One enterprising Portland realtor combined the growing demand for homes in convenient locations with Portland’s biking fervor to boost her bottom line — filling a niche that was previously empty. When Portlanders want to buy a home that lets them bike to the office, the grocery store, or the post office, they call Kirsten Kaufman, whom Portland Live calls the “Bike Broker.”
For 17 straight years, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) has failed to meet their own, not-remarkably-ambitious hiring goals: that at least 11% of their workforce should be people of color and at least 6% should be women. (Minnesota is 85% white, though not 94% male.) The economic stimulus was meant to benefit everyone in hard economic times, partially through job creation in the transportation sector. African-Americans are hit disproportionately by job losses in a recession, but in Minnesota they haven’t received the full benefit from the stimulus money, an investment meant to aid everyone.
Artists and community developers are not the most obvious partners — except for how strongly both believe in the possibility of transformation. Community Partnership for the Arts and Culture is holding Rust Belts to Artist Belt II, a conference held in Cleveland September 17th-18th, in the belief that artists and their work can affect strong … Continued
The town of Edmonston in Prince George’s County, Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C., is a small hamlet of under 2000 residents, most of them blue-collar workers. Like many other cities in America, times are tough in Edmonston, which has high rates of unemployment and foreclosure. What makes life particularly hard for Edmonston is that it is bisected by the Anacostia River. Due to poor environmental practices, the Anacostia periodically floods the town, wreaking devastation on a place already struggling to get by.
Huge, sprawling “mega-schools” built at the edges of town aren’t required by law in Minnesota. But minimum acreage recommendations from the Minnesota Department of Education have forced local communities into a one-size-fits-all approach, resulting in new schools that are unwalkable and unconnected to the rest of their communities. On July 1st, this is going to change in Minnesota.
Far too often, the insanity of minimum parking requirements drive development decisions, to the detriment of just about everyone — a theme best developed by UCLA’s Don Shoup in his terrific book, The High Cost of Free Parking. Another story, as both data point and lesson: Our favorite local micro-brewery gives tours; we went last Friday evening, where we heard a version of this story.
During his time as Governor, Tim Kaine of Virginia has been one of the best in the country in leading their state towards a more sustainable future. He came along at a time when plenty of other Governors nationwide were creating smart growth offices in their administrations or looking for ways to replicate or build … Continued
Kinds folks at the We Campaign. I love what you’re doing, and am excited about the campaign. But to look through your site, and see nary a decent mention or section explaining the energy/emissions ramifications of where we choose to live is really disheartening. We’re never going to radically lower our emissions unless we begin … Continued
This is a collection of letters to the editor of the Washington Post and blog posts in response to “Hot World? Blame Cities” by Joel Kotkin and Ali Modarres. View our blog entry. ———— I’m glad Joel Kotkin and Ali Modarres bring up the subject of cities and global warming (Hot World? Blame Cities, October … Continued