Richmond Promise’s Post

Today’s #MayorsDeskMonday feature is City of Birmingham, Alabama, Mayor Randall Woodfin (City of Birmingham Mayor's Office ), the city’s youngest leader in 120 years. In spring 2022, Mayor Woodfin spoke with Anthony Flint about setting up a unified command center for Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the American Rescue Plan Act funds, the city’s participation in a guaranteed-income pilot program for single mothers, and his vision for neighborhood revitalization. “We have to pave more streets,” he said. “We have to have adequate playground equipment. We have to partner with our power company to get more LED lights in that neighborhood, so people feel safe. We have to invest in healthy food options so our citizens can have a better quality of life. These are the things related to neighborhood revitalization that I frame and address to make sure people want to live in these places.” #MayorsDeskMonday is a series spotlighting the mayors featured in Anthony Flint’s recent book “Mayor’s Desk: 20 Conversations with Local Leaders Solving Global Problems.” Learn more about “Mayor’s Desk”: https://lnkd.in/et7kzed3 Buy the book: https://lnkd.in/eJwAE2RT

University of Colorado’s School of Public Affairs’ First Fridays shed light on the complex challenges in our housing market. We're at a crossroads - housing, transportation, climate, and the vision for Colorado's future are intertwined. 📈 Prop 123 enjoys widespread support because it's personal - communities willing to tax themselves for change. Around 80% of Colorado communities already leaning into Prop 123. 🏗️ Workforce housing development faces hurdles - financial strains, infrastructure issues. Need to look to innovative solutions like what is happening within Summit County with leasing hotels and converting into workforce housing (must work 30 hours within county to qualify). Multi-sector partnerships offer hope in addressing these challenges. 🤝 Collaboration with local communities is key - making it easy for the public to engage in critical problem-solving sessions and involve them as participants, not just recipients of solutions. Ensuring what's wanted by the public needs to align with what's practical. Measuring and sharing success will maintain buy-in. 🏘️ Ownership matters - people who love their community should own property. Let's address diverse and broader housing needs. Together, we can build a better future for Colorado! #AffordableHousing #CommunityEngagement #ColoradoFuture

As St. George, a rich wealthy, white-dominated suburb detaches from Baton Rouge city, motivated by the need to create a school system that is overall excellent, and not impacted by the almost always C grade performance of the #EBR East Baton Rouge Parish School System, do we call this classism or racism? The newly founded #city now has a great point to prove, standing as a municipality. Considering the bold steps taken by the many residents of St. George, do we expect more detachments and independence of other suburbs? What are the pros and cons of this development, socially and economically? Well, economically, we could predict the outcome considering median income per household and the cost of starting up to exist and develop even more. Socially, we might not be precise. However, we could ascertain the number, type and function of various social infrastructure currently in existence, and whether their coexistence advances a society that is not only unique but fully represented in terms of making consensus on critical decisions. We might say that because St. #George conquered becoming a city, but the next steps are the more important things. I am not being pessimistic but I do hope that they get it right. Important questions the leaders might want to cogitate and deliberate upon should and must include, "What is next for us to do? What are our vision and expectations? How do we measure our development and success? How do we become more representative of the diverse voices and different minds that make up our city? What are the critical lessons learnt from the failures and successes of existing cities within and beyond Louisiana? What do we stand for?" and many more. Again, as St. George declares its independence, which comes next? How else does it impact Baton Rouge as a city and a parish seat? Do we call this #racism or classism? #TheSolutionPeddler #GreenUrbanism Photo Credit: The Advocate

Monday, October 30 This week I’m thinking about Gainesville’s emergence as a multi-generational community. We’ve always been known as a university city (at least for the past century) but the realities of climate migration tell us we’re going to be more than that going forward. Are we prepared? Probably more than we think, if we make good choices with what we already have. I contend that we should play to our strengths, and not try to replicate other Florida “retirement cities.” What makes Gainesville interesting is that we offer a far more vibrant set of cultural and sports offerings than other cities our size, access to lifelong learning, less traffic than bigger cities, etc. We have a growing airport and plenty of highway access, and perhaps most important for an aging demographic, excellent health systems. What we don’t have is an abundance of places to live near the things that make us interesting and different. More westward sprawl doesn’t fix that. I know there is interest in adding more living space downtown. If someone proves that concept (in an area where land use and zoning already allow it and always have,) more demand and more supply will likely follow. On an entirely different topic, I reached out to Tampa Mayor Jane Castor yesterday following the mass shooting in Ybor City Saturday night, and following the even deadlier massacre in Lewiston, Maine last week. In Mayor Castor’s words, “We have to stop accepting these shootings.” She’s exactly correct. When we stop accepting random shootings as inevitable, perhaps we can seek changes. — On-topic: https://bit.ly/3QAX8ZZ (Mainstreet Daily News: Aging in Gainesville) https://bit.ly/3FBjp4x (Tampa Bay Times: Killings in Ybor City — Today I’m listening to Bobby “Boris” Pickett and the Crypt Kicker Five’s classic album The Original Monster Mash, for the obvious reason that it’s great. — Something to ponder: “We learn from failure, not from success!” -Dr. Van Helsing, via Bram Stoker’s Dracula — Today’s photo was taken on SW 13th Street this past Saturday evening. It’s one of my two favorite signs in our city.

Jefferson County

As we continue #HousingFuturesMonth, it's crucial to acknowledge the profound impact of spatial injustice on our communities. Growing up in the 1960s and '70s, I witnessed firsthand how Black neighborhoods across the nation were systematically targeted and torn apart for urban renewal projects and highway construction. In my own hometown of Kansas City, Missouri, the construction of a new freeway fractured our community, displacing many and severing access to opportunity for those who remained. This history, shared by many Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities, underscores the urgent need for change. Reparative spatial justice offers a path to confront these past injustices and design a more equitable future. Across the country, initiatives like the return of ancestral land to the Tongva people in Los Angeles and the housing reparations program in Evanston, Illinois, signal the beginning of a movement towards repair and redress in land and housing policy. Earlier this year at @PolicyLink, we announced our Spatial Futures Fellowship, which aims to uplift those dedicated to this cause, serving as the architects of a new America rooted in love for our communities. These changemakers are not merely critiquing; they are taking bold action to shape our collective future. #SpatialJustice #Reparations #CommunityTransformation Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gQhhVwdZ

Thursday I joined Whitfield County Commissioner Barry Robbins, Parks and Recreation Director Brian Chastain, and GIS Coordinator Jess Hansen as we addressed the Northwest Georgia chapter of the Georgia State Retirees Association. The Georgia State Retirees Association is an organization representing the interests of retired employees of the State of Georgia. The Whitfield County team discussed the proactive and collaborative culture of Whitfield County government and specifically focused on our park facilities. In this way we maintain grass roots contact with the people we serve and never pass up an opportunity to preach the gospel of good government. #county #counties #localgovernment #whitfieldcounty #georgia #stategovernment #publicservice #retirees #organizationalculture #organizationalleadership #organizationalmanagement #proactiveapproach #collaboration #teamwork #parksandrecreation #goodgovernance

It's programs and initiatives like this tourism and economic development become force multipliers in improving local economies and livability factors within communities.