A few things to know this week: March 19, 2021
This week’s things to know:
"Hey Kevin, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the recent American Rescue Plan (ARP) bill and the potential infrastructure bill that could be coming and how cities should be using this money." I've received quite a few messages and emails asking me this question. Let's just say I'm skeptical. Part of me wishes the relief bill didn't get passed, because I believe many cities and states will spend a lot of the money doubling down on status quo and postponing the hard reset that is needed. But, if cities use the ARP and potential infrastructure funds strategically to address maintenance and align development and services with what citizens are willing and able to pay for so they can begin closing their gaps, then it could turn out to be an excellent investment.
Feds to the Rescue, But The Peril Remains: Preventing the Next Fiscal Apocalypse (Planning Report)
How Not to Screw Up Your Government’s Stimulus Windfall (Funkhouser & Associates)
Here are opinion pieces on the ARP from two local government leaders I have a ton of respect for. The first is a piece written by Rick Cole, a longtime public official from California. The second is from Mark Funkhouser, past mayor of Kansas City, MO and former publisher of Governing magazine, a publication we feature in this newsletter regularly. -Kevin
Can America Learn From France’s Award-Winning Public Housing Architects? (CityLab)
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates deferred maintenance costs for public housing at about $70 billion. Meanwhile, the prized architects - Lacaton and Vassal - show that improvements can be affordable and uplifting while still remaining public — something the U.S. has yet to try. The current economic climate and ongoing health crisis has brightened the spotlight on issues like this. Is there a housing project in your community that could use investment and renovation like this? What public housing, if any, is there in your community? -Ryan
Racist Texas Highway Boondoggle Dealt Blow by Buttigieg’s FHWA (StreetsBlog)
Streets Blog's Kea Wilson put together this succinct summary of the stalled I-45 expansion project in Houston. This project illustrates the disproportionate effects that highway expansion projects have on communities that lack the political capital to push back - and FHWA has called out TxDOT for taking advantage of that. It's a huge win built on the growing awareness of the economic and environmental effects that car-centric transportation has on working class communities. The project isn't killed yet however - if the lawsuit is successful then TxDOT will have to reconsider project alternatives that they've done their best to ignore. I hope you'll check out the article to learn more about this. -Tim
Chip Conley’s pitch to reinvent retirement living (Market Watch)
Airbnb executive Chip Conley wants to shake up the look of your standard retirement community. Not the care facility but the residential community set on the golf course right outside of Palm Springs or Phoenix. He envisions that his idea of a “regenerative community” will be to the 21st century what the standard retirement community was to the 20th. Instead of a golf course at its core, these new communities will have a farm based on regenerative agriculture principles that help to restore the soil - posing to have a positive impact on climate change. This farm would be surrounded by an Midlife Education Academy campus for “midlife wisdom retreats”. The vision is to Incorporate both sale and long or short-term rental housing opportunities for those interested in an inter-generational, interconnected community. While the evolution of your typical retirement community is perhaps long overdue, does this sound like the sustainable solution? Would we rather do away with setting aside retirement communities that are tacked on to the outskirts of cities and towns, and rather embrace our elders as many other cultures do across the globe? -Ryan
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