YES! WINTER 2015, ISSUE 72 :: yesmagazine.org [Download PDF] URBAN FARMING, ONE VACANT LOT AT A TIME By Penn Loh Tony Hernandez remembers playing as a child on the vacant lots in the Dudley Street neighborhood of Boston. In the 1980s, white flight and disinvestment had so devastated this neighborhood that more than 20 percentContinue reading URBAN FARMING, ONE VACANT LOT AT A TIME [repost from YES!]
Wellspring Collaborative article [repost]
Wellspring Collaborative’s worker-owned upholstery business provides entry-level jobs to underemployed inner-city By Laura Newberry | laura.newberry@masslive.com SPRINGFIELD – When Carlos Perez moved from Puerto Rico to Waterbury, Conn. in April 2012, his main priority was finding good work. Perez could barely speak English and soon found that the language barrier would be an impediment toContinue reading Wellspring Collaborative article [repost]
Aaron Tanaka featured as a “Main Street Job Creator”
UEP Visiting Practitioner Aaron Tanaka is featured in this YES! Magazine article on “8 Main Street Job Creators Who Are Rebooting the Economy—Starting with Those Who Need It Most“. Below is the excerpt profiling Aaron and his work with Boston Workers Alliance, Center for Economic Democracy, and the Boston’s Youth Participatory Budgeting process. *****REPOST***** AaronContinue reading Aaron Tanaka featured as a “Main Street Job Creator”
How Co-ops Helped Produce Foot Soldiers for Civil Rights [repost]
REPOST from COLORLINES – Interview with Jessica Gordon Nembhard about her new book on African American Cooperatives by Carla Murphy, Monday, March 10 2014 Southern pews and pulpits weren’t the only source of people power during the long civil rights movement. So, too, were cooperative economic enterprises. These worker or consumer-owned alternatives to U.S. capitalismContinue reading How Co-ops Helped Produce Foot Soldiers for Civil Rights [repost]
Dudley Resident Gardens: Summer 2013 Survey Results
On two hot days in mid-July 2013, two dozen youth went out into the streets of the Dudley neighborhood in Roxbury to survey “backyard” gardens and interview gardeners. The youth, from Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI) and The Food Project, were working with the support of the Practical Visionaries Workshop (PVW) to document how muchContinue reading Dudley Resident Gardens: Summer 2013 Survey Results
Towards a More Transformative Community Economic Development
By Ian Adelman, Emily Earle, and Penn Loh [Note: This article is based on Adelman and Earle’s 2012 Masters Thesis for the Tufts Urban & Environmental Policy and Planning. To download: Earle Thesis – FINAL Adelman Thesis Final] Why transformative? At the global level, it is easy to see the excesses, if not the fatalContinue reading Towards a More Transformative Community Economic Development
Community Control Over Development: A Conceptual Framework
In our first Practical Visionaries Workshop in 2011, one project team explored community control over development as a key means of realizing a justainable city. Below, we summarize 3 key strategies for community control: 1) government policy, 2) direct negotiation with landowners and developers, and 3) endogenous development and ownership. In addition to this framework,Continue reading Community Control Over Development: A Conceptual Framework
New Study on Racial Gap in Boston Commutes
The Boston Globe reported on its front page story November 25, 2012 on a new report by Northeastern University showing that black commuters spend more time than white commuters traveling to work. On the bus system, this gap totals 66 hours more per year for black commuters in waiting, riding, and transferring. The report byContinue reading New Study on Racial Gap in Boston Commutes
Green Stormwater Management in Roxbury
How can neighborhoods transform themselves into “green zones”? What can we do in Roxbury to support the ecological integrity of the region, while at the same time meet needs of local residents and enhance quality of life? In other words, how can we put justainability into action in our communities? These were among the questionsContinue reading Green Stormwater Management in Roxbury
Energy Democracy in Boston
Check out a new case study from Center for Social Inclusion on energy democracy efforts in Boston. This report features the efforts of 3 Boston groups to launch a community-owned energy efficiency company. I was involved in planning for this initiative while with ACE, working with folks from Boston Workers Alliance and Chinese Progressive Association.Continue reading Energy Democracy in Boston