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Monday Mailing

Year 21 • Issue 36 01 June 2015 1.

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Stranded: How America's Failing Public Transportation Increases Inequality These States Rob From The Poor And Give to The Rich Return to Rural? Several Factors at Play When Residents Leave, Return How Small Towns and Cities Can Use Local Assets to Rebuild Their Economies Deal Reached to Clean Radioactive Basin at Hanford Nuclear Reservation The Cycling Gender Gap: What Can We Learn From Girls? – Webinar Extraordinary Combustion- Oregon Forests in Peril Controversial Oregon Coastal Land Deal Moves Forward 3 Upcoming Webinars for Community Food Projects The Land Taxers of Fairhope President Obama Asserts Power Over Small Waterways

1. Stranded: How America's Failing Public Transportation Increases Inequality Transportation is about more than just moving people from point A to point B. It’s also a system that can either limit or expand the opportunities available to people based on where they live. In many cities, the areas with the shoddiest access to public transit are the most impoverished—and the lack of investment leaves many Americans without easy access to jobs, goods, and services.

Quote of the Week: “If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts.”

-Albert Einstein Oregon Fast Fact: The Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area is a spectacular river canyon cutting the only sea-level route through the Cascade Mountain Range.

To be certain, the aging and inadequate transportation infrastructure is an issue for Americans up and down the economic ladder. Throughout the country highways are crumbling, bridges are in need of repair, and railways remain inadequate. Improvement to public transportation—buses, trains, and safer routes for bicycles—is something that just about everyone who lives in a major metropolitan area has on their wish list. But there’s a difference between preference and necessity: “Public transportation is desired by many but is even more important for lower-income people who can't afford cars,” says Rosabeth Moss Kanter, a professor at Harvard University and author of a new book Move: Putting America’s Infrastructure Back in the Lead.

To access the full story, click here.

2. These States Rob From The Poor And Give to The Rich The federal tax code is a powerful tool for reducing income inequality: in general, high-earners are taxed at higher rates than low-income people, with a significant part of that money going toward programs that help the poor, like food stamps and other safety net payments.

But we don't usually think as much about the impacts of state taxes on inequality. A team of researchers at the Federal Reserve recently released a paper exploring the topic and found something, if not surprising, discouraging.

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When it comes to taxes, some states build on federal efforts to reduce inequality and take steps to further decrease the gap between rich and poor. But plenty of others actually undermine the federal government's anti-inequality measures.

To access the full story, click here.

3. Return to Rural? Several Factors at Play When Residents Leave, Return Reasons for returning – or not returning – to rural communities once young people have left their home cities and towns are varied, but USDA researchers have found that family involvement and child-rearing considerations surface as key drivers in both situations.

In a new report, "Factors affecting former residents' returning to rural communities," USDA Economic Research Service researchers conducted about 300 interviews at high school reunions in 21 rural communities to determine reasons for leaving or coming back to rural communities.

Census data show that rural counties with low scenic amenities typically lost 20- to 24-year-olds to outmigration at nearly twice the rates seen in other rural counties, but showed higher inmigration among 30- to 34-year-olds and young children.

Legislators have attempted to promote programs that encourage return migration that populates rural communities. Such programs are also part of USDA efforts.

To access the full story, click here.

4. How Small Towns and Cities Can Use Local Assets to Rebuild Their Economies – Report Over time, all communities experience changes that affect the industries, technologies, and land use patterns that help form the foundation of their local economies. Economically resilient towns, cities, and regions adapt to changing conditions and even reinvent their economic bases if necessary. Even if the community has lost its original or main economic driver, it has other assets that it can use to spur the local economy. While most economic development strategies involve some effort to recruit major employers, such as manufacturers or large retailers, many successful small towns and cities complement recruitment by emphasizing their existing assets and distinctive resources. This report examines case studies of small towns and cities that have successfully used this approach, including:       

Bend, Oregon (population 79,000).

Douglas, Georgia (population 12,000).

Dubuque, Iowa (population 58,000).

Emporia, Kansas (population 25,000).

Mount Morris, New York (population 2,900).

Paducah, Kentucky (population 25,000).

Roanoke, Virginia (population 98,000).

