Can Free College Save American Cities?

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.

Charter school takeovers: As York schools near privatization, lessons from New Orleans and Michigan

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.

Crime and blight still remain

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.

Egyptians Show Pride as Cairo Cleans Up

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.

Former Black Panther Launches Oakland Urban Farm to Give Ex-Prisoners a Fresh Start

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.

How One Weekend in Dallas Sparked a Movement for Urban Change

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.

How Seattle Made Dark Alleys Safer—By Throwing Parties In Them

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.

How the Fastest-Warming City in the Country Is Cooling Off

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.

How to Build a Better Neighborhood

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.

Interrupting violence in Brooklyn

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.