A few things to know this week: May 22, 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. This week, we also have a new podcast and blog post to share, PLUS a webinar you won’t want to miss out on.
Don’t miss today’s webinar!
There’s still (a little) time for you to sign up for the first installment of a new webinar series, Emerge Stronger. This one will focus on how city leaders can get more out of the plans and tools they already have invested in, as the COVID-19 crisis is creating even greater resource constraints for local governments.
The webinar will begin at 1:30pm Central.
New on the Go Cultivate! podcast:
From local advocate to elected official – with LeVette Fuller
LeVette Fuller, Shreveport councilmember and co-founder of Re:Form Shreveport, joins the show to talk about her journey from citizen advocate and "land-use nerd" to local elected official—plus a few specific challenges the city has faced during her tenure.
This week’s things to know:
Latest from our blog: Skillful stewardship in times of crisis
Verdunity’s AJ Fawver shares five lessons for city leaders during the coronavirus crisis.
Coronavirus is not fuel for urbanist fantasies (Curbed)
Excellent piece from Alissa Walker over at Curbed, both for the content and for the under-appreciated (Black and Brown women's) voices it references. It’s fairly short, but it serves as a good introduction to a subject that I’ve seen very little coverage of in the more mainstream “urbanist” outlets—namely, that "cities cannot be fixed if we do not insist on dismantling the racial, economic, and environmental inequities that have made the pandemic deadlier for low-income and nonwhite residents.” Take, for instance, the widespread urbanist celebration over “slow streets” and converting public space into restaurant space in recent weeks. Often left out are legitimate objections from the least represented, least advantaged folks in the community—which I won’t detail here, but I’d encourage you to start engaging with after reading this article if that last point sounds strange. Give it a read and then consider also reading/following women like Tamika Butler, Lynda Lopez, Sahra Suleiman, Naomi Doerner, Kristen Jeffers, Shari Davis, and Destiny Thomas, to name just a few (some of whom are mentioned in the article). – Jordan
From civic pride to slowing traffic, public art for the public good (Kinder Institute)
We talk often about public art and its connection to neighborhood identity, preservation, and pride. We also talk often about traffic calming and its influence in making neighborhoods more comfortable for other types of travel and the perception of safety. However, here's a fun read highlighting some excellent examples of public art and their connection to traffic calming and COVID recovery. It's an inspiring piece which will make you smile. – AJ
How urban planners' preference for male trees has made your hay fever worse (The Guardian)
Botanical sexism? It’s actually a thing! No, seriously—the common practice of only selecting male trees for urban environments, “to avoid the nuisance from the seed,” has been having really bad (and worsening) consequences for generations. Over 400 million people worldwide are affected by hay fever, and horticulturists are urging planners and city leaders to use a better sex mix for urban tree plantings to mitigate rising levels of asthma and CO2 pollution. – Jordan
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One Mayor Transformed His Town Into the ‘City of Kindness’ — and Inspired Over 1 Million Kind Acts (Nation Swell)
I heard about Mayor Tait in a book I am currently making my way through that talks a lot about community. The community that Mayor Tait built in Anaheim is something that I would hope many city leaders look at and want to instill in their own communities. His impact in Anaheim has taken him to meet with members of the US government as well as abroad talking to city and national leaders in India, Spain, and others. Worth checking out! – Ryan
Podcast: "You're Not Alone" – Strong Towns
If you're feeling down about the way that the current economic climate is affecting your city, the latest Strong Towns podcast is a great short listen to cheer you up a bit. Chuck talks about how the Strong Towns message has grown, and how many people now share his philosophy that highlights how we can make better use out of the existing resources in our communities. Plus, their member drive is this week if you would like to give to a good cause! – Tim
A pair of great webinars:
If there’s one thing I don’t hate about sheltering in place, it’s that there are more fantastic webinar discussions than ever before (it seems that way, anyhow). Yesterday California State Senator Scott Wiener hosted a star-studded panel discussion on the future of public transit after COVID-19 that I would highly recommend. Earlier that same day, The Appeal hosted a webinar focusing on (shrinking) city budgets and the future of local spending on police. – Jordan
Here's the standard disclaimer: We always encourage our team members to freely share their thoughts and opinions, both in these newsletters and elsewhere. Given that, opinions expressed by any one member do not necessarily represent 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!
