Displeased by 2010 Census questions
The Census is arguably the most important data source for activists, sociologists, urban planners, nonprofits, and the like. It provides information used for apportioning seats in Congress, redrawing political districts, and–very importantly–allocating federal funds. So there’s bound to be a reaction when the government tampers with the Census questionnaire.
According to a USA Today article titled “Some displeased by fewer questions on 2010 Census form,” “Advocacy groups already are jockeying to have issues they care about included in the questionnaire that will be sent to every American household.”
The government is switching to a “short form,” so some questions will be eliminated sparking outrage by ethnic advocacy and child welfare groups. For example, “It dropped the foster care category in favor of asking whether anyone in the household sometimes lives elsewhere—children away at college.” Meaning the financial status of nearly 500,000 foster children will be unclear.
One laptop per US child
According to “U.S. schools may join inexpensive laptop project” by Jim Finkle, “The nonprofit ‘One Laptop per Child’ project said on Thursday it might sell versions of its kid-friendly laptops in the United States, reversing its previous position of only distributing them to the poorest nations.”
The laptops will be available in the US for $176, rather than the $100 price tag for developing nations. Still, this is great news for parents and American schools.
Hopefully this will lead to the US regaining its crown as global technology king.
$3,000 car available soon
Nissan is building a car, to be available in Europe and Asia next year, priced around only $3,000. While there’s no indication yet about gas mileage, the car is promised to be safe and comfortable. Rather than stripping down a previously released model, Nissan is designing this car from scratch. Hopefully they will last long enough to be both environmentally and economically conscious.
Check out the article “Under $3000: The Race To Build Really Cheap Cars” on TreeHugger.
London free wi-fi and power bills rise after electric deregulation
The BBC reports that London has turned on its free wi-fi network in the city’s business district. London’s hope is that the network will “be invaluable to traders, bankers and brokers who want access to their data when they are on the move–or out at lunch.” Hopefully this effort will pay off and eventually spread to the rest of London.
Politicians and power companies promise lower prices and better service when arguing for a deregulated utilities industry. However, the article “Power Bills Soar After Electric Deregulation” shows deregulation leads to higher utility bills. For example, “An Associated Press analysis of federal data shows consumers in the 17 deregulated areas paid an average of 30 percent more for power in 2006 than their counterparts in regulated states. That’s up from a 24 percent gap in 1990.”
Robotic parking garage and Microsoft $3 software
Two things from Engadget today. First, is the robotic parking garage (Pictured above). While there have been problems in the past with automated parking garages, including 300 cars being trapped for over 24 hours in Hoboken, NJ, this system looks safe and efficient. Check out the Popular Mechanics video on the Engadget post.
Microsoft will start selling its software, including Windows and Office, in developing nations for $3. But what seems like a philanthropic effort is questioned by Engadget which claims it “is in reality a shrewd business move to both compete with pirates and get kids hooked on Windows.” Microsoft’s Orlando Ayala supported Engadget’s argument by telling Reuters, “This is not a philanthropic effort: this is a business.”
Instead of Microsoft, let’s support OLPC XO which uses open-source software.
The Neoliberal City
A book by Jason Hackworth called “The Neoliberal City” was recently released. I have to buy a copy.
Hackworth overviews the outcomes neoliberal, or “free-market,” policies have had on American cities. Neoliberal policies, like the ones the IMF and World Bank impose on developing nations, encourage “free” trade and individual freedoms while they discourage state regulation and social spending. The results, Hackworth argues, is gentrification, privatization, corporate invasion, and public-private revitalization projects that cater to wealthy residents–or non-resident investors–while leaving long-time and lower-income residents to fend for themselves.
I’ve witnessed this neoliberal trend first hand when the New Jersey government literally took over all functions of city government in Camden, NJ. The takeover resulted in massive social spending cuts, privatization, and the disenfranchisement of an entire city.
