http://ofbyandforus.org/blog The US Initiative will invite all kinds of people to think about the values in the Declaration of Interdependence, come up with new ideas for how we live together in cities, and then spread the word to help turn those ideas into action. en Copyright 2012 2012-01-31T22:06:14+00:00 http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/bmbywrrxdmg/ http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/bmbywrrxdmg/ #When:22:06:14Z qY4t53 pqsyfudrlivb, ixyefcknlnor, [link=http://zaddjgxxpnvc.com/]zaddjgxxpnvc[/link], http://cwhfccgkpssd.com/ 2012-01-31T22:06:14+00:00 http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/eaziovkronxjac/ http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/eaziovkronxjac/ #When:15:18:43Z usT0rh bhtyofkoefqi, nkunrjehjsrc, [link=http://wklcdiuurrys.com/]wklcdiuurrys[/link], http://lvhhmqpbclnx.com/ 2012-01-31T15:18:43+00:00 http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/ywqvbgpuphp/ http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/ywqvbgpuphp/ #When:02:10:58Z fd7A9J mvqnyhwmqkqa, zasxnckdqhsw, [link=http://grghopmrjmuf.com/]grghopmrjmuf[/link], http://ndcyzvfkrmxp.com/ 2011-12-29T02:10:58+00:00 http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/gateway-to-college-national-network-wins-grant/ http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/gateway-to-college-national-network-wins-grant/ #When:17:24:20Z The US Initiative Opportunity Challenge in Memphis developed Big Ideas to put talent to work. Among the recommentations was to create and enhance existing dual enrollment programs for high schools. Gateway to College National Network, lead by President Laurel Dukehart, a national expert at the Opportunity Challenge, recently won a $3.5 Million grant to expand dual credit programming serving youth otherwise unlikely to graduate. The grant, which was administered by the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation and the Social Innovation Fund, will help an additional 750-1650 low-income youth earn high school diplomas and college credit. opportunity 2011-04-05T17:24:20+00:00 http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/san-francisco-greens-streetscapes/ http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/san-francisco-greens-streetscapes/ #When:17:52:08Z At the US Initiative Livability Challenge in Indianapolis, local stakeholders discussed the importance of quality of place in attracting talent. Following the dialogue on the importance of good deisgn and nature in cities, an article in the New York Times discussed San Francisco’s effort to turn “pavement into parks and public spaces.” Pavement to Parks is a leader in the national movement against asphalt. Using parklets and small gardens in the sidewalks, San Francisco is tackling livability and city beauty by investing in community spaces. livability 2011-03-30T17:52:08+00:00 http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/indianapolis-launches-placemaking-competition/ http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/indianapolis-launches-placemaking-competition/ #When:19:12:35Z One Big Idea that came out of the US Initiative Livability Challenge came to fruition this week when the Indianapolis Downtown Inc. launched the Monument Circle Idea Competition. The placemaking initiative is seeking constructive assessments “to inform future planning and uses for Monument Circle.” An article in the Indianapolis Star reports that minor tweaks stemming from the competition “would go a long way toward drawing more people to the Downtown landmark and keeping them there.” The competition, which will award a $5,000 prize to the contestant who enters the best idea for improving Monument Circle, hopes to generate ideas to make Indianapolis’ most recognizable landmark an important component of an increasingly vibrant and thriving city center. livability 2011-03-10T19:12:35+00:00 http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/venue-for-miami-brain-trust-featured-in-new-york-times/ http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/venue-for-miami-brain-trust-featured-in-new-york-times/ #When:20:11:50Z Frank Gehry’s recently built New World Symphony Building, the venue for the upcoming Miami Brain Trust, received praise in the New York Times for its accessibility and openness. The New World Symphony Building, which “is the centerpiece of a 15-year effort to rejuvenate a depressed area of Miami Beach,” is as much a metaphor for the upcoming Miami Brain Trust, entitled RE:VISION MIAMI, as it is the venue. The Brain Trust, to be held February 3 and co-hosted by CEOs for Cities and Florida International University, will bring together a new generation of thinkers and leaders to transform Miami for the future by employing the city’s optimism to achieve the goals of the US Initiative. Hosted in a building that hopes to create a “civilized community” through design, the Miami Brain Trust similarly aims to form a better Miami community for the 21st Century. community 2011-03-02T20:11:50+00:00 http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/miami-herald-uses-brain-trust-to-fight-back-against-forbes/ http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/miami-herald-uses-brain-trust-to-fight-back-against-forbes/ #When:19:22:28Z Miami civic leaders met last week to generate ideas for Miami’s future at