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Why Kansas City's Free Transit Experiment Matters

Laura Bliss

December 13, 2019 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City, Missouri is the first major U.S. city to offer free bus rides city-wide, hoping to expand access and boost the local economy. The city emulates free public transportation plans around the world, which have seen success - and struggles - with increasing equity and economic stimulation through no-cost transportation plans.

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Why One City is Prioritizing Financial Empowerment

Emma Coleman

December 06, 2019 |

Route Fifty |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, St. Paul, Minnesota

To tackle the inequality and lack of opportunity facing many of its historically marginalized communities, St. Paul, Minnesota, recently opened an Office of Financial Empowerment. The office will create a city-wide strategy to address ways to improve the financial health of citizens, including an assessment of the ways that government fines and fees might actually work against residents. The city expects successes similar to an effort to eliminate all library fees, which helped increase traffic to low-income libraries and allowed those with previously suspended library cards to check out books again.

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Tulsa Officials Used Data to Help Solve the City's Problems 

Kristi Eaton

December 02, 2019 |

AARP Magazine |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Tulsa, Oklahoma

In Tulsa, Oklahoma, a group of city employees use data to drive decisions in city government ranging from the use of tennis courts to which job applicants will be awarded positions. In one project, the group analyzed 911 call center volume data and optimized the number of employees needed for different times of the day. Their adjustments helped the 911 call center to answer 90 percent of calls in less than 10 seconds.

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Creative Freedom

Gwynne Watkins

November 18, 2019 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York

New York-based nonprofit, Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA), runs theater programs for individuals experiencing incarceration as a way of improving mental health and reducing recidivism. While the United States’ criminal justice system has been focused on punitive measures, there’s been a trend toward rehabilitation across the country in recent years. Participants in RTA have shown a rate of recidivism of just 5% – compared to a 60% national average – but funding and sustainability remain a consistent hurdle.

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Houston, we have a solution: How the city curbed homelessness

Henry Gass

November 18, 2019 |

The Christian Science Monitor |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Houston, Texas

Across the country, governments at every level are working to tackle homelessness. In Houston, connecting permanent housing to services has proven an effective strategy but it has required an increase in affordable housing stock and more strategic organization between non-profits and officials.

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Turning Paris's underground car parks into mushrooms farms

Dougal Shaw

November 11, 2019 |

BBC |

Video |

Under 3 Minutes

Response Location: France, Paris

Mushroom farms are popping up in underground parking lots in Paris. The city, facing a surplus of lots as car ownership declines, has been holding competitions to find creative, new purposes for them. Urban farmers, Cycloponics, won one of these competitions and now operates three of these mushroom farms, selling their crops to local organic grocery stores in the area.

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Could a Tax Credit Reduce the Impacts of Philly Students' Debt?

Rachel Chernasky

November 05, 2019 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Leaders in Philadelphia are considering offering a $7,500 tax credit to college graduates who owe $35,000 or more. The city hopes that the program will help retain more talent and chip away at Pennsylvania's high levels of student debt.

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We've Had Terrible Fires. Why Haven't More Homes Burned?

Sharon McNary

October 31, 2019 |

LAist |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

In and around Los Angeles, firefighters have been able to better respond to wildfires because of better equipment and more personnel. With more off-road trucks, fire helicopters, fire engines, and a new supercomputer system, the fires of 2019 have had less of an impact than in past years. But without a formal analysis – including one that takes into consideration external factors like socioeconomic status – it’s hard to concretely understand why there’s been less damage.

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In some states, the census is an investment. Not Connecticut.

Mark Pazniokas

October 30, 2019 |

The Connecticut Mirror |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Connecticut

The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving granted $448,400 to 20 community organizations to support voter registration and the census. Connecticut did not earmark any money in the state budget for the census. Public libraries will use grant money to hire staff to help residents complete the census online, the method being encouraged due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The census is tied to federal aid and political representation so advocates warn that, despite being a federal responsibility, state funds are needed to support nonprofits and foundations working to ensure an accurate count of Connecticut residents.

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This Conservative City Built a $132 Million Park Using One Weird Trick

Zach Mortice

October 11, 2019 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

After falling behind in urban planning and innovation in the 1990s and early 2000s, Oklahoma City created a limited-time sales tax called MAPS to pay for capital projects, like the new Scissortail Park. The tax consisted of a series of one-cent sales taxes and has brought in over $1.5 billion and has helped fund convention centers, other urban green areas, and more.

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