Neat Links - America's Favorite Architecture and Blueprint for America

I wanted to get this up right away as I just stumbled on it through my gmail account. I will offer more commentary on it tonight. The excerpt below is from the Google Blog (yes, they have one of their own). Check out the "America's Favorite Architecture" site, but as it relates to Lake Worth - the Blueprint of America link has some great information on other communities and how they do Master Planning and use some tools provided by Google (Google Earth and Sketch-up) as tools in the process.

More later, gotta get back to work now.

New 3-D layers from AIA on Google Earth
Tuesday, April 24, 2007 at 6:23:00 AM Posted by RK Stewart, FAIA, President 2007, American Institute of ArchitectsArchitects are pretty passionate about architecture -– no surprise there. However, we've come to find that the American public is too. Starting today, there are two new Google Earth layers with which to explore architecture’s most popular structures and take away some ideas to help enhance the communities we live in. As president of The American Institute of Architects (AIA), I’m ecstatic to announce our partnership with Google Earth to launch these new layers in celebration of our the 150th anniversary.Check out this video on YouTube to watch us navigate these layers from Google headquarters.Fly to America’s Favorite Architecture, a layer featuring the American public’s favorite architecture (as selected though a national poll announced earlier this year). View all 150 structures, including many with just created 3-D models of the buildings, ballparks, bridges, and memorials that characterize architecture in the eyes of Americans. And then explore the second layer, Blueprint for America. Blueprint is a community service effort funded by the AIA, in which AIA members donating their time and expertise are collaborating with community leaders and local citizens to enhance the quality of life in their community. You’ll be able to track the progress of these projects on Google Earth as they unfold over the next year and, we hope, become inspired to take action where you live.