San Francisco is rolling out a new “participatory budgeting” initiative that would allow residents to choose how the city spends its tax dollars. The online voting process would be the first major U.S. city to use citizen crowdsourcing to make and improve policy decisions. According to a recent article in TechCrunch, “[The city’s plan] is for each city district to vote on $100,000 in expenditures. Citizens will get to choose how the money is spent from a list of options, similar to the way they already vote from a list of ballot propositions. Topical experts will help San Francisco residents deliberate online.” This is a great example of how the United States is starting to use online tools to engage people in a way that impacts their lives. If the model can work in San Francisco, the rest of the country could be well on its way to a truly democratic government.
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Tag: san francisco
San Francisco’s Aggressive Plan Could Abolish Carbon Emissions
The Bay Area recently passed a climate protection resolution that will slash carbon emissions in the region 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. If successful, the policy could dramatically change the city’s transportation landscape. According to Quartz, “The Bay Area has California’s most extensive public transportation system and its tech-savvy drivers have been earlier adopters of electric cars… But [in order to make this work] the [air district board] will also need to convert more of the region’s bus and truck fleet to carbon-free fuels and electrify diesel-powered ports.” Beyond getting more people in battery-powered cars and electric buses, the agency acts as an incubator for new technologies. “For instance, it’s helping to fund a pilot project to create an electric taxi service to link regional airports in San Francisco to the region’s cities,” according to Forbes. If these progressive measures to slash carbon emissions work in a car-centric city like San Francisco, the policy could serve as a model for the rest of the country.
Farm-Fresh Food Delivered to Your Doorstep Without the Middleman? It Can Be Done. Here’s How.
If you want fresh fish, you drive to the docks. Fresh vegetables, the farmer’s market. But what if it came to you, hours after being plucked from the ground, hauled out of the water or coaxed out of an oven? What if you could buy all the food you eat from local, sustainable growers and ranchers and fishermen, all year round, every day, without having to traipse from place to place?
If the San Francisco startup Good Eggs continues its impressive run, that’ll soon be possible in cities all over America. Bay Area residents—as well as folks in Brooklyn, N.Y., New Orleans and Los Angeles—can now order and eat enough local food at www.goodeggs.com to avoid supermarkets altogether. Continue reading “Farm-Fresh Food Delivered to Your Doorstep Without the Middleman? It Can Be Done. Here’s How.”