Half of Nation’s Poor Don’t Get Food Stamps
A recent study by the National Priorities Project shows that, “half of the nation’s eligible poor aren’t getting the food stamps to which they’re entitled.”
“The District of Columbia had the highest participation rate in 2004, at 71.8 percent, while Missouri ranked first among the 50 states in getting food stamps to its low-income residents. Nevada ranked last among states, with 32 percent of its eligible residents getting food stamps.”
Furthermore, “The study found that a significant number of counties, 13.2 percent, had below-average percentages of low-income people participating in the program, even though they had above-average poverty rates.”
Source: Study: Half of Nation’s Poor Don’t Get Food Stamps
Social Explorer
I finally found the resource I’ve been looking for on the web. SocialExplorer.com allows users to create maps using census data. Above is a map of Philadelphia showing median income by census tract. The source data is from the 2000 census.
Architecture for Humanity on Wired.com
The article I wrote about Architecture for Humanity’s Open Architecture Network was published on Wired.com today. It’s called “Design Within Reach: Architecture for Humanity Builds the Future of Housing.”
The article was written as a part of an experiment in crowdsourced journalism called Assignment Zero. Let me know what you think. Also, check out all the other Assignment Zero articles on Wired.com.
World Urban Population To Double
The Independent reports, “The combined forces of population growth and urbanization are creating a planet of slums, where the urban population will have doubled by 2030, according to a report released by the United Nations.”
“The UN’s findings echo recent predictions that 2008 will see a watershed in human history as the balance of the world’s population tips from rural to urban. Many of the new urbanites will be poor and the shelters into which they move, or are born, will be slums.”
Source: Planet of The Slums: UN Warns Urban Populations Set To Double
First zero-emission home unveiled in UK
Zero-emission Home | From BBC
The BBC reports, “The UK has unveiled the first zero-emission house that will set the environmental standard for all new homes in future.”
The “Lighthouse” features solar panels, a biomass boiler, and water efficiency devices such as rainwater harvesting. Also, its owners will be able to tell if they are wasting any energy through a “smart metering” system.
There’s no details about when the house will be built, how much it’ll cost, or what materials will be used for construction. So, really, it’s not the first zero-emission house until it’s built.
Source: First zero-emission home unveiled
Nonprofits use Google Earth to illustrate causes
Appalachian Voices is using 3D maps in Google Earth to show destroyed Appalachian Mountains | From CNet
Google Earth is making it easier for nonprofit groups to make maps that illustrate their causes. While normal GIS (Geographic Information Systems) programs are both expensive and difficult to use, Google Earth is free and easy.
According to CNet, “The popularity of mapping tools from Google and rival Microsoft has spurred nonprofits and other organizations to develop “layers” for the service that visually guide people to a cause. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency earlier this year said it plans to use Google Earth to map out toxic wastelands.”
gCensus takes layers most nonprofits are using a step further by allowing users to incorporate Census data. This allows users to create maps, of normally dull data, into a medium everyone can understand.
The Google Earth and gCensus combination creates an incredibly powerful, and easy to use, resource for nonprofits.
Source: Do-gooders doing Google Earth
The Top Ten Green Skyscrapers
The Bahrain World Trade Center Towers, Kingdom of Bahrain | From EcoGeek.org
EcoGeek is awesome. Today they posted the top ten green skyscrapers in the world complete with construction status.
Source: Uber-Eco-Towers: The Top Ten Green Skyscrapers
Designing To Make A Difference In The World
Design Like You Give A Damn: Architects for Humanity
Lisa Selin Davis and Jeff Muckensturm interview Cameron Sinclair from Architecture for Humanity, in person on April 26th, 2007
Architecture for Humanity is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization “founded in 1999 to promote architectural and design solutions to global, social and humanitarian crises… Architecture for Humanity creates opportunities for architects and designers from around the world to help communities in need. We believe that where resources and expertise are scarce, innovative, sustainable and collaborative design can make a difference.” AFH, Website. Their work can be found all over the world– from the tsunami ravaged regions in South-East Asia, to the devastation of the Gulf Coast in the US.
Architecture for Humanity’s latest milestone is the Open Architecture Network. The Open Architecture Network is an attempt to bring crowdsourcing to building design. The site facilitates the sharing of design information and allows its users to adapt specific designs to fit their local needs. This interview focuses on the Open Architecture Network.
Read more
Gambling Philadelphia’s Future
The Governor of Pennsylvania, Ed Rendell, has been pushing for casinos on Philadelphia’s Delaware River waterfront for many years. However, it wasn’t until recently that his efforts have started to develop into a reality. The story of slot parlor gambling in Philadelphia, which is mired in deceit, cronyism, and secret deals, is flawlessly told in “Gaming the System” by Matthew Teague.
Even if you live nowhere near Philadelphia, this article illustrates the corruption, at all levels of government, that you don’t want to believe could ever be true. For example, Act 71–the Act that would allow gambling in Philadelphia–was passed late at night on the 4th of July with “no public scrutiny, no hearings, and no input from citizens.”
Many concerned citizens have been organizing against casinos in Philadelphia. During the mayoral primaries, which were last week, Casino Free Philadelphia held a vote on a referendum–which was forced off the “legitimate” ballot by the casino control board–that would keep casinos 1,500 feet from homes, schools, and places of worship. The results showed that 95% of voters do NOT want casinos in their neighborhoods.
There are many problems with casinos including traffic and crime. But my biggest issue is that they’re essentially they’re a tax on the poor. The majority of their income, between 30 and 50 percent, comes from “problem gamblers” which leads to increases in divorce, bankruptcy, suicide, white-collar crime, lost work time, stress-related sickness, anxiety and depression.
As an economist interviewed for Teague’s article put it, “In the end for every dollar of benefits casinos bring to Philadelphia, they will cost us more than three.”
Source: Philadelphia Magazine
“American Cities and the Great Divide”
Bob Herbert, one of my favorite columnists, wrote a great editorial in the NY Times this week called “American Cities and the Great Divide.”
In it, Herbert expresses his concern for New Yorkers left behind in what’s been considered a successful era for the nation’s largest city. “It’s a measure of how low the bar has been set for success in America’s cities that New York is thought to be doing well, even though 185,000 of its children ages 5 or younger are poor, and 18,000 are consigned to homeless shelters each night. More than a million New Yorkers get food stamps, and another 700,000 are eligible but not receiving them.”
I whole heartedly agree with Herbert’s concern with urban issues being left out of presidential debates, saying, “There was a time, some decades ago, when urban issues and poverty were important components of presidential campaigns. Now the poor are kept out of sight, which makes it easier to leave them farther and farther behind. We’ve apparently reached a point in our politics when they aren’t even worth mentioning.”
