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  • Can We Turn Down the Temperature on Urban Heat Islands?

    Researchers are using citizen science volunteers to more accurately identify hot spots in cities, where some temperatures are significantly higher than their surrounding areas. The data has also shown that there is a correlation between lower-income neighborhoods and higher temperatures. Climate change is expected to increase the number of extreme weather events, including heat waves, so mapping these urban heat islands can help cities develop new urban planning strategies.

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  • ‘I just want more for them': New program aims to boost families' economic mobility

    Economic mobility becomes far more attainable when children grow up in a "high-opportunity" area as opposed to a "low-opportunity" area: housing within the city with access to transportation and amenities, higher-performing schools, and lower crime rates. An enhanced voucher program through the Charlotte Housing Authority offers families housing vouchers to move into high-opportunity areas. They also offer incentives to landlords who accept the vouchers, such as up to $1,000 to repair damage beyond normal wear and tear. The program is still new, and it will take generations to see its affects.

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  • Heat is deadly—even in Montana. But the city of Missoula is doing something about it.

    Adapting to climate change takes planning and partnerships. In Missoula, Montana, partnerships with nonprofits like Thriving Earth Exchange (TEX) and Climate Smart Missoula reinforce the city’s climate planning. TEX connects cities and urban planners with professors, experts, and other nonprofits that can assist in tackling climate change issues. By layering socioeconomic data over a heat map of the city, TEX scientists could reveal populations at highest risk of extreme temperature impacts. The team then shared data with health officials, policy makers, and the community.

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  • Springfield could be a template for Bridgeport

    Springfield, Massachusetts leaned into urban renewal and public-private partnerships to keep their local economy alive amid the manufacturing downfall. Now, Bridgeport - a town of similar size and economic fate - looks to Springfield as a model for success at it struggles with its own economic insecurities.

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  • Solar Panels as Solution for SEPTA's Power Outage Problems

    Storing solar energy improves the resilience of public transportation systems to disruptions in the energy grid. With the potential of extreme heat or weather conditions to cause issues in the reliability of electrical power, Philadelphia’s SEPTA public transportation system has begun to invest in solar power. By storing solar energy in batteries at various hubs, the public transportation system can avoid delays caused by local outages.

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  • These Austin Tiny Homes Could House 40% of the City's Chronically Homeless Population

    A tiny home and RV community outside of Austin, Texas does more than house the homeless; it provides community and economic independence. With backing from local business, nonprofits, and religious institutions, Community First Village houses over 200 people and provides residents with ways to find jobs in the community as well as access to healthcare information and services. With homelessness on the rise in Austin, Texas, one community has a solution that includes housing, employment and above all a sense of social connection.

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  • Can Flexible Pricing be Fair?

    San Francisco is using technology to calculate the cost of parking throughout the city, depending on the demand in specific neighborhoods at any given time. While critics were wary of the effect flexible pricing would have on lower-income residents, the pilot program resulted in lower parking costs on average and demonstrated that flexible pricing could promote equity. In other cities around the world, flexible pricing systems implemented through the use of technology have been effective in raising revenue from higher-income people and neighborhoods to reduce prices and reinvest in equitable solutions.

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  • Equity, Health, Resilience, and Jobs: Lessons from the Just Growth Circle

    A collaboration between an Atlanta-based nonprofit and an international climate organization sparked the Just Growth Circle, an initiative that brings topics like racial equity, economic justice, and climate change to the forefront of urban planning in Atlanta. The organization puts responsibility into the hands of residents and has updated city plans to center around building community trust and long-lasting relationships between locals and city officials.

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  • How a 276-person town in Kansas is turning an empty school into a business incubator

    When the city of Hanston, Kansas had to shut down the local middle/high school, residents refused to let the school sit vacant; instead, the building now houses a town-owned business incubator called Elk Plaza. Uses of the transformed building include the town's only commercial kitchen and movie theatre, a flexible event space, and office space for local entrepreneurs.

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  • Chicago remade its 127-year-old rapid transit system. Are there lessons for Metro?

    Officials who want to improve Washington D.C.'s unreliable metro system look to the Chicago Transportation Authority to find examples of success in rebuilding a subway system. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel prioritized upgrading tracks and stations and has seen a large increase in daily riders and overall satisfaction with the system since the renewal took place. Now, Washington officials invite advice and collaboration in their quest to revamp the region's metro system.

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