As more areas become urbanized, Wheat Ridge, Colo., is going back to its roots. Literally.
At the end of the 1960s, Wheat Ridge turned its focus from its agricultural origins to residential and commercial growth. But 50 years later, it realized that farming was the backbone of the town for a reason. So, starting in July 2011, the town amended its comprehensive plan to make urban agriculture a central part, reports CityLab.
Some of the measures include allowing urban gardens (including for-profit farms), farmer’s markets and produce stands in every zoned area, as well as making the process of starting a farm as easy and efficient as possible. One way? Eliminating urban-garden permits.
“We wanted to move the city forward and encourage investment, but we didn’t want to lose its unique charm, which is largely based on our agricultural history,” Ken Johnstone, director of community development for Wheat Ridge, explains to City Lab. “We weren’t the only city getting grassroots interest in local farming and food production. We saw it as an opportunity to brand ourselves.”
And with these changes, the town’s actually seeing a boost in residents as people are coming back to the area to farm. In 2013, Dan Graeve and wife Christa moved to Wheat Ridge with their two friends Adam Slack and Shannon Dils to start True Roots farm. Although they didn’t have business or agriculture experience, it wasn’t a problem as city planners were there to help them every step of the way.
“We contacted the city as a place to start,” Graeve says. “At that point we didn’t even have a model per se. [The city planner] was willing to just sit down with us and talk about whether there was any city-owned property, or other space [for a farm].”
As Wheat Ridge continues to attract residents, its plan could be an inspiration for others.
“We’ve gotten a lot of attention for it, which is a good thing,” Johnstone says. “I don’t know if it’s a fad or not, but it [works for Wheat Ridge.]”
As the saying goes, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
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Tag: Local Government
Why New York is Encouraging Teens to Get Involved in Local Government
Every election politicians chase the young vote, yet most of the time, youngsters are among the fewest to turn out. In fact, in November’s midterm election young people under 30 cast just 12 percent of the votes.
But a new law in New York is encouraging young people to not only get involved in the election process, but to go after community board positions themselves. The state is among several communities across the country that are giving young people — who may not be old enough to vote — a chance to have a say on neighborhood issues, the Associated Press reports.
The City Council passed Resolution 115 to amend the Public Officers Law and City Charter to lower the age of eligibility to become a full voting member of the council, according to a press release, allowing teenagers as young as 16 and 17 to become a part of the decision-making process on anything from small business permits to city budgets.
“It helps young people get invested in their communities . and I really believe that 16- and 17-year-olds have a lot to contribute,” says state Assemblywoman Nily Rozic, a Democratic former community board member who spearheaded the law with Republican state Sen. Andrew Lanza.
The new law is not the first of its kind. New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer became a community board member in 1977 at the age of 16, and said the experience “has stayed with me my entire career.”
While some critics argue whether teens are responsible enough to give input on major community issues, supporters contend the policy could help prepare young people to become future leaders.
“I have worked with hundreds of interns over the years and have seen first-hand the meaningful role that young people can play in shaping policy and enhancing our neighborhoods,” says Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer. “Allowing young people to become Community Board members would benefit the Boards by adding a youth perspective, diverse skills sets and by increasing the breadth of community representation. It would also promote civic participation among our youth.”
Elsewhere in the country, the Los Angeles school district is planning to implement a non-voting student representative, while San Francisco allows young people from age 12 and up to participate in a youth advisory commission. As the AP points out, both Hillsdale, Mich., and Roland, Iowa, have elected mayors who are 18-years-old.
Still, the opportunity may not be for every teen, but giving minors a voice on issues that shape their neighborhood has the potential to energize the nation’s most important voting bloc.
The new law means teens can begin applying for seats on one of the 59 boards across the city early next year, with terms beginning in April.
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How One Small Town Is Taking a Stand Against High Gas Prices
Of all of the laundry lists of complaints, fluctuating, unpredictable gas prices is always near the top — especially during travel season when high fuel prices can be a major frustration. Which is why one town in Kentucky thinks that it’s found the solution: a municipally owned and operated gas station. And while most stations aim to clear a profit, this one hopes to ease the financial burden for drivers.
