This site is the home for the book, The New Urban Way, by South Carolina native Don Shabkie. Addressing four areas of American life – energy, economics, health, and politics, The New Urban Way presents these topics in a holistic format, as component parts of one goal, rather than separate issues with conflicting agendas. By using the metaphor of the reality spectrum, we hope that The New Urban Way can enable city-dwellers to deal with problems that are unique to their way of life, so those of us who reside in urban settings can become pioneers in the areas mentioned above. The New Urban Way is not as much about the destination as about the journey.

Many are caught in an urban treadmill that leaves them little time to move outside the formidable box of daily survival, and they don’t always have the energy to suddenly embrace new paradigms. However, we feature an incremental approach to new ways of living, with valuable and practical information that will help initiate the process.

All you have to do is download the PDF file above. It contains the full text. We would ask you to remember that there are some costs involved in site maintenance, and we put a great deal of effort into the realization of this project. If you can manage the small payment below, that would be very helpful, but of course it’s not necessary in order to download the file.

After you read the book, we hope you’ll join our discussion board.

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Excerpt from introduction:

……Three years ago I would have gotten in the car and headed to the grocery store—aware of my environmental impact, but feeling there was nothing I could do about it. But today is different. I’m riding my bicycle downtown to the weekly downtown farmer’s market to pick up produce from local farmers, members of my community, people who need me to spend money so they can continue their trade. Their food offerings come from very close by, and they use very little fuel to take them to the market. After riding back, I realize that I don’t have a few more items I need. So I get on the bike again and travel to the Swamp Rabbit Grocery and Cafe, a brand new business that just sprouted up on our thirty mile Swamp Rabbit Trail, a completely asphalted biking and walking trail that has totally changed Greenville County forever.

As I mounted the bike for the second trip, I realized that I’m living a dream. I have to travel a lot in my work and for other reasons, and I have put only thirty miles on my car this week—the rest of the travel was on my bicycle, and that total came after putting only 35 miles last week. I’m going now about three or four months on one tank of gas. An asphalted stretch of a 30-mile riding and walking trail, the Swamp Rabbit trail has allowed many people to do what I’m doing, whether for commuting or exercise or both. But it’s more than that. The Swamp Rabbit Grocery and Cafe, which opened a couple of weeks ago is thriving. The parking lot is full of bicycles, and the store is full of customers. I’m buying more local produce here and all of us together are living a dream. Many of us have decided to become part of a new urban way—city dwellers who are drastically reducing our carbon output in a way that’s good for the economic health of our community. We didn’t have to move out in the middle of a field, or twenty miles from the nearest house. We’ve effected change while living right in here in the middle of town……

We invite you to download our book, and join our blog. Thanks for your interest.

Acknowledgement

The above photo is called Chicago Skyline, and comes from the portfolio of Kenn Kiser. Copyright, 2002.

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