31 mm 042015

Monday Mailing

Year 21 • Issue 31 20 April 2015 1. Declaring Farmland “Blighted” Would Create Urban Renewal District in North Hillsboro 2. Places in the Making: MIT Report Highlights the ‘Virtuous Cycle of Placemaking’ 3. Cities, the Sharing Economy, and What's Next – National League of Cities Report 4. 15 Companies That Paid Zero Income Tax Last Year (Despite $23 Billion In Profits) 5. Natural Hazards Center - New Web Resources 6. New Resource to help Food Hubs Support Sustainable Farm to School Programs 7. Neighborhood In Motion: One Neighborhood, One Month, No Cars 8. Preservation Movement Faces Midlife Crisis 9. How Typing is Destroying Your Memory 10. NIFTI Guide to Metrics and Evaluation for Farm Incubator Projects 11. Oregon Craft Brewers Made One Out of Every Five Beers Sold in Oregon in 2014 1. Declaring Farmland “Blighted” Would Create Urban Renewal District in North Hillsboro Hillsboro officials want to classify nearly 1,000 acres of mostly undeveloped farmland and green fields on the city's north side as "blighted."

That would allow the city to designate the area as an urban renewal district, a tool Hillsboro's economic development team hopes to use to jumpstart large-scale industrial investment north of Evergreen Parkway and west of Brookwood Parkway.

Quote of the Week: “If we are to succeed in saving the planet, the battle will be won or lost at the local level.” ~Governor Tom McCall

Oregon Fast Fact: The Darlingtonia Wayside is Oregon's only rare plant sanctuary.

"We're trying to be globally competitive," said Hillsboro Economic Development Director Mark Clemons at a city council meeting last week.

The so-called North Hillsboro Industrial Area "represents one of the few significant development opportunities for industrial sites in the Portland area to meet the region's needs for job creation and economic growth over the next 25 years," according to a study the city commissioned to analyze the feasibility of an urban renewal district there.

To access the full story, click here.

2. Places in the Making: MIT Report Highlights the ‘Virtuous Cycle of Placemaking’ Today marks an important occasion in the evolution of the Placemaking movement. When the foundational work for what we call Placemaking today was taking place, back in the 1960s, pioneers like Holly Whyte and Jane Jacobs were on the outside of the castle walls, shouting to be heard.

“Expert” urban planners were razing finely-grained neighborhoods and building lifeless housing developments and parking lots, tangled up in endless gray ribbons of expressway. Streets and squares known as places for commerce and social interaction were being sacrificed, left and right, on the Page 1 of 6

altar of “efficiency,” and our cities, decades later, are still struggling to recover.

Today, though, Placemaking is being recognized, through the release of a groundbreaking new white paper, by no less than the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the world’s foremost educational institution for urban planning and design. The paper, Places in the Making, casts aside the idea of the monolithic expert, and argues clearly and cohesively for the importance of Placemaking as a vital part of community-building, rather than a fuzzy “extra.” It is a project, launched at the inaugural meeting of the Placemaking Leadership Council this past spring and made possible through the generous support of Southwest Airlines, in which we’ve been thrilled to be involved, and are even more excited to share with you today.

To access the full story, click here.

3. Cities, the Sharing Economy, and What's Next – National League of Cities Report It is safe to say that the sharing economy is thriving - it is upending traditional industries, disrupting local regulatory environments, and serving as a benchmark for innovation and growth. This is all happening at once, and there is no status quo; while emerging models are developing, the relative novelty of this issue precludes long-term, tested best practices. Additionally, there is no "one-sizefits-all" regulatory framework that every locality can or should apply to the influx of new economic activity. One of the truly innovative aspects of cities is their ability to experiment and develop unique, locally driven solutions to new challenges.

This National League of Cities report seeks to provide an analysis of what is currently happening in American cities so that city leaders may better understand, encourage and regulate the growing sharing economy. Interviews were conducted with city officials on the impact o f the sharing economy and related topics, and the report centers around five key themes: innovation, economic development, equity, safety and implementation.

To access the full report, click here.

4. 15 Companies That Paid Zero Income Tax Last Year (Despite $23 Billion In Profits) Only small businesses pay taxes. Big companies often pay nothing at all.

Think that's an exaggeration? Look at a new report from Citizens for Tax Justice, a Washington, D.C. group. It finds that some of nation's most famous brands have paid remarkably little to the government over the last five years. In fact, many actually enjoyed a negative tax rate: They received a nice rebate check from the U.S. Treasury.

The 15 giants highlighted by CTJ were chosen to represent a wide range of industries among Fortune 500 companies. They include CBS, Mattel, Prudential, and the California utility PG&E. Together, they paid no federal income tax in 2014, despite profits totaling $23 billion. CTJ's point is that these companies are not anomalies, they are examples.

To access the full story, click here.