the Miami Brain Trust. The event, hosted by Florida International University President Mark Rosenberg and led by CEOs for Cities as part of the US Initiative, brought 60 local leaders together to elevate critical action strategies for Miami’s leadership in the 21st century. An article in The Miami Herald emphasized Miami’s ability to evolve in response to changing city demographics. Miami has demonstrated a remarkable capacity to reinvent itself as it embraced successive waves of newcomers and immigrants. The Brain Trust focused on how Miami can continue this by adapting and capitalizing on its growing global reputation among opinion makers as a sophisticated place to live, work, and visit for the future. opportunity 2011-03-01T19:22:28+00:00 http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/a-model-of-civic-action-in-toronto/ http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/a-model-of-civic-action-in-toronto/ #When:18:46:59Z In how many communities could you get 1000 civic, government, business and labor leaders to gather for two days to wrestle seriously with the future of their city? Count Toronto in.  Organized by Julia Deans at Civic Action, the Civic Action Summit brought Torontonians together to tackle issues such as immigration and talent, the environment, the next generation of leaders, neighborhoods, the economy and the arts with new papers on each topic, lots of facilitated discussions and a few keynote speakers.  Carol Coletta, President and CEO of CEOs for Cities, was among those giving a keynote address.  Her remarks, captured in a blog post at Belonging Community and in an article in the Toronto Star detailed CEOs for Cities research that shows the drivers of city success are Quality of Talent, Quality of Place, Quality of Opportunity. And, as Carol noted, nothing happens with Quality of Leadership. A number of cities in our network have already connected with Julia about the work of Civic Action after her presentation on immigration at our national meeting in Detroit.  Her work continues to impress us, and there is much we can learn from her and from her group of Toronto civic activists. community 2011-03-01T18:46:59+00:00 http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/cleveland-sees-economic-value-in-beauty/ http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/cleveland-sees-economic-value-in-beauty/ #When:18:30:32Z As CEOs for Cities prepares to put a big stake in the ground on placemaking as an economic development driver, we find ourselves increasingly talking about the role of beauty in cities. We tackled the concept in a big way at the Livability Challenge in October where we spent 2.5 days in Indianapolis generating Big Ideas for how a city could make beauty, in the form of art, good design and nature, always present.            With beauty on our brains, this articlein the Cleveland Plain Dealer caught our attention in a big way. After years of allowing automobiles to rule planning, Cleveland is changing course. Mayor Frank Jackson’s Group Plan Commission recommends the creation of “a more gracious public realm around a series of new investments.” The evolving plan hopes to alter Cleveland’s culture through parks and public spaces. By raising land prices and advocating for pedestrian parity, “the recommendations embody the idea that civic beauty could be an economic development tool for a shrinking Great Lakes metropolis trying to turn itself around.” livability 2011-03-01T18:30:32+00:00 http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/citysumers/ http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/citysumers/ #When:18:57:29Z According to consumer trends firm trendwatching.com, urban dwellers are posed to become the largest global consumers. These “citysumers” are “the hundreds of millions (and growing!) of experienced and sophisticated urbanites…, who are ever more demanding, more open-minded, but also more proud, more connected, more spontaneous and more try-out-prone, eagerly snapping up a whole host of new urban goods, services, experiences, campaigns and conversations.” Thus, due to urban boom, urban might, and the prevalence of urban culture, the urban consumption arena is rapidly expanding. Cities, as magnets for wealth, talent, and creativity, are a hotbed of opportunity for future economic success and product innovation. opportunity 2011-02-03T18:57:29+00:00 http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/web-coding-for-more-transparent-and-effective-city-governments/ http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/web-coding-for-more-transparent-and-effective-city-governments/ #When:17:05:12Z In an article on the potentials of coding, Fast Companyy explores the web as a platform for citizen involvement. Gov 2.0, which uses “public-spirited innovation” to develop social media focused on developing more effective city governments, has the potential to provide cost-effective solutions around the country by encouraging action. For example, New Haven’s SeeClickFix website started as a mechanism for reporting pedestrian safety problems. Now, citizens are utilizing the site to form lobbying groups and to create better neighborhoods. Similarly, Code for America, a one-year fellowship that places coders with a variety of city governments, works to promote gov 2.0 on a larger basis. By placing 20 young and inspired coders throughout American cities, Code for America hopes to develop transparent and effective web applications that promote civic engagement and improve city governments. This new form of municipal innovation could be the bright future of citizen participation in city government.  