Next City
30 January 2020
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Vacant lots in the city are being greened with an idea dubbed “IKEA, but for parks” which provides preassembled options to create parks in vacant lots. Community members are given layout and design options to choose from based on how the neighborhood decides to utilize their empty lots. Residents are then provided with supplies and training to build and maintain a public green space. The model allows for efficiency and speed while promoting civic participation.
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/04/kalamazoo-the-promise-save-american-cities-105366.html#.VYmmCflViko
Cassie Walker Burke
Politico
3 April 2014
Text / Over 3000 Words
Huge numbers of students lack the chance to go to college because of financial problems. Recently, Kalamazoo schools received more funding allowing them to have the chance to help and pay for students to then go to college and receive a higher education.
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2015/01/busted_unions_and_broken_promi.html
Daniel Simmons-Ritchie
PennLive
12 January 2015
Text / 800-1500 Words
York schools are considering changing public schools into charter schools, following the example of New Orleans and Michigan, in order to help their crumbling school system. The privatization of these schools can help the facilities become more financially stable, in turn preventing school closures and instability for their students.
http://www.fayobserver.com/article/20140222/News/302229724
Greg Barnes
Fayetteville Observer
22 February 2014
Text / 800-1500 Words
Civic leaders in the U.S. struggle to effectively help their distressed neighborhoods. East Lake, Atlanta, created a replicable model that mixes residents of differing socio-economic status, and focuses on education and health in the area.
http://content.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,813052797001_2057154,00.html
Jesse Hardman
Time Magazine
25 March 2011
Video / 3-5 Minutes
Citizens in Cairo have been working to make the streets cleaner in an effort to create more pride for the country and get the government's attention. From picking up trash and painting lampposts to collecting donations from passersby, the community is working together to make a new Egypt.
http://civileats.com/2015/09/09/former-black-panther-launches-oakland-urban-farm-to-give-ex-prisoners-a-fresh-start
Sarah Henry
Civil Eats
9 September 2015
Text / 800-1500 Words
After incarceration, Black men and women have a difficult time re-integrating into society without financial and educational resources. A former Black Panther activist has created the non-profit Oakland &the World Enterprises to offer an urban farm as a prisoner re-entry program and community center. The Oakland project supports self-sufficiency, self-determination, and empowerment for Black people.
http://nextcity.org/features/view/how-one-weekend-in-dallas-sparked-a-movement-for-urban-change
Mike Lydon
Next City
20 April 2015
Text / Under 800 Words
A Dallas urban neighborhood was dilapidated with abandoned storefronts and offered no vitality for pedestrians. A group of artists and community members created Build a Better Block, in which local artisans and small businesses took over a vacant block and transformed it for a limited time to encourage the ingredients for more permanent urban renewal.
http://www.yesmagazine.org/happiness/how-seattle-made-dark-alleys-safer-by-throwing-parties-20150826
Araz Hachadourian
Yes! Magazine
26 August 2015
Text / 800-1500 Words
Alleys in Seattle were once places of illicit, illegal, and unsanitary activity. The International Sustainability Institute in Seattle began organizing music and art events to bring in people, which, in turn, cleaned-up the crime and garbage. As an urban development strategy, adjacent vacant storefronts re-opened for business and beautification could be seen in new gardens.
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/12/louisville-heat-tree-cover-113424.html#.VYmlw_lViko
Erica Peterson
Politico
9 December 2014
Text / Over 3000 Words
Although residents turn up their air conditioners, Louisville heat is increasing the city’s death rate by 39 people every year. The city mayor launched a tree commission for planting more trees and since 2011 has planted over 12,000 trees. The canopies from the tree offer cooling shade and bring down the temperature of the city as a whole. The response also includes the installation of green roofs and in-depth research on urban heat islands.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/18/how-to-build-a-better-neighborhood
Tina Rosenberg
The New York Times
18 June 2014
Text / 1500-3000 Words
The Oak Cliff neighborhood in Dallas suffered from recession-closed businesses and crime. Then community members used placemaking, in which people shaped their own environment to improve the quality of life, and the concept of Build a Better Block, which was a pop-up event showcasing art, food, music, and local faire. The idea gives citizens a fresh look at the possibilities through which to transform the space in which they live, and it has attracted attention across the country and around the world.
http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/interrupting-violence-brooklyn
Elissa Curtis
Trymaine Lee
MSNBC
8 April 2014
Text / Under 800 Words
In Brooklyn's Crown Heights neighborhood, an organization called Save Our Streets Crown Heights (S.O.S.) is taking steps to disrupt violence. The organization is modeled after Chicago's violence interrupters, which employ people from the neighborhood to connect with those most at-risk and disrupt conflicts and retalitory violence.
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