While no magic bullet or set process will work everywhere, these case studies illustrate several successful tactics that other communities can use:    

Identify and build on existing assets.

Engage all members of the community to plan for the future.

Take advantage of outside funding.

Create incentives for redevelopment, and encourage investment in the community.

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Encourage cooperation within the community and across the region.

Support a clean and healthy environment.

Learn more about smart growth in small towns and rural communities, and see our Publications page for more smart growth publications on business and economic development.

To download a copy of the report, click here.

5. Deal Reached to Clean Radioactive Basin at Hanford Nuclear Reservation An agreement has been reached to clean up a radioactive basin on the Hanford , the nation's most polluted nuclear weapons production site, two federal agencies said Tuesday.

The deal about the K West Basin was reached between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy, which owns Hanford.

The settlement stems from the Energy Department's failure to meet a September 2014 deadline to begin removing nuclear sludge from the basin, which is located along the Columbia River.

Under the deal, the new deadline for starting the removal of sludge is Sept. 30, 2018. The work must be completed by Dec. 31, 2019.

To access the full story, click here.

6. The Cycling Gender Gap: What Can We Learn From Girls? – Webinar Friday, June 5, 2015 - 12:00pm to 1:00pm In the U.S., women are far less likely to bicycle for transportation than men. Explanations include, among others, safety concerns (traffic and crime), complex travel patterns related to household responsibilities, time constraints, lack of facilities that feel safe, and attitudes. This talk will explore how this gender gap emerges in childhood, using data from the Family Activity Study. The study collected data from 300 Portland families (parents and children) over two years, allowing us to see how things change over time.

Jennifer Dill is a Portland State University professor and the director of TREC. She teaches courses in transportation policy, pedestrian and bicycle planning, and research methods. Her research interests focus on the interactions of transportation planning, travel behavior, health, the environment and land use. In general, she is interested in answering these questions: How do people make their travel and location decisions? How do those decisions impact the environment? How do our planning decisions impact people's travel and location decisions? Prior to entering academia, she worked as an environmental and transportation planner.

To seminar live or watch an archived video, click here.

7. Extraordinary Combustion- Oregon Forests in Peril Forests are essential for life on earth, and they cover a third of our planets land. They provide raw materials, maintain biodiversity, spiritual well-being, protect land and water resources, and play a role in climate change mitigation.

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Three hundred million people worldwide live in forests and 1.6 billion depend on them for their livelihoods. Forests also provide habitat for a broad range of plants and animals. The forests protect our watersheds. They inspire wonder and provide places for recreation. Forests are so much more than a collection of trees. Forests are home to 80 percent of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity.

Trees absorb CO2, water and sunlight to make food, and through that process of photosynthesis, release clean healthy oxygen that humans can breathe. In other words, trees remove large amounts of one of the major greenhouse gases, CO2.

Forestland also helps keep our water safe to drink. It absorbs rain, refills underground aquifers, cools and cleanses water, slows storm runoff, and sustains watershed stability and resilience.

To access the full story, click here.

8. Controversial Oregon Coastal Land Deal Moves Forward After years of negotiations and some help from former Gov. John Kitzhaber, a Chicago-based developer has secured an unprecedented deal to swap land with the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department on the southern Oregon coast.

The state parks commission has agreed to accept several parcels of land, $2.5 million in cash for future land acquisitions and money to clean up an invasive plant species. In exchange, the state will privatize 280 acres of the state's public coast so developer Mike Keiser can build a golf course. The land is currently the southeastern third of the Bandon State Natural Area.

Keiser built the Bandon Dunes luxury golf resort 14 miles up the road from the site he wants to develop into a project he calls Bandon Muni. He says it will provide jobs in an area that needs them, access to affordable golfing for locals and more desirable parcels for the state parks system.

To access the full story, click here.

9. 3 Upcoming Webinars for Community Food Projects Planning & Community Engagement Strategies Tuesday, June 2nd at 1 - 2:30 pm EST Webinar Overview Strong project planning and community engagement are key elements of success for the Community Food Projects grant program. This workshop will focus on the process and strategies to engage with community partners and collaboratively plan collective work. We will look at language and theory of change to cover why these elements help ground collaborative efforts and also share various community meeting tools for asset-based community assessments as well as tools for collective visioning.