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5. Natural Hazards Center - New Web Resources Time and the River Anyone interested in the resilience of Southern Louisiana will find a wealth of fascinating material in the blog, written by Louisiana State University law professor Edward Richards. The site covers a wide array of issues that pertain to the area (including climate change, building standards, coastal restoration, geology, insurance, etc.) but overall explores an idea not often considered—“how man can retreat from endangered coastal areas in an orderly fashion.”

Dam Safety Awareness Day It’s coming up on that time of year when lots of organizations try to make sure the public gives a damn about the safety of, well, dams. If yours is one of those, you’ll find lots on this site to help celebrate May 31—Dam Safety Awareness Day. Check it out and find key messages, press release templates, tips to get the media’s attention, and even fun ideas for kids.

Hospital Surge Evaluation Tool A mass casualty event is not the time to learn there are gaps in your hospital’s preparedness plan.

That’s why there’s this tool, developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The tool is “surge evaluation in a box” and has all the elements to help hospital managers assess their readiness for mass events. Included are components for triage and hospital incident command centers, tabletop exercises, and instructions on how to run a successful drill.

MRC Connect Members of the Medical Reserve Corps can now stay in touch with a social media app created just for them. The app, which is available in an online version, as well, allows Corps volunteers to communicate about issues such as public health preparedness, share community stories, and discuss best practices in emergency response.

Affordability of National Flood Insurance Program Premiums

This National Academies report is the first of two that will address National Flood Insurance Program affordability in the wake of the 2012 Biggert-Waters Act and subsequent Homeowners Flood Insurance Affordability Act. This first report looks at methods to create affordability in the program in advance of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s upcoming efforts to create an affordability framework.

6. New Resource to help Food Hubs Support Sustainable Farm to School Programs The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM) is pleased to announce the publication of a new resource, Using Food Hubs to Create Sustainable Farm to School Programs (available here), which explores the key roles that Food Hubs can play in the development, support, and maintenance of successful Farm to School (FTS) programs. While Food Hubs remain a relatively new and evolving concept within the national food movement, Vermont is home to over a dozen Food Hubs, whose missions range from the aggregation, processing, and distribution of locally made foods, to consumer education, to farmer/producer technical assistance.

Created in collaboration by the VAAFM and four Vermont Food Hub organizations, Addison County Relocalization Network, Green Mountain Farm to School, Mad River Food Hub/Mad River Localvores, and Rutland Area Farm and Food Link, this new resource highlights four case study examples demonstrating different ways Food Hubs can utilize their existing infrastructure and expertise to support and strengthen Farm to School programs in their communities.

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The development of this new Food Hub Guide was made possible by a $100,000 grant awarded by the USDA’s Farm to School Grant Program to VAAFM in 2012 to explore potential synergies between Food Hubs and Farm to School programs in Vermont. The terms of the USDA grant also leveraged an additional $80,000 in matching funds from regional and community partners, including Vermont Community Foundation’s Food and Farm Initiative.

The grant funds were employed to develop a “Community of Practice” within which VAAFM, joined by NOFA-VT and its four Vermont Food Hub partners, worked collaboratively to achieve the following objectives:  Research and identify the specific needs of Farm to School programs throughout Vermont  Propose and test possible models of partnership and support between Food Hubs and their local Farm to School programs  Share best practices and lessons learned  Develop case studies based on shared learning to be published in the final Food Hub Guide document: Using Food Hubs to Create Sustainable Farm to School Programs After a year of pilot partnerships between Food Hubs and Farm to School programs, evaluation of the Community of Practice by UVM Center for Rural Studies reported that local food purchases among schools engaged with their regional Food Hub increased by 58% (overall) and 62% (per capita).

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While the partnerships between Food Hubs and Farm to School programs were positive across the board, the specific roles played by Food Hubs varied greatly, including: Fostering connections between schools and local farmers/producers Purchasing, aggregating, processing, and distributing local food directly to schools Consumer education Farmer/producer technical assistance General program support

Vermont continues to be a national leader in Farm to School programming, impacting over 27,000 students since initiation of our grant program in 2007. The demand for fresh, local food in Vermont schools continues to grow as new programs emerge and existing programs expand throughout the state.

According to VAAFM Local Foods Administrator Abbey Willard, "This new resource, Using Food Hubs to Create Sustainable Farm to School Programs, is designed to help Food Hubs in Vermont and throughout the United States utilize their strengths and areas of expertise to meet this growing demand and increase student access to fresh, healthy, local foods. We hope it proves to be a useful tool for local food-focused communities everywhere."

To access the Food Hub Guide and review additional resources, please visit the Vermont Agency of Agriculture Food Hub webpage: http://agriculture.vermont.gov/producer_partner_resources/market_access_development/food_hu bs For more information, please contact Abbey Willard by phone at 802-272-2885, or by email at Abbey.Willard@state.vt.us.

