A few things to know this week: July 23, 2021
This week’s things to know:
No New Roads: Fighting an Urban Highway Expansion in Shreveport (Youtube)
Earlier this week, I was on a webcast hosted by Strong Towns about a local highway project in Shreveport. We talked about a lot including the ways our transportation networks affects long term maintenance costs, listening to the diverse ways in which communities operate, how to sustainably fund our transportation networks, and the built environment's impact on our health. I really hope you'll check this out if you're interested in better ways to cultivate your community.! – Tim
Burned by Hot Housing Market, Some Buyers Back Off (nytimes.com)
Buyers across the country are finding the housing market so hot that they simply are priced out. This current reality, which seems to be touching just about every corner of the US should give us pause to reassess our housing and land-use decision making at home. – Marshall
How 3D-printed homes can help fix the housing crisis in America(thehill.com)
With apologies to John Anderson this is an interesting article about 3D “printed” homes. I find the discussion regarding waste and perhaps environmental damage to be the most interesting part of this topic. Evan Loomis, the founder of the company referenced in the article argues that a “typical house produces about four tons of waste”. This sounds believable, but I wonder how the CO2 production from the concrete production on these houses compares to the environmental impacts of stick-built homes. If any of our readers have opinions on this and would like to weigh in please send me an email at marshall@verdunity.com – Marshall
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.
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.
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:
Hey, friends who love cities! If you're looking for a place to discuss these topics (and more) with like-minded peers who want to help create a more resilient community, check out our Community Cultivators Network. It's free to join, and we are currently working to build new features for our 2021 relaunch, so stay tuned! We'll arm you with the content, ideas, and support to take small impactful steps to cultivate change.
