Christopher Weber

Freelance journalist

I write mainly about environmental health, cities, and the emerging green economy. I am particularly interested in brownfields, industrial ruins and efforts to reclaim them. I live in Chicago about six blocks from the Obamas. My place is not quite as nice as theirs. Last but not least, I'm a work-at-home dad of a very busy toddler.

See my website, christopherweber.org, for more info about me and my work.

I write for the Chicago Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, OnEarth, E Magazine, New Scientist, and many other publications.

Articles

The Built Environment

<p>With unions in urgent need of new blood, why wouldn’t they want to reach out to the 500 eager job-seekers at this fair? Conversely, what did these 500 job-seekers have against pipefitting?</p>

Dirty Secrets Under the Schoolyard

<p>Cities across the nation are building schools on contaminated ground, igniting grassroots opposition and straining already slashed school budgets with the costs of needed remediation. The practice is much more common that most people realize, and not just in the inner city. According to one study, one out of every seven rural school sites in California had to be cleaned up either before or after construction. School districts defend their use of industrial sites as safe and as a necessary step in redeveloping down-and-out neighborhoods. Yet parents and environmentalists worry that current regulations do little to protect the school children and may contribute to health, learning and behavior problem.</p>