A few things to know this week: April 10, 2020
Happy Friday, friends! Every week we collect some of the best things that members of our Verdunity team read, watched, or listened to over the course of the week.
New on the Go Cultivate! podcast:
How local governments should respond to the small business crisis — with Basel Musharbash
The COVID-19 crisis has been a disaster for small businesses across the country. In this episode, Kevin speaks with Basel Musharbash about why an aggressive local government response to the small business crisis is essential—and what legal strategies cities and towns should be using immediately to help them survive and eventually recover.
Leveraging federal emergency management funding: COVID-19 edition — with Laura Clemons
Disaster recovery & resilience specialist Laura Clemons rejoins the program to talk about taking advantage of federal disaster relief funds to build more resilient cities and towns in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This week’s things to know:
What a Coronavirus Recovery Could Look Like (Citylab)
This interview with Michael Berkowitz (former executive director of 100 Resilient Cities) serves up some thought-provoking quotes. Yes, his focus is massive metropolitan areas like New York City, but the takeaways are relevant for communities of any size, in any location. For example, Berkowitz talks about the opportunity for new infrastructure as we move into the next phase post-Corona: “If we’re potentially going to get a whole new generation of infrastructure because of this pandemic, then we have to do it better than last generation. Meaning, like, no highways that segregate communities from economic centers." When asked about strengthening neighborhoods, his answer is one that we also give when asked this question: "Even action at really small scales can feel great and start to set an example of what is possible." At the end, he asks the most important question of all that I challenge each of you to think about in the days and weeks to come—and talk about with our peers and city leaders. That question is: "Will we have the strategic gumption to make things better?" – AJ
How to Open Streets Right During Social Distancing (Streetsblog)
Our friend Kea Wilson over at Streetsblog is putting out a really useful series on how cities and residents can coordinate an efficient and effective emergency response to the unprecedented impact the novel coronavirus crisis is having on our roads and streets. This piece highlights a few ways we can re-think the Open Streets model for pandemic times. One important element (among many listed here): a “streets-to-trails” approach, “where the emphasis is less on socializing with neighbors and more on keeping bodies safely in motion for transportation and exercise.” Give this a read and check out the other articles in the series—they’re linked at the top of the page. – Jordan
Emergency Stabilization & Economic Recovery Recommendations (Smart Growth America)
Smart Growth America has put together emergency stabilization and economic recovery recommendations for Congress in two areas: infrastructure, and housing and community development. You can check out these recommendations and register for a webinar with them next week where they'll unpack their suggestions further. – Kevin
How local leaders can stave off a small business collapse from COVID-19
This is a great resource to help local government leaders evaluate options and develop strategies to save local/small businesses in your community. – Kevin
Do you enjoy these weekly roundups? (Why wouldn’t you?) You can get them sent straight to your email inbox every Friday, if you’re into that.
With the number of people out on the streets dropping to all-time lows, there is a lot of room for progress on road and transit repairs. Many cities mentioned in this article are all prioritizing continued progress on infrastructure projects that will continue to bolster their multimodal transportation systems. An interesting way to document or keep tabs on these projects or other projects in your community and across the states is here in this interactive map. Do you see projects popping up around your home in your community? Have you heard of project timelines changing or priorities shifting? Let's all keep tabs together and share as we can. – Ryan
Stoop dreams (Curbed)
Here's a piece that celebrates a benefit of our current situation: front stoops and porches showing signs of life for the first time in a very long time. I've really enjoyed in my own neighborhood seeing the people I've never met because they zoom into their garage and never venture out front … until now. Late afternoon, every porch on the street is occupied and people are waving and calling out to one another and visiting (albeit at a distance) with the multitude of walkers and cyclists that have emerged. It is neighborhood life as it should be. As Jane Jacobs said it best, "Nobody enjoys sitting on a stoop or looking out a window at an empty street... large numbers of people entertain themselves, off and on, by watching street activity.” How can we keep people invested in getting back outside and bringing life to the streets in a way that never happened pre-pandemic? – AJ
Video: Some Good News with John Krasinski Ep. 2
John Krasinki's Some Good News, Episode 2. This episode gives a shout-out to east Dallas' Furlough Kitchen that's providing meals to laid off hospitality workers, as well as an appearance from the cast of 'Hamilton' that's definitely worth the watch/listen. – Kevin
Podcast: Independent Pharmacies are on the Front Lines of COVID-19 Care (Building Local Power – ILSR)
Here is a good discussion with the owner of Las Colinas Pharmacy in Irving, Texas, on how independent pharmacies are able to respond to local needs differently than chain pharmacies. They also discuss the impact of Pharmacy Benefit Managers on independent pharmacies. – Jordan
Please note: We encourage our team members to share their thoughts in these newsletters; opinions expressed individually are not necessarily reflective of the views of the company as a whole.
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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!
