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.

This week’s things to know:

Unleashing a Perpendicular Nation (The New Localism) 

Bruce Katz's The New Localism is one of the best books I read this year, and an essential read for local government leaders. In this latest article on his website, Bruce proposes five principles that the incoming Administration should follow to harness the productive intersection of the horizontal approach of local governments and the vertical federal organization to fully energize an inclusive recovery. -Kevin

'School Streets' Ban Cars so Kids Can Walk or Bike (Bloomberg) 

One discouraging trend in the U.S. is how fewer and fewer children are walking or biking to school. Many parents cite concerns about safety due to speeding cars and lack of sidewalks or safe bikeways. To turn the curve on this trend, London has introduced 'school streets' - closing streets to cars in the morning and afternoon to encourage children and parents to bike or walk. I would love to see every school and neighborhood give this a shot. -Kevin

Public Transit Faces Huge Service Cuts Across US (NY Times)

With the majority of the office centric workforce being remanded to working from home over the majority of this calendar year the use of public transit across the US has seen a large hit. The thought of being in a crowded metro car or taking the bus has come with some pause since social distancing guidelines are harder to follow in such close quarters. Read more about what hits the public transit world in the US is taking due to the prolonged lack of use and volume in these unprecedented times. -Ryan

Cities can lead a green revolution. In Barcelona, we're showing how | Ada Colau (The Guardian)

Barcelona seems to be one of my favorite cities to read about because I think this is the third or fourth time I have featured an article based on their practices. Leading a green revolution is nothing out of left field for a city that had really done great work to prioritize multi-modal transportation and pedestrian spaces in their city limits, but please read more and see what you might want to see your city or town borrow or innovate on for your future when we are all ready for living life in the public realm again. -Ryan

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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