Technologies at the Community Scale," in which she discusses the visual implications of community-scale energy from wind, geothermal heat, biomass, water thermal, solar thermal heating and cooling, and district heating and cooling (cogeneration). For instance, did you ever consider how much glare might be caused by an abundance of solar panels? At any rate, there's no excuse for ugly windmills—we need to give esthetics as much priority as efficiency. — Mark Roseland Journal of Community Action, published bimonthly by the Center for Responsive Governance, $18/yr. individuals, $24/yr. institutions: P.O. Box 42120 Northwest Station Washington, D.C. 20015 Anyone working or seriously interested in the broad field of community action should read this highly-informative new Journal. It does the best job I've seen in a long time in bridging the gap between researchers and local and national practitioners involved in addressing and reassessing the role of citizen action and neighborhood development organizations in modern society. This is not lor the casual observer. Though its style is a bit dry and academic, the issues and policy perspectives examined by leaders in the field are timely and provocative. I look forward to reading the Journal because it helps me gain a richer appreciation of my own work and of the importance and potential of community action in America —Steve Rudman Neighborhood Organizing Kit, by Conserve Neighborhoods, 1981,50 pp., available free from: Conserve Neighborhoods National Trust for Historic Preservation 1785 Massachusetts Ave., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036 I've been waiting and hoping for a ray of community light to break out of Washington's current dark age. I found it emanating from the Neighborhood office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. It's a well- packaged "Organizing Kit"—a practical, easy-to-read guide for anyone interested in improving his or her neighborhood or developing fresh ideas for community projects. The Idt is a potpourri of good stuff, from tips on organizing a neighborhood group and fundraising to working with city hall and planning special events. Also included is a directory of useful national organizations and a bibliography for neighborhood leaders. Conserve Neighborhoods is a bimonthly publication of the National Trust. Very down-to-earth, the newsletter gives local citizen groups access to ideas, projects and experiences pioneered by other groups around the country. Believe it or not, both the kit and the newsletter are available free to neighborhood and preservation groups. So don't agonize— get hold of this kit and organize! —Steve Rudman Neighborhood, The Journal for City Preservation, $7.50/4 issues from: New York Urban Coalition 1515 Broadway New York, NY 10036 Neighborhood is the very slick publication that is trying to give the citizens of New York City a little history and a lot of hope. Each issue focuses on one of that city's neighborhoods in an "up with people" style that is pretty hard to shake cynicism at. I have never thought of Times Square for example, as a neighborhood, and yet to read the January 1982 issue not only does Times Square qualify, but it might even survive the Midnight Cowboy image of 42nd street as the deepest pit of depravity conceivable. You may not want to walk down those streets in daylight, but some people live there and they've got plans. It helps to know how a community goes from being the Broadway of "give my regards to" fame to "a lawless arena where innocent newcomers . . . were fresh meat for a gang of inhuman hustlers and cheap criminals," so each issue includes a lengthy, well- written piece of the past. Then there are samplings of the kinds of problems each neighborhood faces, and the sorts of solutions being proposed and often applied. Often these analyses cover such topics as energy use and alternatives, waste disposal, the role of senior citizens and of youth, and the cultural options and activities specific to that neighborhood. You don't need to live in "the Big Apple" to appreciate this Journal. New York belongs to all of us in a way, and if it can be saved from itself there may be a future for the rest of America. —Carlotta Collette From: Neighborhood, The Journal for City Preservation
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