A few things to know this week: January 17, 2020
Happy Friday!
Every week, we round up some of the things we read, listened to, or watched that really caught our attention. Here are just a few things we think you should know this week:
This week's things to know:
The best of Go Cultivate! after 50 episodes
Our podcast just passed its 50th episode (if you don’t count a handful of bonus episodes, that is), and to mark the occasion we’ve collected the ten most popular episodes to date. Check them out, and see if you’ve missed any! (Don’t stop at just these ten episodes, though; our whole archive is filled with great conversation on making our communities stronger! Oh, and now’s a good time for me to ask you to submit episode ideas. Have a guest you want on? A question you want explored? Email me: podcast@verdunity.com) – Jordan
What Should My City Do About Our Infrastructure Backlog?
At Verdunity, we always filter our plans, projects, and fiscal analyses through the lens of the resource gaps that our clients face. This week, the Strong Towns blog tackled that subject as well analyzing the infrastructure backlog that many cities including Shreveport face. Their advice? "For cities wanting to grow stronger, rhetorically lean into your next infrastructure backlog report instead of running away from it. That’s leadership, and it will be rewarded." – Tim
Gov. Greg Abbott: Emphasis on Building Out Texas Roads ‘Is Going to Change’
In a recent speech, Texas Governor Greg Abbott publicly acknowledged that the way people live and get around is changing, and that the state's approach to mobility needs to change with it. I personally found it a bit humorous that the Governor was presenting it as though Texas is leading the way on this issue (instead of admitting that we can't afford to continue building and maintaining the expansive network of highways and bridges across the state), but motivation and reasons aside, this is positive news for the future of Texas. Now let's see if he and others in state and local government actually have the will to follow through on this new stated conviction. Cause, ya know, we Texans love our cars, trucks and SUVs! ;) – Kevin
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This is a very short, easy read that reminds us how the appeal to ISDs of building on the outskirts of cities with their shiny new buildings just continues to exacerbate the problems of public health, equitable access to education, rising transportation costs, and a whole host of others. As the author writes, "Cities that aspire to be family-friendly can also improve equity by thinking about the transportation implications of where they locate important facilities and by providing more transportation options.” We spend a lot of time talking about the importance of accessible neighborhoods, but let's not forget about the accessibility of our schools. – AJ
Car-Dependency Makes City Life Too Expensive
There are a lot of arguments against continuing to build in a way that all but requires access to a car. Safety. Health. Social isolation. In this brief piece for Streetsblog, Kea Wilson points out that our cities’ car-dependency is also making it harder for residents to pay the rest of their bills. When 20 to 25% (or more) of your income is eaten up by simply regularly getting where you need to go, that’s a fundamentally broken model. The layout of our cities determines how much (time and money) we have to spend just getting around. This piece draws a difference between cities where transit is more effective and those where car-ownership is requisite: the most autocentric cities tend to come with the highest proportion of income that people are putting toward transportation. If we think about transportation costs as being basic needs just as housing is, then our picture of affordability changes. Phoenix and Detroit have reputations as inexpensive cities, yet New Yorkers pay proportionally less of their income for housing and transportation costs combined. It’s important to keep these costs central to our discussions about affordability so that we don’t keep overburdening residents in the name of “affordability” (or “safety” or “freedom”). – Jordan
How Can I Get My Local Government to Pay Attention to Me?
Do you have an issue or idea you want your city to address, but are having trouble getting traction? This is a pretty good list of suggestions. I especially like the ones toward the end about rallying others to your cause, doing it yourself, and, if you're really passionate and committed to your cause, running for office yourself. – Kevin
Podcast: “Shade” – 99% Invisible
I have a few obsessions. Trees. The importance of shade. Podcasts (good ones anyway). There are others but we don’t have to go into all of those. In this episode on the always stellar 99% Invisible podcast, those three come together, and it is absolutely worth your time. In lots of places on this overheating planet, shade can be a matter of life or death. And shade tends to follow wealth. Of course, it’s costly to go back and add shade later on, and so much of our cities are without it. There’s a great segment on this episode about unsanctioned shade structures that people have been putting up, and the ways those make an impact — and yet despite that, some cities crack down on citizens essentially doing their job for them. Here’s a quote from the episode that I loved, not for the reality that describes but for the reality that could be: “If residents did not fear that the city would come after them, threatening them with fines, perhaps we would see more grassroots urbanism.” Give this a listen! – Jordan
Want to learn more about how fiscal analysis can help you make your city stronger financially?
We created a new sister website showcasing how we use math, maps, and money to help cities communicate your resource gap and explore ways to increase tax revenue and improve service efficiency without necessarily raising taxes.
Hey, friends in local government:
Have thoughts on any of the links above? Think we missed something essential? We’re discussing these topics and more over on our brand-new online community, exclusively for local government employees.* Sign up for the Community Cultivators Network and join the discussion!
* The network is currently only for those wonderful folks out there who work in local government. If you’re not currently working for a city, town, or county, we still love you (and are sure many of you would add value to the community), but we want to keep our commitment to making this a community focused specifically on our friends working in local government. Thanks for understanding!