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7. Neighborhood In Motion: One Neighborhood, One Month, No Cars The book Neighborhood in Motion: One Neighborhood, One Month, No Cars by Konrad Otto-Zimmermann and Yeonhee Park describes a unique urban experiment in the South Korean city Suwon, in which all cars were taken off the road for one month.

Neighborhood in Motion shows how a one-month car-free festival in a neighborhood affects the urban spaces and the mindsets and lifestyles of the residents. In September 2013 a conference and a festival on EcoMobility were organized in Haenggung-dong, a neighborhood of Suwon, in which 1,500 registered cars were blocked from the neighborhood for 30 days. The district’s 4,300 residents were forced to switch over to alternative modes of transport, or ‘EcoMobility’ — walking, cycling, ‘wheeling’, public transport and car-sharing. The idea behind this urban experiment was to prepare the citizens of Suwon for urban life in an era of dwindling fossil resources and therefore make them aware of low-carbon energy supply and how this could look like in real life.

To access the full story, click here.

8. Preservation Movement Faces Midlife Crisis To honor the 50th anniversary of the passage of the National Historic Preservation Act, the preservation movement itself is now being considered for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. If approved, the designation would effectively prohibit any future changes to the now 50-year-old historic preservation field. But, regardless of the success of the proposed designation, the mere realization that preservation is historic has spiraled into an existential crisis from which the field may never fully recover.

Bill Newman, who is best known for his prolific filibustering of historic review board meetings, spent more than 500 hours preparing the nomination. If approved by the National Park Service, the listing would take effect next year. To-date, 36 preservation organizations and 14 cities have, counterintuitively, objected to listing preservation as historic.

To access the full story, click here.

9. How Typing is Destroying Your Memory Bad News: If you take notes in a meeting using your laptop, or if you create a to-do list using an app, you might be undermining your ability to recall the information later.

A recent study published in Psychological Science found that the pen is mightier than the keyboard when it comes to remembering what you just jotted down.

Princeton University psychological scientist Pam Mueller, lead author of the study, noticed the difference while she was a graduate teaching assistant. She normally brought her laptop to the lecture to take notes, but one day she didn’t have it. "I felt like I learned a lot more," she recalls.

Using three different studies, Mueller tested the affect of note-taking techniques on memory. First she had two groups of students take notes on a TED talk, with half of the group using a laptop and the other half using a pen and notebook. Each group was tested on the material, and while both groups tested well on questions that involved recalling facts, the longhand group scored significantly better on conceptual questions.

To access the full story, click here.

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10. NIFTI Guide to Metrics and Evaluation for Farm Incubator Projects The NIFTI Guide to Metrics and Evaluation for Farm Incubator Projects provides the staff of land-based beginning farmer training programs with the knowledge, tools, and resources to create rigorous evaluation protocols for their organizations. With suggestions, guidelines, and over 65 pages of appendices including sample surveys, class evaluations, and more, compiled with the help of dozens of farm incubators throughout North America – including NIFTI project partners, The Agriculture Land-Based Training Association (ALBA) and the Intervale Center, as well as the University of Vermont New Farmer Project – all experts in the field of beginning farmer training.

This guide will help you tell the world about the amazing and impactful work you do supporting new and beginning farmers.

This toolkit is a supplement to our other guides, The Farm Incubator Toolkit and the Farm Incubator Case Studies. Download the NIFTI Guide to Metrics and Evaluation for Farm Incubator Projects and complete your NIFTI toolkit today!

The National Incubator Farm Training Initiative (NIFTI) is a project of the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project, which has been training the next generation of farmers in Massachusetts since 1998.

11. Oregon Craft Brewers Made One Out of Every Five Beers Sold in Oregon in 2014 (One of the best attended seminars at the recent Craft Brewers Conference was about what it will take for craft beer to reach the next level, defined in this case as a 20 percent market share, something we've already achieved. Once again, Oregon's brewing community leads the nation.

Congratulations to them - and to us beer fans who continue to buy Oregon craft beer in ever increasing quantity.)

The Oregon Brewers Guild announced that Oregonians bought 585,000 barrels of beer (more than 18 million gallons) produced in Oregon in 2014, a 14.3 percent increase over 2013. Oregon continues to lead the U.S. in the percentage of dollars spent on craft beer.

Oregon's breweries crafted 1,641,000 barrels of beer - nearly 51 million gallons - during 2014, a 16.9 percent increase from the previous year. Oregon employment figures continue to strengthen, with the state's brewing companies adding 800 jobs in 2014 and directly employing 7,400 people during Q3, 2014 according to the Oregon Employment Department.

"The numbers don't lie, Oregon Craft Beer is # 1" says Brian Butenschoen, executive director of the Oregon Brewers Guild. "20% of the beer sold in Oregon is craft beer made in Oregon. We were the first state to reach this milestone goal. We also added 800 new jobs in Oregon a 12% increase over the same quarter in the previous year. " To access the full story, click here.

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