Somerset, Ky. is a stop on the way to Lake Cumberland, a popular tourist destination. So while town is only home to 11,000 residents, the stream of tourists passing through the area brings high gas prices with it, especially during the summer months between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
So the town, under the leadership of Republican Mayor Eddie Girdler, decided to buy a fuel station for $200,000 and spend an additional $75,000 on infrastructure and gas pumps. The fuel station only uses the gas from local supplier Continental Refining Company, and it’s operated by city employees from other departments who rotate working shifts at the station.
Fule prices in Somerset can rise about 20 to 30 cents per gallon on the weekends, so the station is setting prices in order to break even — as opposed to making a profit. The town government also has a little extra incentive in mind: lower, stable prices will encourage more tourists to pass through the area and frequent the station, as well as the other restaurants and businesses in town.
While the other private gas stations aren’t enthused about having a municipal station in town, Somerset isn’t the first town to employ a concept such as this. For example, the Bank of North Dakota is municipally owned and operated, plus there are 2,000 municipally owned electric companies in the country.
The citizens of Somerset view the station as a welcome addition, not to mention as the means to gain a little more control over some of the economic decisions impacting their daily lives. In fact, the gas station may just be a stepping stone to other town-owned projects.
“We are one community that decided we’ve got [a] backbone and we’re not going to allow the oil companies to dictate to us what we can and cannot do,” Girdler tells Yes! Magazine. “We’re going to start out small. Where it goes from here we really don’t know.”
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America Claims to be the Land of Opportunity. But Do The Numbers Support that Moniker?
It seems that whenever the federal government releases a new statistical report providing insight into the state of our country, the numbers feel negative. Some indicate the number of people living in poverty while others detail the federal deficit.
However, one man is looking to change this, or at least supplement it, with the addition of so-called “social mobility” statistics. With this measure, the U.S. would be able to quantify something it has always claimed to be the land of: opportunity.
And that’s exactly what Richard Reeves want to call this government department: the Office of Opportunity. Reeves is a fellow in economic studies and the policy director for the Center on Children and Families at the Brookings Institution.
How would social mobility be measured? Well, the government has a few options available. One idea is to analyze the proportion of children born in lower quintiles of the income ladder who move to the top two. Another option is to look at high school graduation rates of students with a GPA of 2.5 and higher. Or the government could use the number of four-year olds in preschool, the number of 25- to 49-year olds who work or the number of births within marriages.
All of these numbers would provide insight into the social mobility stats of the country. The government could also look to the U.K. and New Zealand for help in crafting it. These two countries already have similar programs established, such as the U.K., which uses 17 indicators to track long-term mobility.
Ultimately, Reeves hopes to create a dashboard of indicators that can be analyzed yearly in an annual report. This data, in turn, would help the government create informed polices.
The Office of Opportunity would function similarly to the Congressional Budget Office. It would be small and independent, making it a reliable and viable office that both Republicans and Democrats can trust. Reeves estimates that it would cost about $10 million a year to operate.
While, the federal government has yet to display serious interest in its creation, some cities and states, like Colorado, are considering the idea. And that may be the best thing — start local and build up.
According to Reeves, all that is left is for the government to decide if it is worth it.
“Adopting an official mobility measure is unlikely to require vast new data collection — though some investments would need to be made,” he writes in his Brookings proposal. “It’s more of a question of deciding mobility is worth measuring and promoting.”
So, what do you think – is it?
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How a Barn-Raising Mentality Can Work in the 21st Century
The idea of barn-raising probably brings to mind images of the countryside and endless miles of fields dotted with farm houses.
But Garreth Potts is reshaping the concept of a barn-raising as a way to grow community projects across cities.
Potts is a German Marshall Fund Urban and Regional Policy Fellow, and he just finished a fellowship during which he analyzed how cities fund and organize community projects. These assets — including parks, gardens, recreational centers, libraries, museums and civic centers — generally rely on city resources. But through his research, Potts discovered how volunteers and other funds can provide that extra touch.