Presenters Aley Kent, Technical Advisor, Food & Agriculture of International Rescue Committee Tes Thraves, Youth and Community-based Food Systems Coordinator of Center for Environmental Farming Systems.

To register, click here.

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Logic Models as a Comprehensive Tool for Attaining Programmatic Success Wednesday, June 24th at 1:30 - 2:45 pm EST Webinar Overview A logic model is a picture of how your organization does its work, and it expresses a hypothesis about how you will achieve desired programmatic outcomes.

In this webinar, we will cover the basics of creating logic models. We will also discuss how these visual tools can be used to help you achieve not only fundraising success, but also consensus among your community of stakeholders, a design and an implementation plan for your program, and an evaluation model that can support your organization’s future success.

Materials will be made available on June 10th to attendees to gain the full benefit of the webinar.

Presenters Lesley Heiser, Communications and Development Leader of Cultivating Community Craig Lapine, Executive Director of Cultivating Community To register, click here.

Sustaining your Program after Community Food Projects Funding Tuesday, July 14th, at 1:30 pm EST Webinar Overview This webinar will discuss challenges and strategies for sustaining a program after your initial funding has finished. The presenters, Chris Brown of Agriculture and Land Based Training and Jennifer Hashley of New Entry Sustainable Farming Project, will each speak about experiences from their own organizations. They will address challenges they have faced with sustaining a program, and lessons they have learned from the process.

Presenters Jennifer Hashley, Director of New Entry Sustainable Farming Project Chris Brown, Executive Director of Agriculture and Land Based Training (ALBA) To register, click here.

10. The Land Taxers of Fairhope In 1879 the American political economist Henry George proposed a policy to address economic inequality: Tax land—not what’s built on top of it. Tax a parking lot, a seven-story building, and a skyscraper based solely on the value of their footprints. Tax landowners that way, George reasoned in Progress and Poverty, and they couldn’t afford not to develop their holdings. The “single tax” on land would create a strong incentive for bigger buildings, more offices, and more apartments, lowering costs for businesses, shops, and residential tenants. It would remedy the regressive advantage of the urban landowner, to whom George wrote: “[W]ithout doing one stroke of work, without adding one iota of wealth to the community, in ten years you will be rich!"

George was widely admired; Tolstoy, Churchill, and Einstein were fans. But his policies have been adopted in just a few communities in the United States. “The 'single tax,’ ” Clarence Darrow said in 1913, “is so simple, so fundamental, and so easy to carry into effect that I have no doubt that it will be about the last land reform the world will ever get. People in this world are not often logical.”

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The single tax is once again having a moment, its case bolstered by urban housing crises and widening global inequality. Peter Orszag, President Obama’s former budget chief, recently endorsed the idea in a Bloomberg View piece. In April the cover story in the Economist called for land taxes to combat rent crises. Much of Thomas Piketty’s “return to capital,” MIT doctoral student Matthew Rognlie has found, can be attributed to housing wealth. His idea may still be political fantasy, but George feels more relevant than ever.

To access the full story, click here.

11. President Obama Asserts Power Over Small Waterways The Obama administration on Wednesday asserted its authority over the nation's streams, wetlands and other smaller waterways, moving forward with one of the most controversial environmental regulations in recent years.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers said they are making final their proposed waters of the United States rule, which Republicans and many businesses have long panned as a massive federal overreach that would put the EPA in charge of ditches, puddles and wet areas.

“We’re finalizing a clean water rule to protect the streams and the wetlands that one in three Americans rely on for drinking water. And we’re doing that without creating any new permitting requirements and maintaining all previous exemptions and exclusions,” EPA head Gina McCarthy told reporters Wednesday.

McCarthy and other Obama officials sought to emphasize that the rule is about increasing clarity for businesses and helping make it easier to determine which waterways are subject to the pollution rules of the Clean Water Act. “This rule is about clarification, and in fact, we’re adding exclusions for features like artificial lakes and ponds, water-filled depressions from constructions and grass swales,” she said “This rule will make it easier to identify protected waters and will make those protections consistent with the law as well as the latest peer-reviewed science. This rule is based on science,” she continued.

To access the full story, click here.

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