Timothy Beatley News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Stephen M. Wheeler’s profile on The Conversation

Or, as professor Timothy Beatley argues in his new book, by its birdsong? “The idea of judging cities by economic metrics like GDP is understandable, but I would say that one good metric is the extent to which residents, wherever they are, can hear birds singing – it is so life-enhancing and so delightful,” says Beatley, an urban planning expert at the University of Virginia’s school of architecture. His book, The Bird-Friendly City, is an appeal to developers, architects and local planners to put nature – and specifically birds – at the heart of their designs. Why? Because he be...

by Sarah Lindenfeld Hall Family history was a spark for Better Luck Next Time, the latest novel by Julia Claiborne Johnson (Col ’81). Set in 1938 Reno, Nevada, then dubbed the world’s divorce capital, the action primarily takes place on the Flying Leap dude ranch, which provided a place for women to stay as they established state residency so they could get divorced. During the Depression, Johnson’s father worked as a cowboy at a Nevada divorce ranch. The similarities between the book and real life mostly end there, Johnson says, but the setting seemed like fertile territory to explore...

A new book spotlights how bird-friendly design makes for healthier and more pleasant cities for all species.