Governing
18 June 2018
Text / 800-1500 Words
United States
Watch out, potholes. Local governments are coming for you. New technology makes it easier than ever to report potholes, track repairs, and anticipate road issues before they even happen.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/02/armed-with-data-fighting-more-than-crime
Tina Rosenberg
The New York Times
2 May 2012
Text / 800-1500 Words
CitiStat has show great success in cities like Baltimore, where it has improved city services' efficiency (removing snow, fixing potholes, etc.). Many cities use Stat programs, but Baltimore has been a particular case of success. Looking at how it implemented its CitiStat program holds lessons for other cities.
http://blog.ted.com/crisis-text-line-nears-2-million-messages-answered
Kate Torgovnick May
TED Blog
6 May 2014
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Crisis Text Line provides counseling services via text, a medium with which teens are sometimes more comfortable. The approach complements the work of counselors and collects data for research purposes.
http://www.fayobserver.com/a9f5d553-c59b-5643-9b12-55aca76dde64.html
Greg Barnes
Fayetteville Observer
22 February 2014
Text / Under 800 Words
In Memphis, a creative blight-reduction initiative called 25 Square Blocks broke down the city into blocks. Inspectors were able to quickly identify all the violations and fix them, using the same amount of funding, but less time, as the old call-and-respond model.
http://www.wnyc.org/story/freelance-nation-greatest-economic-transformation-human-history
Manoush Zomorodi
WNYC
16 October 2013
Radio / Over 15 Minutes
The 2008 recession’s job losses spurred a development of a Do-It-Yourself economy. With the advent of Uber, Etsy, Airbnb, and others, the marketplace has become full of micro-entrepreneurs who thrive with independent web-assisted businesses.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/how-cities-are-searching-for-solutions-among-massive-mounds-of-data/article23131733
John Lorinc
The Globe and Mail
20 February 2015
Text / 1500-3000 Words
New York City suffered from fires that erupted in overcrowded, run-down apartments. Then the city sleuthed through residential records and found that landlords who foreclosed let their properties fall apart and ignored safety-code violations. Greater Toronto wants to expand upon New York City’s method by using transportation surveys, census data and computer data to build transit lines.
https://medium.com/re-form/how-did-the-meadow-vole-cross-the-road-21a0f0931418
Benjamin Goldfarb
re:form
9 October 2014
Text / 1500-3000 Words
As a state with robust populations of wildlife, Montana has had its share of roadkill. Its Department of Transportation developed animal shelving, a type of wildlife crossing, to enable safe passage for small animals who need to cross the road. The measure, combined with other types of crossings, has reduced animal-vehicle collisions by half.
http://www.elpasotimes.com/story/archives/2015/03/21/tulsa-outreach-key-palatable-school-closures/73899232
Lindsey Anderson
El Paso Times
21 March 2015
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Tulsa Public Schools drew on expertise across many sectors and extensive neighborhood input to address the issue of thousands of empty seats in local schools. Through a community-focused process, they were able to mindfully close under-utilized schools and better maximize the community's resources for students.
http://www.fayobserver.com/article/20131222/News/312229757
Greg Barnes
Fayetteville Observer
22 December 2013
Text / Under 800 Words
Areas of High Point, North Carolina have suffered from crime, poverty, and neglect, until the city began implementing Operation Ceasefire, a policing program that uses data collecting, community support against crime. High Point is now leading the country in its success of Operation Ceasefire, boasting dramatic reductions in violent crimes, domestic abuse, robberies, and drug-related offenses.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/12/out-of-indias-trash-heaps-more-than-a-shred-of-dignity
Sarika Bansal
The New York Times
12 June 2013
Text / 800-1500 Words
Throughout India, wastepickers – people who scour landfills for garbage they can sell to recyclers – live at the bottom of society. But the city of Pune did something radical: with the help of a collective, they did away with expensive garbage trucks, and now all household garbage is collected by wastepickers with pushcarts. Pune saves millions of dollars each year and recycles more – and the wastepickers have decent wages and social standing. The concept is now spreading globally.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/13/in-india-latrines-are-truly-lifesavers
Vivekananda Nemana
Ankita Rao
The New York Times
13 November 2014
Text / 1500-3000 Words
India has had a problem in which 620 million people openly defecate outdoors, causing harm to hygiene, sanitation, food, and water resources. The president of India funded an initiative to build public toilets for the people in his country, but the people did not use them because of old traditions and behaviors. The Total Sanitation Campaign is slowly changing villagers’ minds by having local leadership persuade those who resist the toilets by holding community activities and creating special committees to maintain the sanitation.
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