The lack of leadership at the national level to provide health insurance to the over 45 million Americans that do not have it, has driven states like Maine, Massachussetts to create programs for the uninsured within their borders. As Kevin Sack writes in the New York Times, some cities are becoming local laboratories for health insurance innovation.

[...] Healthy San Francisco, is the first effort by a locality to guarantee care to all of its uninsured [82,000 resident], and it represents the latest attempt by state and local governments to patch a inadequate federal system.

It is financed mostly by the city, which is gambling that it can provide universal and sensibly managed care to the uninsured for about the amount being spent on their treatment now, often in emergency rooms.

After a two-month trial at two clinics in Chinatown, the program is scheduled to expand citywide to 20 more locations on Sept. 17.

Whether such a program might be replicated elsewhere is difficult to assess. In addition to its unique political culture, San Francisco, with a population of about 750,000, has the advantages of compact geography, a unified city-county government, an extensive network of public and community clinics and a relatively small number of uninsured adults. Virtually all the city’s children are covered by private insurance or government plans.

Read the full article . . .

Saanich, BC wants residential builders to build “green” by cutting “red” tape. It is giving priority to applications for housing projects using energy-efficient components and provide those builders rebates of up to 30 per cent on building-permit fees.

Read the full article . . .

Neal Peirce writes about the the “green revolution” happening in America’s cities and towns in the January, American Prospect. 

Peirce describes a number of cities (Chicago, Philadelphia, Seattle) that are re-connecting the commons (parks, roads, rivers, and everywhere there is public investment) through public infrastructure investments to create heatlhy places.  The projects are bold, exciting, and hold promise for state and national policy.  But, he points out, the work ahead requires a change it the way we think and approach problem solving.  He writes,

“[...] there’s the challenge to the professionals — the architects, planners, designers, engineers, builders, utility representatives, city and county housing officials, and others engaged on the front line of building and reshaping communities. Historically — and often, still today — they have worked sequentially, first doing the land planning, then the underground pipes, then roadways and buildings and so on.

In a smart 21st century, that won’t do. It costs too much and it misses opportunities for better aesthetics, energy efficiency, and quality of life. The time’s at hand to move from silos to systems [emphasis added]. It’s the right moment to ask the professionals to start thinking more broadly, to work closely with colleagues from the other disciplines from start to end of any project.”

A recent NY Times article highlights examples of condos being built without associated parking spaces. Although this practice goes against the codes in many communities, planners are realizing that “free parking” might be a reason why housing has become so unaffordable to middle-income families.

The article quotes Donald Shoup, a professor of urban planning at the University of California at Los Angeles and the author of The High Cost of Free Parking, “In the United States, housing is expensive and parking is cheap. We’ve got it the wrong way around.”

Although condominiums without parking are common in Manhattan and the downtowns of a few other East Coast cities, they are the exception to the rule in most of the country. In fact, almost all local governments require developers to provide a minimum number of parking spaces for each unit — and to fold the cost of the space into the housing price.

The exact regulations, which are intended to prevent clogged streets and provide sufficient parking, vary by city. Houston’s code requires a minimum of 1.33 parking spaces for a one-bedroom and 2 spaces for a three-bedroom. Downtown Los Angeles mandates 2.25 parking spaces per unit, regardless of size.

Today, city planners around the country are trying to change or eliminate these standards, opting to promote mass transit and find a way to lower housing costs.

Read the full aricle in the New York Times . . .

When Michael Shuman presented at Healthy Mountain Communities’, 1st State of the Valley Symposium in 2003, he presented an alternative approach to economic development that focused on local ownership and import substitution (LOIS) rather than the export model so common today.

Now he has completed The Small-Mart Revolution, which details the reasons why ‘local’ is working across the U.S.

As the publisher summarizes, The Small-Mart Revolution:

• Shows exactly why locally owned businesses are far more beneficial to their communities than massive chains like Wal-Mart
• Outlines specific strategies small and home-based businesses are using to successfully outcompete the world’s largest companies
• Advises consumers, investors, policymakers, and organizers on how they can support the the local entrepreneurs who contribute to their communities

Read more or order the book . . .

In a unique partnership, Mountain Village, Telluride and San Miguel County have joined together to develop and construct an affordable housing project.

