]]>The video features witty and insightful commentary, but it also reflects a stereotype that is prominent in many cities: The bodega is dirty, ugly, and full of fat people. The urban leaders of The Neighbors Project seek to change that view. They think the bodega should be a hub of the community, a spot where people from different socioeconomic backgrounds can meet—a “third place,” if you want to get academic about it.
]]>As the availability of urban apartment space continues to decline, a whole new style of library has begun popping up around the country. They’re tool libraries, and for just a few dollars a month members get access to a garage full of tools and community resources to help perform simple home maintenance and repair. In Philly, annual membership is only $20 a year and gets you access to cool tools like squirrel traps, lawn mowers, and chainsaws.
News from the University of New South Wales Faculty of Science: “A virtuous cycle: safety in numbers for riders says research.”
It seems paradoxical but the more people ride bicycles on our city streets, the less likely they are to be injured in traffic accidents, say injury experts who will speak at a forthcoming cycling safety seminar in Sydney.
Local and international research reveals that as cycling participation increases, a cyclist is far less likely to collide with a motor vehicle or suffer injury and death - and what’s true for cyclists is also true for pedestrians. And it’s not simply because there are fewer cars on the roads, but because motorists seem to change their behaviour and drive more safely when they see more cyclists and pedestrians around.
Read the rest here.
[via]
]]>The concept is simple: Members create an online profile that includes a list of the work they’ll do free, or “offers,” along with a list of services, or “requests,” they want in exchange. Dog walking, housesitting, guitar lessons, baby-sitting, help with Photoshop—almost any intangible is allowed. Members don’t exchange services directly with one another—they trade with the bank. So the person who picked up apples and artichokes for you at the farmers market isn’t waiting for you to return the favor.
http://www.latimes.com/features/lifestyle/la-ig-timebank27-2008jul27,0,292160.story
]]>It seems like the simplest of necessities: a full-service grocery store. But things are never simple at the corner of Eddy and Taylor streets in the heart of the Tenderloin, San Francisco’s densest neighborhood and one of its most notorious.
A local nonprofit has been working with city officials for two years to open a grocery store here, an area more known for drug dealers and prostitution than for its thousands of children and families. That admittedly well-deserved reputation, combined with the neighborhood’s poor residents, security concerns and a lack of parking and financing, has made it nearly impossible.
[snip]
“It’s so important to have, but it’s one of those things that most of us live our lives without being aware of - except for the people who have to hop onto Muni and lug back their groceries,” said Don Falk, executive director of the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corp., which owns a parking lot at Eddy and Taylor streets. The nonprofit housing company hopes to develop the land into a 14-story residential tower for low-income families, with a grocery store on the ground floor.
But after several studies, a lot of outreach and a few close calls, Falk and Mayor Gavin Newsom, who has met with grocers, aren’t much closer than they were two years ago.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/27/BARD11TSUL.DTL
]]>Not every country, but places such as Vietnam and Iceland. Being that I want to visit those places and would probably use Google Maps it’s cool “people in the know” will be able to provide pertinent info.
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/google_map_maker.php
- luke
]]>With 30 million people and counting working at home as we transition to a knowledge-based economy, coffeehouses and coworking sites are becoming increasingly popular, most of which thrive in natural cultural districts. Thus in Adams Morgan, Washington DC’s preeminent natural cultural district, a movement is underway to transform a rather dead day scene into one as vibrant and active as the central business district.
Given evidence of a dayworking population of customers via beta communities, Adams Morgan merchants will agree to open their businesses during the day based on the beta community’s needs. The neighborhood will benefit from a virtual dayworking community that is manifested in the physical world by the area’s existing and crowdsourced coffeehouses, cafes and restaurants, spurred by dayworking happy hours and work events around like-minded work circles.
Check out the targeted Adams Morgan dayworking vibe in this Affinity Lab-produced video.
]]>What is Elements?
We are Elements. At the heart of the Elements experience is community: a “third place” between home and work for people of all ages, preferences and backgrounds to meet and nourish themselves, the people around them, and the planet. Our growing Elements family embraces authenticity, diversity, conscious living, and fun. This family has crowdsourced Elements from day one, and our continued participation will ensure it stays fresh and progressive. As Elements evolves, we are guided by a few simple ideas:
We encourage balance in life. All of life is interconnected, thus our actions can have a great impact. We balance our needs - health, enjoyment - with the needs of others and the Earth. As an independent local business, Elements endorses the triple bottom line: we measure success in not only economic, but environmental and social terms as well. We support balance in our community by serving organic vegetarian food grown our own garden in a building that exceeds environmental standards. We support balance globally by cutting our waste, composting, and recycling, and by neutralizing our carbon output with offsets and green energy.
We nurture growth in our community. As important to our lives as the four elements is an essential fifth: people. Look around you; friends, neighbors, and visitors meet here to share ideas, spark new friendships, and renew old ones. We nourish the local economy by partnering with local growers, vintners, brewers, artists, musicians, and community groups. We offer classes and lectures to foster exploration and discovery, and sponsor events to nurture sharing and collaboration.
We are dedicated to stimulating all five senses. Taste our fresh seasonal dishes. Smell our organic fair-trade coffee. Hear talented musicians perform every day. See the work of area artists. Feel the afternoon sun. Hug a friend. Be alive.
Read the Washington Business Journal article here.
]]>