The Alexandria, Virginia-based group Public Decisions offers a variety of training materials and events on how to involve the public in public policy and social issues. A longtime user of Internet conferencing technology for their training class, they have taken the leap and are sponsoring the online conference on “Using Virtual Reality for Stakeholder Engagement: […]
Planetizen Post: Making the Car Free Choice
See my latest Planetizen post: “Making the Car Free Choice” On related topics here see Are you ‘Carfree’, Does Beijing Have Too Many Cars?, Climate Change: The Moral Imperative for Smart Growth (on urban form and driving), and (a question hopefully we’ll ask soon) Will Electric Cars Fuel Urban Sprawl?
Vacant Property Website Wins Round 2 in ‘Apps for Democracy’ Contest
A website inspired by my idea for a vacant property database has won First Prize in Round 2 of the Apps for Democracy-Community Edition competition sponsored by D.C. government. The site’s creator, Shaun Farrell, will receive a $3,000 cash prize and now has a chance (along with other contest apps) at a $10,000 Final Round […]
Proposals for Reforming D.C.’s Advisory Neighborhood Commissions
Summer is always a good time to blog about things that have been bouncing around my head for a couple months, or in this case, years. The topic: reforming Washington, D.C.’s Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, or ANCs. The ANC system was created in 1976 as part of the D.C. Home Rule Charter. In order to provide […]
Inside Cambridge’s Drinking Water System
I recently spotted a bundle of blue fliers in the lobby of my apartment building where the mailman piles the junk mail. The newsletters had tiny print and a dense, monochromatic layout. I grabbed it immediately: it was the City of Cambridge 2008 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report. Equal parts public policy, hydraulic engineering, public […]
Planetizen Post: The New Normative Planning
Read my newest Planetizen post: The New Normative Planning
Learning From I-Neighbors
The story of I-Neighbors.org is important to anyone hoping to use technology to complement traditional forms of urban community. The website was created by Keith Hampton, a scholar interested in “the relationship between new information and communication technologies, social networks, and the urban environment.” A trained sociologist, as a newly minted PhD Hampton taught at […]