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A Community Design Debate
Released: May 19, 2011.
JHK and Duncan look at two new McDonald’s projects in their home towns and touch upon some universal issues with regards to these types of developments appearing throughout North America. Using the comments on a local newspaper blog, they gague how members of the community are reacting and forming a public consensus. While some people in Troy are advocating for a heightened design, others are “violently complacent” about the standard issue Mickey D’s as delivered to automobile strips around the world. Meanwhile, in Saratoga Springs, a developer did create a different take on the Golden Arches. But was the end product better?
Note: This expisode contains explicit language.
| Direct Download: KunstlerCast_157.mp3 (37 MB | 43:15 mins.) |
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Proposed McDonald’s in Troy NY:
Saratoga Springs McDonald’s: 
Freeport Maine McDonald’s: 
The Articles & Blog Posts:
Is the proposed McDonald’s good for Troy?
Chris Churchill Times Union Places & Spaces Blog
April 25, 2011
A look at Troy’s proposed McDonald’s
Chris Churchill Times Union Places & Spaces Blog
April 26, 2011
Protesting a chain’s similarity by design
Chris Churchill Times Union Sunday edition
May 16, 2011
An unusual take on the Troy McDonald’s plan
Chris Churchill Times Union Places & Spaces Blog
May 17, 2011
Troy officials: Design talk is ‘ridiculously premature’
Chris Churchill Times Union Places & Spaces Blog
May 18, 2011
Troy officials: Design talk is ‘ridiculously premature’
Cecelia Martinez The Record (Troy)
May 18, 2011
James V. Franco: Bring the Golden Arches to Hoosick Street
The Troy Record
May 19, 2011
Sponsor:
This week’s sponsor is The Congress for the New Urbanism, the nation’s leading advocacy organization dedicated to promoting walkable, mixed-use neighborhood development, sustainable communities and healthier living conditions.
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Book Cover: The KunstlerCast, by Duncan Crary (New Society Publishers, 2011) Paperback – 320 pages 6 Inches × 6 Inches (w × h) Weight: 261 Grams ISBN: 9780865716933
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REVIEWS
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— Peter Bane, Permaculture Activist Magazine (.pdf), February 2012
“For those of you wanting a good overview of Kunstler’s thinking and for those of you that want to share JHK with others but may fear being embarrassed by the sometimes ‘salty’ language he can use, this book is a great tool. The format is, by design, conversational. You can digest it in small bites or in large pieces. And the Kunstler world through Duncan’s eyes is not necessarily sanitized, but it is communicated in a way that I think will reach a broader audience.”
“The 320-page New Society Publishers offering was just released in paperback and is based on four years of weekly Kunstler riffs recorded by podcasting journalist Duncan Crary. In his introduction to the book, Crary professes to be merely a host, and sometimes a Kunstler foil, but the two upstate New Yorkers really are kindred intellects.”
—Ready to despair? ‘Doomer’ exhorts us to ‘grow up’, Jon Rutter Lancaster Sunday News, Nov. 12, 2011