community 2011-02-01T17:05:12+00:00 http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/cities-the-single-most-important-invention-in-human-history/ http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/cities-the-single-most-important-invention-in-human-history/ #When:16:06:18Z Cities are not only the “real” centers of sustainability, but also the hubs of economic growth and perhaps most important the engines of innovation that allow for this continued economic growth. According to physicist-turned-urban-researcher Geoffrey West in an interview in this week’s New York Times Magazine, cities abide by the rules of “superlinear scaling.” Basically, when people come together, they become much more productive and this attracts more people who also become more productive, and so on. West finds that “whenever a city doubles in size, every measure of economic activity, from construction spending to the amount of bank deposits, increases by approximately 15 percent per capita. It doesn’t matter how big the city is; the law remains the same.” West goes on to call cities “the single most important inventions in human history. The idea that enabled our economic potential and unleashed our ingenuity.” And in fact to sustain this superlinear growth, cities must be centers of constant innovation.  When one resource runs out due to the ever-growing consumption to fuel growth, we are forced to find and exploit a new resource. He finds a stark contrast between cities and corporations. “Corporate productivity, unlike urban productivity, was entirely sublinear. As the number of employees grows, the amount of profit per employee shrinks.” West believes this is due to the top-down nature of corporations, while cities, for the most part, are “unruly.” “Think about how powerless a mayor is,” West says. “They can’t tell people where to live or what to do or who to talk to. Cities can’t be managed, and that’s what keeps them so vibrant. They’re just these insane masses of people, bumping into each other and maybe sharing an idea or two. It’s the freedom of the city that keeps it alive.” More on his work can also be heard in this Smart City Radio interview. optimism 2011-01-31T16:06:18+00:00 http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/changing-the-way-a-community-sees-itself/ http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/changing-the-way-a-community-sees-itself/ #When:16:03:46Z Brian Payne, President of the Central Indiana Community Foundation and leader of CEOs for Cities’ Indianapolis Cluster, was the keynote speaker at the City of Calgary’s 2010 Centre City Congress. Speaking to a sold out audience, Brian showcased the nationally renowned Indianapolis Cultural Trail, a “big idea” he says has not only connected people to downtown but also changed the way the community sees itself. The Cultural Trail was one of the primary reasons Indianapolis hosted the Livability Challenge in October. A recap of his remarks is available here. livability 2011-01-31T16:03:46+00:00 http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/the-future-of-the-crowdsourced-city/ http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/the-future-of-the-crowdsourced-city/ #When:16:01:02Z Take a look at the graphic summary Sunni Brown produced of the conversation the Rockefeller Foundation and CEOs for Cities staged in New York on the Future of the Crowdsourced City.  You can also find the graphic summaries at the Rockefeller Foundation site along with three presentations that set the stage for our discussion from McKinsey, Institute for the Future, the Spatial Information Design Lab at Columbia University. community 2011-01-31T16:01:02+00:00 http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/census-gives-miami-good-news-bad/ http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/census-gives-miami-good-news-bad/ #When:15:57:31Z With the 2010 Census now published, stories about how we’ve fared in the first decade of the 21st century are popping up everywhere. In Miami, where key demographic indicators held steady since 2000, education indicators are the big story. A December 18 Miami Herald article reveals the Miami-Dade metro area has seen a nine percent increase in high school diploma holders (from 68 to 77 percent) and a four percent increase in attainment of at least a bachelor’s degree (from 22 to 26 percent). Unfortunately, these gains reflect big disparities in educational attainment among ethnic and racial groups. Miami Dade College president and CEOs for Cities partner Eduardo Padrón is quoted in the article, stating plainly: “This is not a Hispanic problem or an African American problem. It’s an American problem. A much larger proportion of our work force is going to be Hispanic and African American. If these people are not prepared to assume the jobs that are being created in the 21st-century `knowledge economy,’ the country is in for real serious problems.’