Going for Zero: Decarbonizing the Built Environment on the Path to Our Urban Future

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Takoma Author Talk – Carl Elefante

Human beings have become an urban species. By century’s end, nearly nine-in-ten people worldwide will live in cities. Going forward, every challenge must be understood as an urban challenge, every solution, an urban solution. Yet current urbanization models are incapable of producing the secure, healthy, equitable, and prosperous communities people want and need. Addressing the urgent climate emergency can and must lay the foundations for humanity’s urban future? In this book talk, longtime Takoma Park resident, Carl Elefante, will discuss the boundless possibilities in working together to shape the post-carbon built environment.

The author will be signing copies of Going for Zero following the book talk. Copies can be purchased:

• at People’s Book, 7014-A Westmoreland Avenue, Takoma Parkonline
• from Island Press at: https://islandpress.org/books/going-zero#desc  (use code GOZERO for a 20% discount)
• from the author at the Historic Takoma Book Talk

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Watch for Details on These Upcoming Events

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• February 6 – Happy Hour social
• February 18 – talk about Frederick Douglass in Takoma Park by local historian Ezra Greenspan
• March 1 – Talk on the History of Montgomery College by Historic Takoma archivist and historian Jim Douglas
• March 22 – talk on architectural styles in Takoma Park by Preservation Maryland
• May 3 – the annual House and Garden Tour

Our Reading Room remains open the first and third Sundays of each month, from 1:00 – 4:00 PM. It’s a great time to stop by to browse archives and research library and chat about local history.

Please support our work by renewing your membership or becoming a member. Your support makes it possible to sponsor these events and support research into local history. Visit our online store for more details.

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Stories from Colby Avenue – Tales from “The Bottom”

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On December 16, 2025, a standing room only crowd gathered at Historic Takoma to hear presentations from six graduate students from the University of Maryland Historic Preservation Program present the results of their research on the houses, people, and community of the historic African American area known as “The Bottom.” We were especially pleased to welcome a number of residents from Colby Avenue and the surrounding neighborhood./

The six presentations and the supporting research materials will be added to our research collections. We look forward to visiting and working with local residents to collect additional stories about the families and houses of Colby Avenue. This is an ongoing effort to document and understand the experiences of this and other historical African American communities in Takoma Park. Watch this space for details on access to the research materials.

If you are interested in sharing your stories of Colby Avenue and The Bottom, please let us know by sending a note to info@historictakoma.org or by leaving us a message at 301-270-2831.

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