If you’re interested, David Harvey studies neoliberalism and cities as well. His recent book, A Brief History of Neoliberalism, “traces the rise of neoliberal principles based on the theory of free markets and unfettered international capital flows from an obscure economic theory to dominance on the world stage.” A recording of Harvey’s talk at UPenn in November, 2006, where he highlights neoliberal and gentrification issues in NYC, is available.
I’m looking forward to reading Hackworth’s work and writing a full review.
California threatens to cut the welfare for unemployed parents
NPR broadcast a piece about proposed welfare cuts for children whose parents aren’t working titled “California to Cut Welfare Safety Net for Parents.”
It’s not entirely California’s fault. The federal government is forcing states to cut pack welfare rolls, and so far California hasn’t been making its required benchmarks. If they don’t do something, they’re liable to lose federal welfare funding.
The NPR piece also brings up the debate about allowing parents to attend school, or college, while on welfare. They highlight a women who was forced to quit college and take a $7 an hour job so she could keep herself, and her kids, out of homeless shelters. Seems some don’t want welfare to be a college “scholarship.”
Apartments cheaper than shelters for the homeless
Paying rent for the homeless is cheaper than putting them in shelters. It sounds wrong, but it isn’t. According to a recent study by the University of California, “managing the problem of homelessness costs far more than ending it.”
For example, the cost of sheltering 15 people for a year and a half in San Diego costs about $3 million. According to an article titled “Room Cheaper Than the Street,” “Putting them up in ocean-view homes with 24-hour concierge service would have cost less.”
I first heard about this idea from Elisha Harag-Blaine, director of the SHIFT Coalition, in Lowell, Massachusetts. They’re trying to reduce the cost of sheltering the homeless by providing help with rent, moving costs, and utility bills. This idea prevents people, and families, from becoming homeless, thus saving the state, and city, millions a year.
Urban planning not priority to Philly’s mayoral candidates
Inga Saffron, writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer, wrote two great articles, published this week, on how the candidates for Philadelphia’s upcoming mayoral election don’t include planning among their priorities.
Inga’s says in her first article, “Forum shows urban planning not priority in mayor’s race,” that “This was supposed to be the year in which urban planning took center stage as an issue in Philadelphia politics, along with crime and schools. But if last night’s mayoral forum on urban design was any indication, the subject is still stuck with a bit role in the campaign.” Candidate Chaka Fattah thinks planning is about looks and a niche issue for the elite, saying, “”I’m interested in rebuilding the lives of people and not just the skyline.”
Interestingly, the American Planning Association is holding its annual conference in Philadelphia this weekend. Inga used this as an opportunity to write a commentary piece called, “Changing Skyline | Welcome, welcome, city planners.” In it, she explains how a lack of planning in the past led to what’s called the “privatization of planning” that leads to little resident input, and lack of forward thinking.
Second Life planning, sham mortgages, subsidized gentrification, and 2.5 demension maps
Folks in Paris are using the online “community” Second Life to press their local government to develop a new garden for Les Halles in the center of the French capitol. Organizers say there’s not enough public input on the plans for Les Halles, so they’re “urging locals to come up with their own ideas for the area’s gardens and post them in the online world of Second Life.”
The Washington Post ties the, now deflating, housing boom to sham mortgages. “Many experts have concluded that the nation’s real estate boom of recent years was fueled in part by weakened lending standards that sparked excessive demand and drove up prices. Now, some are worried that the looser standards may have permitted a boom of another kind–a big expansion of mortgage fraud.”
Planetizen links to an article today titled “There Goes the ’Hood.” It details how long-term tax abatements for renovated properties–owned mostly by newcomers and the well-off–in Richmond, Virginia lead to pushing out long-time residents tied to high taxes. Sadly, 10 year tax abatements were used in Philadelphia–my home town–to spur growth as well, resulting in lost tax revenue for a city that desperately needs it.
Google Maps added 2.5D building outlines. Check out City Hall in Philadelphia.
