A few things to know this week: July 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—plus anything new from us.
New on the Go Cultivate! podcast:
Who gets to participate? – with Shari Davis & Derrick Braziel
We speak with Shari Davis, Executive Director of the Participatory Budgeting Project, and Derrick Braziel, co-founder and Development Director at MORTAR Cincinnati, about participatory budgeting, democratizing economic development, rethinking how we invest money in our communities, and much more.
This week’s things to know:
A looming fiscal crisis raises another fear for US cities: State oversight and financial control boards (City Metric)
As long as I've been working in community building, there's been tension and differing opinions on the roles for city, state, and federal agencies, including who pays for what and how funds can be used. This article discusses how the financial impacts of COVID-19 on cities and states have prompted more intense conversations about state and federal aid and oversight. – Kevin
Ground Floor Pop-up Toolkit (Wallplay)
There's been a lot of talk about recovery after COVID, and thankfully, there have also been a number of new shared resources. One notable resource is this new toolkit put out by Wallplay that addresses ground floor pop-up activation. It's a great resource for municipalities, downtown associations, and redevelopment agencies so that they can be aware of the opportunities and work (quickly!) to clear the hurdles that might exist. Likewise, it's a great resource for building/business owners, neighborhood advocacy groups, and real estate professionals who want to increase the activity and visibility of their commercial areas. My favorite piece of the guide is section of Inclusion and Diversity Considerations on page 6, and the checklists ("Pop-Up Checklist", "Landlord Checklist", etc). We talk often about making meaningful progress with the resources you have today, and this toolkit is an excellent path to doing just that. – AJ
Why Smart Businesses Should Stop Requiring College Degrees (Inc)
Cultivating a self-sustaining local economy and workforce is one of the primary goals we encourage cities to work toward. Communities need to work together with local businesses, schools, and entrepreneurs to provide apprenticeship and training programs that develop a wide variety of skills. And as this article points out, many businesses aren't as obsessed about candidates having college degrees, so the opportunity to build successful local businesses with local people and students is better than its ever been. – Kevin
Three keys to transforming Tulsa into a tech hub (Tulsa World)
When you think about cities that are leaders in innovation, Tulsa, Oklahoma may not jump to the top of your list, but it should. They've been piloting and growing an innovation initiative that pairs up talent from local companies with city leaders to discuss and address issues in the community. That effort has evolved into a new technology-led economic and workforce development organization called Tulsa Innovation Labs. In this article, the co-founder and managing director outlines three things he's asking the Tulsa community to do with them to help achieve shared goals. – Kevin
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What Happens to Public Space When Everything Moves Outside (Bloomberg Citylab)
The need for continued social distancing has pushed us into an alternative form of thinking when it comes to what a night out with the family or friends looks like. Cities featured in this article are taking this moment to reorganize public space. But that raises some important questions about who the streets really belong to. – Ryan
Video: How to Build a City Around Bikes, Fast (Bloomberg Citylab)
While many cities are working to expand their cycling networks and trail systems, it's often happening slowly and as a lower tier priority. This short video discusses how Seville, Spain, went from 7,000 trips per day in 2006 to over 77,000 in 2011. The city’s investment was $20 million, compared to its Metro line investment of $900 million, which carries 44,000 trips/day. The three biggest lessons from Seville? 1) Commit to building a complete network, 2) build it fast, and 3) make the lanes safe and permanent with physical separation from cars. – Kevin
Phoenix is Trying to Combat Climate Change (Washington Post)
As the planet gets hotter, the hottest cities won’t be getting any more comfortable. And, as with many societal ills, communities of color tend to suffer more from the effects of extreme heat. Read a bit about what Phoenix is trying to do to make desert life a little more bearable and sustainable. – Jordan
‘Green Tsunami’ Washes Over France’s City Halls (Bloomberg Citylab)
The Green Party just won a number of local municipal elections in France. The Party is often associated with climate change, but their platform and policy agenda also includes elements of localism, equity, diversity, and a priority on maintaining and revitalizing existing neighborhoods over greenfield expansion. This article does a nice job of summing up what they're about. It's an agenda I hope we'll see more momentum for in the U.S. as well. – Kevin
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.
TODAY @ 1:30pm CDT
Don’t miss the fourth webinar in our (ten-part) biweekly series!
Our first three webinars covered several areas to assess where you are and establish a baseline for improvement. In the next three sessions, we’ll cover how to organize your community’s resources to make meaningful progress right now.
In this webinar, we’ll discuss how to prioritize desired outcomes and set critical objectives for the upcoming year, including:
Identifying a purpose and rallying cry that’s unique to your community and that the majority of people can and want to connect with;
Establishing community values and guideposts for decision making that transcend individuals or council administrations
Defining shared outcomes and establishing critical objectives, measures, and actions
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!