From this work, Potts created a toolkit: “The New Barn-Raising,” (and started a nonprofit, The Barn-Raising) which ditches an individualistic role or responsibility in favor of a more communal one where everyone is invited: residents, local government, non-profits, businesses and unions. Potts believes that coordination between all the parties improves these community projects and supports increased innovation. To determine the level of involvement of the government and other groups, Potts’s plan is to have the voters decide.
Potts’s inspiration came mostly from his observations of the Duncan Street Community Gardens in East Baltimore, as well as gardens in Minneapolis-St. Paul and Detroit.
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So, what did he learn?
1. Volunteers are a vital, but they can’t do everything. For many projects, you need a city staff to oversee and organize and use volunteers for manpower. Ultimately, it’s a joint effort.
2. Don’t underestimate the nonprofit. These organizations are knowledgeable and can provide extra money for a project. For example, in Baltimore, a partnership with the city’s branch of ToolBank USA means access to necessary equipment for their community garden that would otherwise be hard to get.
3. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are not invincible. While NGOs do have power and resources, they are not infinite wells. If NGOs were expected to fund every underfunded project, it would require a large increase in donations.
To see the remainder of Potts’s suggestions, click here.
While we may not be holding literal barn raisings in our neighborhoods, Potts’s alternate version will provide the same benefits: community cooperation and beautification — just minus the hay and cows.
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Civic Crowdfunding: The Future of Paying for Community Projects
When we think of fundraising, most of us probably think of individuals and a private organization, but what about residents and their local government?
Well, Kickstarter-esque campaigns are getting a little kick themselves with the introduction of civic crowdfunding, a joint venture between citizens and the local government to benefit their town or city. Sites like Citizinvestor, Neighbor.ly and IOBY are providing a platform for governments and citizens to suggest community projects for the town and then raise the money to fund it.
The process is simple. Like ordinary crowdfunding, an idea is posted to one of the sites by either the government or an individual. People can then donate funds to the project online, assisting the government with the cost.
MIT’s Center for Civic Media’s Rodrigo Davies has been studying the growth and trends of civic crowdfunding over the past four years and has recently released his report, which focused on seven geographical areas: four in the U.S. and one each in the U.K., Spain and Brazil. Through his research, Davies discovered trends as well as questions that will need to be resolved as civic crowdfunding continues to evolve.
So far, Davies found that civic crowdfunding has been operating on a small scale, but nonetheless, it has been executed with great success. He reports that between 2010 and March 2014 there were 1,224 civic campaigns with a total of $10.74 million raised averaging about $6,357 per project. The greatest success though is that on Kickstarter, a popular crowdfunding website, 81 percent of projects labeled “civic” were fully funded.
Generally, the most common projects are gardens and parks because, Davies reports, they are usually volunteer-based, fast to build, and uncontroversial. And while civic crowdfunding has been limited to a few big cities such as New York and San Francisco, there’s no reason why they cannot spread to small towns and other cities.
The big question, though, is the role of governments in this endeavor. Davies points out that local leadership has three options: It can use the familiar platforms to promote projects, it can organize and execute its own campaigns, or (and this is Davies’s pick) it can adopt a “facilitator” role, in which it will help with financing but will indirectly be responsible. Ultimately, it’s about the government finding a balance between beings supportive and active all the while not overstepping its boundaries.
The bottom line? Citizens will benefit from these projects, even if it takes some time to figure out exactly how civic crowdfunding works best.
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Louisville Stretches to Help its Public Workers
Reach for your toes, reach for the sky, hold for 10 seconds…
This is what Louisville, Kentucky public works employees hear every morning before heading out on their routes.
Granted, it sounds a little odd. But a morning stretch is just one aspect of Louisville’s plan to prevent injuries among its garbage collectors. A little extra agility is never a negative, and over the past two years, city officials have been promoting it with their workers as well as incorporating it into their own policies.
Why?
January 2012 began with 32 percent of Louisville garbage collectors not working or having their duties limited due to serious injuries. Comparably, two years later in January 2014, that number was reduced to 15 percent. This staggering drop is a result of a three-part plan initiated by the city as part of its metrics-driven performance improvement.