Called the Sunnyside Affordable Housing project, it is planned for immediately west of Eider Creek, and will include some 48 units. The parcel is owned and will be spearheaded by the county, but Mountain Village and Telluride are chipping in on access, water and sewer.

Telluride Mayor John Pryor said the fact that all three governments have joined together to work to mend this urgent regional issue is remarkable.

“The Town of Telluride is very excited to be at the table and working hard at providing more affordable housing with this Sunnyside project with our two other local governments,” Pryor said.

Although the governments have signed on and much groundwork has been laid by the sketch plan, the project is still in its early stages and many details remain to be hammered out.

Read the full article in the Telluride Daily Planet . . .

Google plans to offer free, high-speed Internet access to everyone in its Silicon Valley home town — a hospitable gesture that the online search leader hopes to see spread to other parts of the country.

The new wireless, or “Wi-Fi,” network, is believed to establish Mountain View, Calif., as the largest U.S. city with totally free Internet access available throughout the entire community, according to both Google and city officials.

St. Cloud, Fla., a suburb of Orlando with a population of about 28,000, had claimed that mantle earlier this year after it launched a free Wi-Fi network.

About 72,000 people reside in Mountain View, an 11.5-square-mile city located about 35 miles south of San Francisco. As the home to major companies like Google and VeriSign, Mountain View’s daytime population can swell above 100,000.

Google invested about $1 million to build the Mountain View Network and expects to have to spend far less than that each year to keep it running. The financial commitment represents a pittance for Google, which has nearly $10 billion in cash.

Powered by 380 radio antennae, the Mountain View Network is supposed to surf the Web at speeds comparable to the Internet connections delivered by digital subscriber, or DSL lines. It will be slightly slower than a high-speed cable connection.

Read the full article in USA Today . . .

Mayors from Aspen to Grand Junction joined together on the morning of August 3rd to take a flyby airplane ride of the Roaring Fork and Colorado River Valley and discuss regional issues. The flights were provide by the nonprofit Eco-Flight and the day was organized by Healthy Mountain Communities and Silt Mayor Dave Moore.

Mayors met at Garfield County Airport in the morning to get an aerial view of the valley’s oil and gas wells, oil shale projects, gravel pits along the Colorado River and the Interstate 70 corridor. Afterwards, the group met at Silt Town Hall for an informal discussion about various issues.

“It was very beneficial,” said Rifle Mayor Keith Lambert. “We found a lot of commonality in the issues that are before us. I’m very proud to be working with this group of people. There’s a strong possibility of productive outcomes to be had from this group.”

The mayors will be meeting in Aspen during September to continue discussing issues facing the region.

Read the full article in the Post Independent . . .

Boston will tap a nonprofit corporation to blanket the city with “open access” wireless Internet connections, under a plan to be unveiled today by Mayor Thomas M. Menino.

The plan, which envisions raising $16 million to $20 million from local businesses and foundations, is a striking departure from the business models used by other cities, including Philadelphia and San Francisco, which have turned over responsibility for their wireless data networks to outside companies such as Earthlink Inc. and Google Inc.

By empowering an independent organization to own and operate the city’s WiFi, or wireless fidelity, network, Boston is hoping to keep control of the technology deployment and use it to spur innovation, improve city services, and extend wireless Internet access into low-income neighborhoods across the so-called digital divide. WiFi allows laptops, handheld computers, cellphones, music players, and other devices to connect to the Internet at high speeds via radio waves.

Read the full article the Boston Globe . . .

We all know a place in our community where tree roots are busting trough a sidewalk or paved trail. What to do? Hack the tree roots and risk killing the tree? Move the side walk or trail?

How about rubber sidewalks?

Don’t laugh.  Some 130,000 square feet of rubberized sidewalks grace about 60 North American cities, giving local governments an alternative to concrete and its attendant pitfalls, such as rising prices, exorbitant trip-and-fall lawsuits, and a trail of chopped-down urban trees.

Although the rubbers pavers are a 2.5 times the cost of concrete, they can be tree savers. And in places concrete in Western communities, where trees grow slowly, if at all, some rubber pavement may be just the solution for the conflict between rooting and footing.

Read the full article in the Christian Science Monitor . . .