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Behind the Accidentally Resilient Design of Athens Apartments

Feargus O'Sullivan

July 15, 2020 |

Bloomberg |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Greece, Athens

Athens's distinctive apartment buildings, known as polikatoikia, have unintentionally solved problems most cities grapple with. The housing complexes have given rise to a city that has socio-economic integration, decent living conditions, and well-lit apartments with ample outdoor space for fresh air. The varying heights of the buildings have allowed the city to avoid the austerity common for affordable housing projects and efforts to control costs resulted in a modernist design that gives Athens a unique roofscape. Additionally, the outdoor spaces foster a warm and welcoming sense of community.

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Cracking the transportation bottleneck

John Blodgett

July 14, 2020 |

The Boulder Monitor |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Whitehall, Montana

In Whitehall, Montana, a senior center and a nonprofit that helps rehabilitate individuals with brain injuries joined together to enhance public transportation services for "multiple constiuencies," including rural, elderly populations and for those who are living with a disability. Although Whitehall Public Transportation was not immediately popular, in 2019, over 27,000 riders utilized this new, free service to run errands, travel to appointments and local events or just to meet other community members.

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Going ‘Deep Green,' Office Buildings Give Back to the Planet

Jane Margolies

July 14, 2020 |

The New York Times |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

More and more commercial real estate projects are popping up around the United States that are focused on “deep green” building. This movement suggests that it’s not enough to just make a building out of renewable materials, but they can also be self-sustaining. For example, the Watershed, an office building in Seattle, has a slanted roof that collects rainwater that is then used in toilets. These types of projects can be more complicated and expensive to build, but developers can save money in the long run with the improvements.

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Community peacemakers in Chicago offer a proven alternative to policing

Loretta Graceffo

July 14, 2020 |

Waging Nonviolence |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

Nonviolence Chicago uses street-outreach workers to mediate disputes and connect residents of violence-prone neighborhoods to needed services. Its work, amounting to tens of thousands of contacts per year with people involved in violence, has contributed to efforts that reduced homicides and nonfatal shootings in the Austin neighborhood by nearly half from 2016 to 2019. By replacing the police with former gang members and others with street credibility, and working with both victims and shooters, Nonviolence Chicago wins the trust of residents.

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Milwaukee has a problem with food insecurity. Urban agriculture can be part of the answer.

Patricia McKnight

July 13, 2020 |

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Urban agriculture is providing residents of Milwaukee with a direct link to their food through programs that include urban farming, community gardens, and the knowledge needed to maintain personal gardens. Gardening has been linked to a healthier lifestyle and an improvement in diet. The programs intend to create a healthy knowledge of and relationship with food.

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Why Singapore Has One of the Highest Home Ownership Rates

Adam Majendie

July 08, 2020 |

Bloomberg |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Singapore

Affordable housing in Singapore has resulted in one of the highest rates of home ownership in the world. In 1964 the government embraced a "Home Ownership for the People Scheme" in which it gave lower and middle-income citizens access to affordable home ownership. Subsidized apartments were sold at low prices and were not to be sold for at least five years after which the real estate value had risen significantly. Apartments sold in 2009, for example, gained almost half a million dollars in value by 2020. New subsidized apartments are under construction and 16,000 have already been sold in the past year.

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A grassroots policing alternative in Hartford spreads its wings

Isabella Zou

July 08, 2020 |

The Connecticut Mirror |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Hartford, Connecticut

Members of a community group in North Hartford, CT, are a positive presence on the streets of the dangerous neighborhood they once grew up in. Men Standing Up Against Violence aim to deter violence, provide support, mediate conflicts, and mentor the youth. The presence of the group was initially unwelcomed by local police officers, but they have proven to be an effective and vital addition to the neighborhood, winning over both the community and the local police department. The group's success is attributed to the trust they've built with locals who often have a deep mistrust and fear of the police.

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Mosaic Development Partners works to bring people of color into the real estate market

Jessica Blatt Press

July 08, 2020 |

The Philadelphia Citizen |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Mosaic Development Partners (MDP) seeks to create wealth for the black community in Philadelphia by providing affordable housing and creating opportunities in neighborhoods that are considered risky investments for typical real estate companies. The black-owned company has created housing as well as retail opportunities for minority and women-owned businesses who historically have a harder time accessing capital and loans. The company is mission-driven but operates on a for-profit model, finding economic solutions for systemic problems that have kept black communities from creating generational wealth.

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‘When Someone Hires Me, They Get the Boss Herself'

Michaela Haas

July 07, 2020 |

The New York Times |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

A new model for cooperatives guarantees a living wage for house cleaners, removing the uncertainty and exploitation typically associated with the gig economy. Up & Go is an app that brings entrepreneurs together as owners of the cooperative - sharing offices and customer service representatives. Wages for their work have almost doubled in comparison to the jobs they found through fliers. Training has also given workers the knowledge to stay safe in addition to keeping their clients from exposure during the pandemic.

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The remote British village that built one of the fastest internet networks in the UK

Kira Allmann

July 02, 2020 |

The Conversation |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom, Clapham

A village in the UK didn't have access to internet, so the community joined together to build the infrastructure for broadband in their area. Although "building resilient, fibre-fed networks in rural areas" wasn't easy or cheap, it has made a difference, especially during the pandemic, in helping the community feel less isolated.

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