The Construction Source America

6 | City of Cincinati concerns of energy supply, deterioration of water and air quality, or other less-than-de- sired environmental factors. However, none of these are so worrisome in Cincinnati. “We are a city that has cheap and abundant energy supplies credited to our proximity to the rich coal fields of West Virginia and Ohio. We have cheap and abundant landfills, which still have plenty of capacity. We also have cheap and abundant water supplies. Some places worry about their water usage, but our utility has never had to asked peo- ple to cut back due to drought. We also have cheap and abundant land, and there’s lots of new construction of single family homes selling for less than two hundred thousand dollars within an hour’s drive of downtown,” explains Falkin. So, with so much going in its favor, the conditions that might typically compel the concentration on sustainability do not exist as urgencies in Cincinnati. As Falkin asserts, that creates real challenge. “How do you make recycling competi- tive when landfills are so cheap? How do you make the case for renewable energy when electricity is so cheap at five cents a kilowatt Cincinnati Mayor, Mark Mallory, takes a Zipcar for a spin.