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Monday Mailing

Year 23 • Issue 08 07 November 2016 1. FACT SHEET: Obama Administration Highlights Opportunities for Building Community Climate Resilience across the Nation 2. What Old Zoning Maps Tell Us About Planning 3. White House Rural Council Rural Strategies that Work Memo 4. What’s Your Ideal Community? The Answer Is Political 5. ODOT Eyes Expansion of Gorge Bus Service After Successful First Year 6. Washington Wake Up Call 7. Planetizen Top Websites of 2016 8. Flood Economics 9. Socio-Environmental Immersion Program Video Lecture Series 10. LOC Produces New Resource On Property Taxes 11. Funding Opportunities 1. FACT SHEET: Obama Administration Highlights Opportunities for Building Community Climate Resilience across the Nation Today, the Council on Climate Preparedness and Resilience released its “Resilience Opportunities” report, describing key Administration accomplishments and highlighting opportunities for Federal agencies and stakeholders to work together on a shared climate resilience agenda.

Quote of the Week: “Like water, be gentle and strong. Be gentle enough to follow the natural paths of the earth, and strong enough to rise up and reshape the world.”

-- Brenda Peterson

The Obama Administration and communities across the country have taken unprecedented steps to enhance preparedness for the impacts of climate change. Federal leaders have responded to input from governors, mayors, county officials, Tribal leaders, and other stakeholders to advance climate resilience. In addition, the Administration has taken action to integrate climate-risk considerations into Federal operations, improve access to climate data, information, and tools, and invest in building more climate-resilient communities.

To access the fact sheet, click here.

Oregon Fast Fact Dorris Ranch in Springfield became the first commercial filbert orchard in the state.

2. What Old Zoning Maps Tell Us About Planning Six years ago, I was trying to uncover how a neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio named “The Bottoms” had been originally zoned. I could not find the maps in the public library or, seemingly, anywhere.

But, then, after several phone calls, and the hint of recognition by a longtime planner, I received an invitation, made a quick drive across town, wound my way through a cubicle warren, and, finally… success!

There they were. Undated, tattered, pieced together with formerlytransparent-turned-yellowish-brown adhesive tape, and shelved away in flat files. The thrill of discovering these amazing lost artifacts of the urban past led me to celebrate—and then pause. What, I wondered, might be the value, if any, in these old, seemingly forgotten, and definitely arcane maps? This question started a strange and fascinating research journey that ultimately led to my recent article in the Journal of Planning Education and Research.

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I became fascinated by these old maps: as laws in the form of pictures, as administrative tools, as physical artifacts marked by wear-and-tear, and as early 20th century inventions created to apply ordinance texts to the real, physical territories of existing cities. I began to see them as visual abstractions of the American city: maps that obscured patterns of urban form, but also potentially revealed something about how Americans have viewed the city and the planning process. I decided to investigate by seeking out more maps, more examples from the 1920s and 1930s.

To access the full story, click here.

3. White House Rural Council Rural Strategies that Work Memo The White House Rural Council has released a memorandum entitled Rural Strategies that Work, which presents strategies for Federal work in rural America that have resulted in improved outcomes over the course of the Obama Administration. Authored by Secretary Vilsack, Office and Management and Budget Director Shaun Donovan, Domestic Policy Director Cecilia Muñoz and National Economic Council Director Jeff Zients, the memorandum presents policies and administrative actions that increase rural communities’ ability to access and leverage local and Federal resources.

To access the memo, click here.

4. What’s Your Ideal Community? The Answer Is Political The American political map that has emerged over the last half-century, with blue cities and red beyond, is a product of both the ideological realignment of the two parties and geographic sorting among voters. It also raises a fascinating question about how our politics are shaped by where we live.

Is it simply that people who are already liberal choose dense urban environments and conservatives choose more suburban living? Or do these places influence how we feel about government — and each other — in ways that make us more liberal or conservative?

Political scientists, fortunately, cannot randomly assign people to cities, suburbs or rural outposts and then wait to see if their politics adapt. But their theories of why density might matter for partisanship add a provocative layer to how we think about the differences among us that are more often defined in an election year by education, income or race.

To access the full story, click here.

5. ODOT Eyes Expansion of Gorge Bus Service After Successful First Year

Turns out there are other ways to solve auto overcrowding and congestion than spending billions on freeway expansions.

The first season of the Oregon Department of Transportation’s Columbia Gorge Express bus service has “far surpassed” expectations, the agency announced this morning. “The public response highlighted a significant demand for transit service in the Gorge.”

Launched in May as a way to relieve serious overcrowding of private cars in the Gorge, the service carried more than 30,000 people between the Gateway Transit Center, Rooster Rock State Park, and Multnomah Falls. The service was offered for 18 weekends and it was the first year of a two-year pilot project. There were initially three, 20-seat buses, with a third, 53-seat bus added in July. All four buses had bicycle racks that ODOT says were “used every day.”

