A few things to know this week: September 11, 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.
Lately on the Go Cultivate! podcast:
No new episode of the podcast this week, but we’ve got a great lineup in the coming weeks! Here’s a quick snapshot of our latest episodes, in case you’ve missed any:
Reflecting on 40 years of growth in North Texas – with John Lettelleir
Building a culture of fiscal sustainability – with Noel Bernal & Helen Ramirez
Safeguarding small business during the pandemic – with Kennedy Smith
And don’t forget to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
This week’s things to know:
Stop Asking the Public What They Want (Strong Towns)
A few months ago, AJ and Jordan did an Are We Doing This Right podcast episode on community engagement. They discussed how cities are approaching engagement, what's working well, and what could be improved. It's a complex topic, and something our Verdunity team spends a lot of time thinking about and working to improve with communities we're serving. This is a great article that gets into the details of community surveys, why the wording of questions are important, what citizens are qualified to provide input on (and what they're not), and more. – Kevin
When Gentrification Follows Green Space (Shelterforce)
“Lower-income communities notoriously lack green space due to a history of disinvestment. But the addition of green space can pave the way for increased rent and displacement.” A host of factors contribute to this troubling dynamic. The Los Angeles Regional Open Space and Affordable Housing Collaborative (LA ROSAH) wants to do something about that locally—to reimagine public parks as “spaces that welcome everyone and provide solutions to a broad range of community needs.” In 2019 LA ROSAH helped get a Displacement Avoidance Policy passed as a part of the expenditure plan for a countywide parcel tax for parks and open space. Read on for some of the strategies included in the first-of-its kind policy. – Jordan
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.
This is a quick but impactful read. There's a lot of media focus on the protests lately, but as this article shows, there are also a lot of people working to address the underlying issues in other ways. One thing I particularly liked was Ms. Satcher's point about understanding your personal passion and role in your community. "People don't know what their purpose is, so they run out and start protesting and get frustrated when things don't work. Nobody has taught young people to understand their roles. Imagine if we could refocus all the talent we have -- just how powerful that could be at so many levels. We have to go back to the fundamentals of talking to one another and teaching basic organization." I hope we can get to a place where we see more coming together and building things up and less blaming and tearing down. Kudos to Ms. Satcher for being a positive example we can hold up for others to follow. – Kevin
How HUD Rewrote the Rules on Fair Housing (Bloomberg CityLab)
lf you've followed Verdunity for a while, you know that we believe and can prove with data that the post-WW2 autocentric development pattern is fiscally insolvent (without huge federal subsidies), inequitable, and environmentally unsustainable. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently dialed back requirements for state and local governments to abide by the federal anti-segregation mandate known as "Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing" (AFFH), regulation that ties back to the Fair Housing Act of 1968. I'm going to skip the politics and just say that this is a terrible move that will wipe out much of the progress that's been made regarding affordable housing (which still isn't near enough), while making it easier and more profitable for those who build and develop suburban style real estate. This will clear the way for developers to build even more neighborhoods that are more costly to cities (and their taxpayers) to serve and maintain, and will make it significantly harder and more costly to build the type of missing middle housing that is desperately needed to serve a growing group of people around this country. The result is going to be escalating home prices, cities, being forced to raise taxes to cover basic needs, and even more division between the haves and have-nots in our country. – 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.
Don’t miss out on our upcoming (virtual) events!
TML Annual Conference (October 14–16)
Kevin, AJ, and Monte Anderson will be presenting on "Cultivating Vibrant Communities and Local Economies with the Resources You Have."
APA Virtual Cross-Chapter Collaborative (October 5–9)
Kevin presenting with Tom Yantis (Asst. City Manager & Director of Development Services at City of Taylor, TX) on "The Economics of Land Use."
AJ will cohost a discussion titled “Taking Action to Minimize Unconscious Bias” and will be a panelist on the “Brainstorming Public Engagement – Diversity & Inclusion” interactive session.
Texas Downtown Association Conference (November 9–12)
Kevin will be presenting on "Bridging the Resource Gap: Cultivating Strong Communities with the Resources You Have."
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.
