A few things to know this week: February 19, 2021
This week’s things to know:
Government Has a Trust Problem. It Will Take Time to Restore (Governing)
The trust gap with public officials has never been bigger. In this piece, Aaron Renn argues that to bridge the trust gap, our public entities need to execute and deliver consistently, and to do this, they must focus their actions toward their most important goals. -Kevin
How highways make traffic worse (Vox)
It has long been established in traffic engineering classes across the country that more lanes does not mean less traffic. Only when that sentiment bleeds over into media outlets that don’t solely focus on the issue does it become reality to some more pedestrian readers. A video also softens the burden for most, me included, who are seemingly always more captivated by visual information and graphics than plain text on a page. Watch and let us know if there is a stretch of road or a highway that you believe your community could benefit from getting rid of or replacing with multimodal options. -Ryan
Road Diets, Bicycle Trains, and Walking Audits Can Transform Your Neighborhood (Blue Zones)
When it comes to conducting walking tours and identifying ways to make neighborhoods more walkable and 'people-centric', Dan Burden from Blue Zones is the man. This exerpt from the book A Walk Around the Block by Spike Carlsen provides insight into Dan, his approach to walkshops, and tips for improving walkability. If you're looking to do a similar walkshop (how our team refers to them) in your community, Verdunity can help. We've found walkshops to be an excellent way to engage residents, learn what's most important to them, and discuss low-cost solutions that can be made to improve daily quality of life in the neighborhood. -Kevin
Why does Texas have its own power grid? Curious Texas investigates (Dallas Morning News)
I think it goes without saying that it has been a tough week for all of us that call Texas home. Winter weather, the likes of which we have seen over the past days is not what we or our infrastructure were adequately prepared for. My biggest struggle with it all was why were were struggling to keep the lights on while our neighbors to the North, Oklahoma, didn’t come close to the issues we have had. Nataly writes here about how Texas developed as an “electric island” and the implications that it has had. -Ryan
APA Texas Chapter: Tom Yantis & Kevin Shepherd, Tuesday Feb. 24th (APA)
Next Tuesday, Feb 24th. Taylor, TX ACM Tom Yantis and I will be giving a presentation on the economics of land use for TX APA's southwest chapter. -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.
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