To access the full story, click here.

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6. Washington Wake Up Call In July 2015, many eyes were opened to the dangers of the Cascadia subduction zone thanks to a New Yorker article that outlined the stark impacts a large-magnitude quake could have on the Pacific Northwest. Nearly a year later, emergency officials had a new awakening—Washington State wasn’t nearly ready to face them.

The realization first became apparent during the multi-state Cascadia Rising preparedness drill, which took place June 7-10. It became official last week, however, when the state released the final draft of the action report, finding its current approach to disaster response would be “grossly inadequate” to address anything like the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami scenario projected in the drill.

“Everything we depend on to live our 21st-century lives is going to be significantly degraded or eradicated,” Washington Emergency Management Director Robert Ezelle told the Seattle Times. “The needs are going to be immediate, they are going to be urgent and they are going to be overwhelming.”

To access the full story, click here.

7. Planetizen Top Websites of 2016 The annual list of the best planning, design, and development websites, representing some of the top online resources for news, information, and research on the built environment.

The Internet and the field of planning are engaged in a continuously fruitful collaboration.

Every year, Planetizen shares a list of the avant-garde of online tools pertaining to planning, land use, and urban design, and 2016 has proven to be another year of innovation.

The websites collected here represent an ongoing trend toward accessibility and transparency: citizens and governments are gaining new, easy-to-use tools every year. Even after coming so far, the pace of innovation in recent years is only evidence that planning and its related disciplines have only just begun to realize the immense potential of online software to empower citizens and improve decision making.

After collecting nominations from readers and staff, the Planetizen editorial staff selected the "2016 Top Websites" list based on a common set of criteria, including content, design, and usability, choosing ten websites representing a variety of uses and focuses. We've listed the websites alphabetically, not in order of rank.

To access the full list, click here.

8. Flood Economics Although flood mitigation makes good sense, for some communities mitigation measures can feel like a loss of place and community. This new site by the Intelligence Unit at The Economist takes a look at mitigation at the positive returns mitigation can have on the economy, on infrastructure, and on the social fabric of communities facing flood risks. With sections devoted to mitigation takeaways, community case studies, and resources available across the United States, it’s a great read for anyone concerned about the impacts of flooding in their town.

To access this resource, click here.

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9. Socio-Environmental Immersion Program Video Lecture Series This lecture series is the product of Socio-Environmental Immersion Program workshops. Each lecture provides an overview of a discipline; covers its history, foundational theories, and methods; and describes linkages of the overall discipline to socio-environmental issues and research. Topics include environmental history, change in socio-environmental systems, anthropology, sociology, economics, and ecology.

To access the series, click here.

10. LOC Produces New Resource On Property Taxes At this time of year, as property tax bills land in mailboxes across the state, questions arise about how property taxes are spent. For the past couple of years, the League has produced a resource to help answer those questions. This resource—originally titled “Where The Money Goes” and most recently titled “Your Money, Your City”—has changed over the years to meet demand. The 2016 Your Money, Your City report continues that evolution.

To access this resource, click here.

11. Funding Opportunities Strategic Economic and Community Development The U.S. Department of Agriculture is excited to share a new Rural Development funding opportunity authorized by Section 6025 of the 2014 Farm Bill. This new authority entitled Strategic Economic and Community Development (SECD) prioritizes projects that support the implementation of multi-jurisdictional plans under the Community Facilities Program, Water and Waste Disposal Program, Business and Industry Loan Guarantee Program, and Rural Business Development Grant Program. Under this provision, up to 10 percent of each programs annual appropriations can be set aside and made available to eligible SECD applicants. Many communities already working together to develop multi-jurisdictional plans with the help of strategic partners including non-profit organizations, institutions of higher education, university extensions, regional authorities, coalitions of counties/towns and federal special initiative coalitions such as: Stronger Economies Together, Promise Zones, Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy, Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnerships, Sustainable Communities, and Local Food, Local Places. The goal of SECD is to promote collaboration in rural communities and across Rural Development agencies and programs. Communities are incentivized to align resources, develop long-term community and economic growth strategies and engage federal, state and local partners. By promoting this regional focus USDA resources can be more effectively utilized and have a larger impact on rural capacity building and wealth creation.

DOT’s FASTLANE Program U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced the U.S. Departments of Transportation’s (USDOT) Build America Bureau is now soliciting applications for up to $850 million in Fostering Advancements in Shipping and Transportation for the Long-term Achievement of National Efficiencies (FASTLANE) grants. The FASTLANE program was established in the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act to fund critical freight and highway projects across the country.

