Rising Tides, Rising Costs
In the face of climate change, flood insurance rates are rising. But program rules, and the history of who has been shunted into the floodplains, means the brunt is being bore by those least able to absorb it.
“Doing What They Do Best”: Lessons of Occupy Sandy
Many people have passed around the article “Occupy Sandy Emerges as Relief Organization of the 21st Century,” in the weeks...
One Less Truth-Teller
Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Democrat of Ohio, died yesterday after suffering a burst brain aneurysm.
Tubbs Jones, 58, was the first black woman to...
Rail Time Enthusiasm
Summoning the ghost of Eisenhower, President Obama announced yesterday “a new era in American train travel” involving an $8 billion “down payment” for, and...
Free Transit?
New York City’s attempt to pass a congestion pricing plan like those that have been so successful in London and elsewhere was killed a...
Asian-American Poverty Higher than You Think, And Growing
The US Census recently released American Community Survey (ACS) numbers for 2013. My narrow, first and foremost task with these new numbers is to look at poverty numbers. The growth in numbers of people in poverty is slowing—possibly a sign that the economic recovery is finally trickling (albeit a tiny trickle) down to poor people. […]
Is a Meritocracy Really What We Want?
“Together we can break down all the barriers holding our families … back. We can build ladders of opportunity...
Airbnb, Test Your Hosts for Bias
Airbnb, as with some other of its fellow peer-to-peer “disruptive” tech solutions, has come under fire from a few...
Urban Planning Needs More Women
As a feminist who loves labeling herself with the word feminist, I get stuck in a lot of frustrating conversations with those who...
GIS Mapping in Australia Shows How Transit Reduces Auto Dependence
GIS mapping in Melbourne, Australia, on patterns of car ownership shows that transit works: the closer one is to a rail transit line, the...
Who’s Going to Report the News?
Rooflines has been watching a disturbing decline in the newspaper industry as print media is falling victim to fewer subscribers, falling numbers in advertising,...
Reflecting and Planning Using a Community Wealth Building Lens
Over an organization’s 25 years in existence, how do staff and volunteers measure impact and build off of lessons learned to guide their next steps forward?
There is No “Culture of Poverty”
This is Part 2 in a series about the 50th anniversary of the War on Poverty. Click here for ...
Hurricane Evacuees are Forcibly Evicted in Miami
More than 60 Miami families, many undocumented, have been homeless since last week’s hurricane and were forcibly removed last night by local officials.
Conflict and Placemaking: Tactical Urbanism on Nicollet Mall
Earlier this year, the City of Minneapolis broke ground on a $50 million overhaul of Nicollet Mall, a 12-block centerpiece of its downtown. Like...
…At Your Own Risk
Whole Foods Market CEO John Mackey’s piece in The Wall Street Journal, “The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare,” touted his own company’s health insurance...
The Justice Gap
The post-Katrina work of legal services lawyers shows that if you care about equity, legal aid belongs high on the list of crucial disaster recovery programs.
Where’s the Map for Social Inequity?
I spent the day at a workshop on July 9 called, “Post-Sandy: The Effect on the Urban,” held at New Jersey Institute of Technology...
The Mess In Texas (Houston: We Have a Recycling Problem)
The New York Times reports that of the nation’s 30 largest cities, Houston, the fourth largest city behind New York City, Los Angeles, and...
Trash: Pick It Up
Though questions about how we’re going to buy stuff in post-credit America may dominate the news, some interesting stories about what we’re going to...