‘ Padrón citied CEOs for Cities Talent Dividend research, which has calculated the economic impact of boosting college attainment by one percentage point as worth $2.3 billion in personal income to the Miami metro. Read the full article here. We hope to build on this dialogue when on February 3, together with our partners at Florida International University, CEOs for Cities hosts The Miami Brain Trust where we intend to explore how the city’s collective and catalytic leadership is transforming Miami as a place where all its citizens can imagine a better future in the 21st century. optimism 2011-01-31T15:57:31+00:00 http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/portlandia/ http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/portlandia/ #When:15:51:36Z Portlandia, a new television show that spoofs Portland’s urban vibe, showcases the city’s unique culture. A New York Times article on Portlandia discusses the factual basis behind much of the satirical content in the show. As the show demonstrates, people are obviously interested in Portland’s successes, many of which we intend to explore in depth during CEOs for Cities spring meeting, Strategy Session 2011. The meeting, held on April 27-28, will focus on the Quality of Place leadership that has made Portland one of the country’s most distinct and desirable cities in which to live. livability 2011-01-31T15:51:36+00:00 http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/city-tlds-infrastructure-for-the-public-interest/ http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/city-tlds-infrastructure-for-the-public-interest/ #When:02:56:06Z When my community board passed an Internet Empowerment Resolution on April 19, 2001 calling for the acquisition of the .nyc TLD (like .com and .org but just for New York), we imagined the Internet as important, but not all that important. But 10 years later we see it getting more important every day. Since Top Level Domains or TLDs were introduced 25 years ago, corporations, schools, not-for-profits, nation-states, the federal government,and other sectors have had access to relevant TLDs. Their experience has presented important lessons on the effective use and misuse of these critical internet resources. Soon cities will finally gain access to Top Level Domains such as .nyc, .chicago, .paris and .berlin. If developed as public interest infrastructure, these TLDs will enable cities to facilitate robust local communication, grow their metropolitan areas in a coordinated and sustainable fashion, and better coordinate their activities with other cities. These meta capabilities are on top of the vast benefits that arrive with a TLD worth of good domain names: for small businesses, for civic initiatives, for government service delivery… They provide the opportunity for the creation of an digitally intuitive city with resources more readily found on those all important search engines. The NYS not-for-profit created in 2006 to follow up on that Internet Empowerment Resolution, Connecting.nyc Inc., has advocated with ICANN (the TLD issuing entity) and New York City for the development of city-TLDs as public interest resources. We’ve achieved many of our goals and developed a wealth of resources cities can use when thinking about the utility of TLDs for their needs. And while our focus has been New York City, last year we organized and moderated a workshop at the U.N. sponsored Internet Governance Forum held in Vilnius, Lithuania. Entitled City-TLD Governance and Best Practices, the workshop brought city TLD thinkers and developers together for a first focused meeting. The workshop report and our other resources are available through the links below for your perusal. We expect 2011 to mark the start of a more focused engagement by cities globally to shape the global governance structure for city-TLDs and for cities to start coordinating the development of their TLDs. This post is a first step in our 2011 initiative to engage with global cities in those areas. Best, Tom Lowenhaupt ———————————————————————- Thomas Lowenhaupt, Founder & Chair Connecting.nyc Inc. tom@connectingnyc.org Jackson Hts., NYC 11372 718 639 4222 web – http://connectingnyc.org wiki – http://bit.ly/OurWiki blog – http://bit.ly/OurBlog 2011-01-25T02:56:06+00:00 http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/bio-mass-powered-high-speed-rail/ http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/bio-mass-powered-high-speed-rail/ #When:17:10:50Z I want to start a movement to link Chicago,Memphis, and Atlanta by High speed rail powered by Bio-mass Zero emission power plant will create thousands of jobs and spur economic development along the rail 2011-01-17T17:10:50+00:00 http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/talk-back-to-your-city/ http://www.ofbyandforus.org/post/talk-back-to-your-city/ #When:23:23:06Z GOOD reporter Alyssa Walker described Give a Minute as a way to “talk back to your city.” Visit http://www.giveaminute.info to see how CEOs for Cities and Local Projects are making it possible for Chicagoans to share their ideas on how to make it easier to get around the city without owning a car. And here’s a short video to support the Give a Minute campaign. The good news is that Give a Minute can both be executed in any city. So can Microsoft TownHall, the technology used to support the Detroit Community Challenge demonstrated at the Urban Leaders Summit by Microsoft’s Stan Freck and Synteractive’s Evan Burfield.  Interested?  Contact Shreya Parekh. connectivity 2010-11-10T23:23:06+00:00