This week, I paid a visit to the Sunset Magazine "House of Innovation 2006". <SPOILER ALERT!> Well, you probably won't be too surprised that the emphasis was less on innovation and more on commercialization. I walked away depressed that the energies of tech geeks everywhere are being poured into uber-luxury goods rather than technology that's going to prepare us for the future.

Here's part 2, where I talk to Karen and Dan about the affordable housing issue and much more.

This week, an interview with Karen and Dan Parolek of Opticos Design & Architecture. They've got a firm in Berkeley, CA and a new one in Seaside, FL, a landmark of New Urbanist planning.

For those of you just joining us, the gist of the Post-Car Culture podcast is to talk about the future of cities. Most American cities and towns were reshaped around the automobile into a shape that discourages community and wastes resources. A lot of people are looking at the big picture and realizing that by changing land use, the way we build our buildings and streets, we can repair the broken urban fabric. The Paroleks and I talked a lot about the basics of urban design and planning, and we enjoyed it so much I'm going to make this interview a two-parter.