Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • Hartford's largest nonprofits contribute more

    Hartford, Connecticut looks to Boston as an example of a city that has succeeded in establishing a connection between nonprofits - who can donate payments to the city that are exempt from property taxes - and the local government. With a massive number of successful hospitals and colleges, Boston has created a system in which it can use donated money from these highly profitable institutions to work toward city planning without paying property taxes on the donations; Hartford hopes to create a similar relationship in its own city limits.

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  • Energy audit inspires Virginia yogis to ‘stand up for something that's important'

    A self-imposed audit of energy resources aimed at reducing a Virginia community's carbon footprint and utility bill resulted in a move towards solar power. The community now partners with other surrounding entities to teach solar bootcamps and raise awareness about the need for renewable energy sources.

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  • What about city spending?

    Hartford, Connecticut has made significant cuts to city spending in an effort to ensure the revenue they get from taxes goes further. The mayor ensured tight spending by working with local union groups, ceasing new borrowing projects, and cutting the number of unnecessary full-time positions in the city. With the frugal spending, the city has lowered its deficit while not burdening residents with high tax rates.

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  • Alternative revenue sources could bolster city budget, lower mill rate

    Hartford looks to local governments nearby that have found success in the adoption of creative taxation, from restaurant meal taxes to taxes levied on hotel stays. Massachusetts, which has raised significant funds from these taxes as well as from taxation of recreational cannabis, uses this unrestricted revenue to distribute for local operating budgets.

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  • Fully fund the state's PILOT program

    Connecticut's PILOT program was created to partially reimburse cities and towns for state-owned, tax-exempt properties and take some financial burden off smaller towns. The PILOT program, however, is voluntary, making it easier for state legislators to disregard the reimbursement requests in tough financial times. Now, state officials are urged to make the PILOT program mandatory to keep the response working for the small individual towns and cities around Connecticut.

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  • How Norway turns criminals into good neighbours

    Norway’s Halden Prison is taking a different approach to incarceration: emphasizing rehabilitation over punishment, which has led to a 20% decrease in recidivism in just two years. Over the past two decades, the country has sought rigorous criminal justice reform, which at Halden Prison means job training and certifications, yoga and other recreational activities, reenvisioning the role guards play, and spaces that look more like home than a jail cell.

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  • As Floods Keep Coming, Cities Pay Residents to Move

    The city of Nashville is a model for other U.S. cities focusing on how to deal with homes that are flooding more consistently than before. The National Flood Insurance Program exists to help insure homes that wouldn't be covered by private insurance; for some homeowners, the frustration of constant flooding is alleviated by the city's initiative to buy back those properties from their owners, turning them instead into more environmentally friendly parks, paths, and other flood buffers.

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  • Drinking coffee, talking politics

    Coffee & Politics is an initiative founded by Tracy Nehme to provide opportunities to explore Lebanese politics and history. The program provides scheduled events and monthly talks on a particular topic. Attendance increased after online advertising and Nehme started inviting guest speakers, like the heads of government agencies and elected officials, to lead the discussions and hold Q&As. Despite lower capacities, coffee shops are the ideal venues because the informal open spaces attract diverse crowds. The initiative’s popularity has already led it to be scaled to another city, with events held in Tripoli.

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  • What Can We Do About Our Water?

    On Sanibel Island, Florida, residents know all too well the intensive steps necessary to clean up polluted water. Like many other bodies of water in Florida and across the country, the city has suffered from "nutrition pollution" that has threatened their environment, but comprehensive measures enacted over the past decades - including land use plans that severely restrict development and efforts to educate homeowners on pond management - are helping the area turn around and providing a playbook for other cities.

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  • Will New Funding And A Comprehensive Plan Be Enough To Bring Change To State Psychiatric Hospitals?

    With hundreds of millions of dollars dedicated to making over Texas’ hospital system, designers are looking beyond simply upgrading the physical infrastructure. Instead, they’re reimagining what the entire system could look like. Considering physical space, the upstream causes of mental health issues, and how to attract and retain the best practitioners are just a few of the elements that are being considered in this redesign.

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