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Smarter Design for Skid Row

Liz Wolfe

June 28, 2017 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

Mitigating homelessness on Los Angeles' infamous "Skid Row" comprises myriad obstacles. But a collaboration between city officials, a USC architecture class project, and the Skid Row Housing Trust has responded with a multi-pronged solution in "pod-style" housing units. They have composed a cost-effective pre-fab design technology that eases their transportation, on-site construction and visual imposition on a neighborhood, while the pods' zoning classification as "congregant housing" minimizes the risk for local opposition to homeless support services on claims of structural or aesthetic noncompliance.

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How Tampa Turned a Dead Zone Into a Downtown

Richard Danielson

June 15, 2017 |

Politico |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Tampa, Florida

Tampa's downtown used to be an industrial wasteland. After six mayors, 40 years, and half a billion dollars of investment later, the city's downtown is thriving. That's just the tip of the iceberg, as Strategic Property Partners is investing $3 billion in development in the next ten years for hotels, offices, and apartments. The University of South Florida is also working with developers as an anchor institution to support more growth.

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Creating a Better Community Through Text Messages

Krutika Pathi

June 14, 2017 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

For urban residents, participation in city-planning often means navigating complex administrative bureaucracy and struggling through a lack of transparency, but in New York City, efforts are being made to engage citizens in the renewal (and preservation) of Brownsville, Brooklyn. The city’s Housing Department has worked with the online platform coUrbanize to facilitate community-sourced ideas for the future via text. These residents’ responses are then inputted into a publicly-accessible map, which the city has pledged to incorporate into its planning -- a commendable effort at civic participation, local control, and transparency in government.

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City Is Unequal for Bike Users

Bruce Murphy

June 11, 2017 |

Urban Milwaukee |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

A report by the Rails to Trails Conservancy in Milwaukee has identified how increased access to bike paths could be a catalyst for development and economic growth in low-income, minority neighborhoods where people are less likely to be able to afford a car. Ironically, it is those neighborhoods that currently have the fewest bike trails. To call attention to this, the study created a "connectivity score" outlying the massive potential that bike trails create to key community entities such as schools, hospitals, and employment centers, while better connecting diverse neighborhoods and improving overall quality of life for the city as a whole, as they have done in Minneapolis.

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Columbus, Ga., used as model in downtown Prattville's renaissance

Marty Roney

June 08, 2017 |

The Montgomery Advertiser |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Prattville, Alabama

Prattville, Alabama's city-run Historic Redevelopment Authority has emulated the downtown revitalization project successfully implemented by Columbus, Georgia in an effort to reverse the community's issues of vacant industrial sites and a visually blighted downtown region. Through a collaboration with area entrepreneurs, a private real estate company, the Chamber of Commerce, and other departments and members of the local government, the HPRA is transforming the small city. Several local business prepare to open, the old cotton gin mill will open new apartments, and recent community events demonstrate an increasing public interest in a revitalized downtown Prattville.

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How Did a Co-op Build Affordable Homes in Ballymun … and Can It Be Done Elsewhere?

Lois Kapila

June 06, 2017 |

Dublin Inquirer |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Ireland, Ballymun, Leinster

Drawing on his experience creating affordable housing abroad, Hugh Brennan created the Ó Cualann Cohousing Alliance just outside Dublin, Ireland, where state and city officials are grappling with a shortage of affordable housing. The OCCA has brought together local governing councils and private investors to remedy the issue.

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Why Boston Is Paying Ex-Gang Members To Go To College

Andrew Zaleski

June 02, 2017 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Boston, Massachusetts

Dorchester, the Boston neighborhood with the highest poverty levels, struggles to keep kids in school from engaging with gangs and crime. But College Bound Dorchester (CBD) is fast rewriting the solution to high drop out and recidivism rates, paying ex-offenders a weekly stipend to enroll in and complete a diploma program and proceed to (and through) college. With "core influencers" -- ex-gang members who have "left behind their troubled pasts" -- as role models in the community, CBD emulates similar programs in Chicago and Baltimore, and studies show the initiative is working.

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Two communities and a proposal for a shared pool. Why it failed.

Patricia Sullivan

June 01, 2017 |

The Washington Post |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Virginia

Both Alexandria and Arlington wanted a large swimming pool; however, the two cities couldn't work together on a joint project because they couldn't agree on the location. Thier attempts to create a shared swimming pool ultimately failed. In the process, there were times of progress and cooperation between the public and private sectors, thereby creating an opportunity to learn from what went right and wrong.

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Lessons from India in building urban resilience

Patralekha Chatterjee

May 29, 2017 |

Citiscope |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: India, Surat, Gujarat

TARU, an Indian thinktank, has found that Indians cities have combined decentralized action and "multi-stakeholder engagement" in public policy to respond to problems of scarcity in water and power as well as climate change-related natural disasters. Municipalities are putting responsibility for improving local lives at the grassroots level; integrating disruptive technologies from the private sector; and fostering collaboration between government and citizens.

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How 3 Cities Are Using an App Designed to Help Them Collaborate

Johnny Magdaleno

May 22, 2017 |

Next City |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Cities are often alone in trying to develop solutions to their problems. The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago developed an app— "The Peer Cities Identification Tool"— that matches similar U.S. cities and encourages discussion about challenges and successes.

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