Heck, 'greenspacing' where you get rid of sqaure miles of concrete and put grass and other plants back can drop ambient.
Grass is a lousy choice; lots of water for zero return. Dead grass and/or bare dirt aren't much better than concrete for heat reduction, and less useful since you can't even skateboard on them. Community gardens, OTOH, with either a small user fee to cover watering and tilling (bulk tilling with a tractor is far more practical when you're dealing with several <500 sq ft plots) or soliciting sponsorship for that, provide a good stress reliever for a lot of folks, good food cheap, and the other greenspace benefits.
I remember almost getting heat exhaustion when I was about 16 from mowing a medium sized lawn at 11:00 in the morning. I really should have gotten up earlier; it was 111 degrees by that time.
I just finished mowing mine. 83F/70%. Still gotta weedeat..after another bottle of water.
Did anyone else here know that you can dry a sopping wet leather glove in 15 seconds by putting it on the end of a shovel handle and holding it over 2000 degree glass?
Sissy. When I was doing forge work in a coal forge, I'd wear a left welding gauntlet, and fill it up from the slack tub during every heat. Most times, the palm and insides of the fingers were dry by the fourth or fifth strike on a 2 ft bar that I'd only heated 3-4 inches of. Generally, I could go about three sessions per glove before I managed to burn through the leather.
As for hanging out laundry, when the humidity's over about 60% it can take a while to get things dry. For a family, that means a lot of clothesline space - more than most yards allow without completely giving over the yard. What are apartment dwellers going to do? It also means the clothes are out there for anyone who wants to swipe them. I wouldn't worry too much about my boxers, but my security uniforms and other stuff are potential targets for thieves. Not really thrilled about the prospect of hanging my daughter's underthings out there for any pervert who happens by, either.
And, of course, line-drying doesn't work when it's raining, and can be a real problem for people with local pollen allergies.
Keeping the house at 69 means I'm freezing and she is tolerably hot.
Dude, if you've got to keep her chilled to make her just tolerably hot, maybe you should just put a bag over her head or something.