In the first call for FASTLANE grants, USDOT received 212 applications totaling nearly $9.8 billion for grants – with states and localities requesting over 13 times more funding than was available through FASTLANE – underscoring the continuing need for infrastructure investment across the country. The need to support projects improving the Nation’s freight system is also highlighted in the Department’s report, Beyond Traffic 2045: Trends and Choices, where freight volume is expected to grow to 29 billion tons—an increase by 45 percent by the year 2040. The deadline for submitting applications is 8:00PM on December 15, 2016. For more information, please visit https://www.transportation.gov/buildamerica/FASTLANEgrants.

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NEIGHBORWORKSÂŽ AMERICA Neighborworks America will provide grant funds through Project Reinvest: Homeownership to eligible community development financial institutions (CDFIs) for down payment assistance loans to borrowers earning 100 percent of area median income or less. Eligible organizations are limited to nonprofit CDFIs with current certification and must demonstrate the ability to originate a high volume of down payment assistance loans over a two-year period. The grant period is January 2017 through January 2019. Deadline: 11/14/2016. Click here to submit an online application.

U.S. Department of Education Upward Bound Program The U.S. Department of Education is offering grants to nonprofits, LEAs, public agencies, and IHEs for a wide array of activities to encourage at-risk youth to complete high school and go on to college through the Upward Bound program. Deadline to apply: 11/28/2016. Click here for funding guidelines.

Environmental Protection Agency Brownfields EPA is offering grants to nonprofit and public agencies for either: 1) developing inventories of brownfields, prioritizing sites, conducting community involvement activities, and conducting site assessments and cleanup planning related to brownfields sites, or 2) cleaning up contaminated brownfields sites. Deadline: 12/20/2016. Click here for program guidelines and to apply.

The National Institutes of Health NIH is offering grants to rural nonprofit and public agencies for programs that help control the opioid epidemic in the United States. Deadline: 01/10/2017. Click here for grant materials.

Healthy Smiles, Healthy Children Access to Care Grants Offers matching grants to support community-based initiatives that provide dental homes to children whose families cannot afford dental care.

Geographic coverage: Nationwide Application Deadline: Dec 15, 2016 Sponsor: American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry Laura Bush Foundation for America's Libraries Accepting School Library Grant Applications POSTED: October 12, 2016 DEADLINE: December 12, 2016 Grants of up to $7,000 will be awarded to help school libraries expand, update, and diversify their book collections....

USDA Seeks Applications for Next Round of Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive Program Grants The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the availability of up to $16.7 million in competitive grant funding to increase the purchase of fruits and vegetables by families and households participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The funding will be awarded to eligible nonprofits and governmental organizations through the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive (FINI) Grant Program, administered by USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill. Applications are due by Dec. 12, 2016.

Youth Educator Grant Program (North Central Sustainable Research & Education) Purpose: Provide opportunities for youth educators to research and provide programming for youth on sustainable agriculture. Eligibility: Professional educators, farmers/ranchers, home schoolers,

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other youth, nonprofit educators. Funding: $2,000 maximum. Deadline: Proposals due November 10, 2016.

Safer School Garden Grant (Safer Brand) Purpose: Provides funding to start a school garden to help students be more active, be more environmentally-conscious, and build healthy eating habits. Eligibility: Schools that are not past winners. Funding: $500 grant. Deadline: December 1, 2016.

Farm to School Grants (USDA) Purpose: Fund projects that improve access to local foods in schools. Priority funding is given to projects that: are submitted by state agencies, involve specific FNS programs (like CACFP or Summer Meals), collaborate with service programs, serve high-poverty communities, involve innovative strategies, or impact multiple schools. Eligibility: Schools, state and local agencies, Indian tribal organizations, agricultural producers, and non-profit organizations. Funding: $5 million in grants. Deadline: December 8, 2016.

Community Food Projects Grants (USDA) Purpose: Project and planning grants to fund projects that improve access to food and/or participation in Federally assisted nutrition programs for low-income individuals. Eligibility: Public food program service providers, tribal organizations, or private nonprofit organizations. Please see RFA. Funding: $8.6 million in total grants; 100% match required. Deadline: November 30, 2016.

Specialty Crop Research Initiative Grants (USDA-NIFA) Purpose: Funds systems-based research and extension activities to accelerate science-based solutions and new technology for the specialty crop industry. Eligibility: Land grant institutions, for-profit organizations including small businesses, nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher ed, state agricultural experiment stations. Funding: $48.1 million in total funding (100% match required).

Deadline: November 15, 2016.

Beginning Farmer Rancher Development Program (USDA-NIFA) Purpose: Funds project providing training, education, outreach, and mentoring programs to enhance the sustainability of the next generation of farmers. Priority given to veterans, socially disadvantaged and women farmers or ranchers. Eligibility: Collaborative state, tribal, local, or regionally-based networks or partnership of qualified public and/or private organizations. Funding: $17.7 million total. A 25% match is required. Deadline: December 8, 2016

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