Step one is the stretching routine that begins at 6 a.m. sharp every morning. Before the employees head out, all of them — including administrators — join together for a wake-up stretch led by a different designated leader each day. In a circle, everyone participates in the toe touches, jumping jacks, and squats to prepare for the busy day ahead.
Step two is the Accident Review Committee. For the committee, every injury is important, and it reviews each one — leading to a list of suggested measures to prevent them from recurring. Their recommendations are passed to department management who then compiles a final list and passes it down to the staff.
The final step is the modified duty policy. Typically, a worker is out for six to ten weeks following a serious injury. This new policy, though, gives them the option to return to work after one week, performing less strenuous office work.
The beginning of 2012 also saw the formation of the Office of Performance Improvement whose greatest accomplishment is the establishment of the Louie Stat — which increases communication between the mayor and all city departments by holding regular meetings during which relevant metrics are reviewed and plans are established for future improvement.
Just like the workers who wake up every morning to stretch their muscles, Louisville city officials clearly have taken the extra step to expand their programs and influence to benefit their workers.
A National Effort to Boost Local Resources
As smaller cities across the country grapple with poverty, unemployment, failing schools and other indicators economic distress, little time is devoted to ensuring they’re receiving the best tools and resources for better solutions.
While cities like New York and San Francisco benefit from the bright minds of Silicon Valley and other social startups, smaller communities are in need of similar solutions and ideas to restore economic recovery and growth. That’s why President Barack Obama launched the National Resource Network, a pilot program developed to be a consulting agency for policy, technical, and financial support for local governments.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) injected $10 million into the program, forming a network of experts with the New York University and the International City/County Management Association as well as Enterprise Community Partners, Public Financial Management Inc. and HR&A Advisors.
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The goal is to spend a three-year period listening to local governments for the type of guidance and assistance they need. From there, teams will be formed to create customized strategies. Local officials will also have access to a library of resources on government reform and community development, as well as a “311 for Cities.”
What’s that, you’re probably asking? The help line will serve as an online resource for government officials to log in for help with anything from public budgeting to crime prevention. After sending an inquiry, the network will review the problem and within three days, send a response with referrals and resources. The online site is available for about 50 communities and aims to expand to hundreds more over the course of the next three years.
While larger cities continue to innovate new policies and strategies to spur more community development, economic growth, and public and private partnerships, it’s important to keep in mind the thousands of smaller cities without the same resources — but that need of the same solutions. With a one-stop shop like the National Resource Network, help is on the horizon.
Improving Americans’ Health Begins with These Three Numbers
San Diego County’s Director of Health and Human Services, Nick Macchione, has spent the last five years working to turn around the region’s health problems. Disappointed with the results or pre-existing programs, he responded by bringing together a unique, diverse group of experts to transform the health conditions of communities all around the county. The aggressive ten-year plan, Live Well San Diego!, is based on the 3-4-50 public health principle. 3-4-50 represents the three major behaviors (low-quality diets, physical inactivity, and smoking) that lead to four chronic diseases (cancer, heart disease and stroke, diabetes, and lung diseases), accounting for 50% of deaths worldwide. (San Diego’s rate was even higher at 57%). Live Well San Diego! is built to encourage healthy choices in the community and create policy and environmental changes in government as well. The holistic plan uses outreach to churches, businesses and schools to change the culture from within. “Sometimes simple things have great impact,” says Macchione.
What Would a City with No Plastic Bags Look Like?
On January 1, big stores in Los Angeles will no longer offer shoppers plastic bags at all, making it the biggest U.S. city to ban plastic bags. The law will help reduce pollution and encourage the use of reusable totes. And to help Angelinos get used to the idea, city officials have cooked up a plan to give out free reuseable bags. What I love about this LA Times story is how the city “teamed up with environmental and charity groups that work with veterans and former gang members to produce a line of bags made from recycled or repurposed materials.” This kind of city-civic partnership is a great example of bringing every one who cares about an issue to the table and coming up with solutions that offer something to everyone.