What did your city do last week?

Chicago killed it. A snapshot of recent city building action:

Friday (February 24) - Purchased 100 locally manufactured cops cars from the Torrence Avenue Ford Plant. Commited to buy 400 more. "The single largest order ever for the Ford Interceptor."

Saturday - Announced "the largest public housing redevelopment effort in the history of the United States." 

Monday - Directed $11 million to support the growth of women- and minority-owned business.

Tuesday - Announced five new schools focused exclusively on tech skills and career readiness. 

Wednesday - Unveiled forward looking Plan for Economic Growth and Jobs. Also announced agreement to retire two coal-fired power plants.

Thursday - Joined with President Clinton and announced the Chicago Infrastructure Trust to invest more than $200 million in energy efficiency, generate 2,000 jobs and save taxpayers some $20 million annually.

Friday -  Announced $25,000 signing bonuses to recruit top performing principals to under-performing schools. Also annnounced the City website is available in 64 languages.

How younger people in Toronto see transit

Good commentary from next gen Toronto thought leadership on the state and future of the city's transit-building movement. Derek Flack at BlogTO offers a little more reflection.


Hat tip to My City Lives for producing the vid.

Toronto: Balanced and Bolder

Councillor Peter Milczyn issued a research paper (PDF) to inform bolder and more creative planning for the future of the City of Toronto. The Concillor believes his city lags behind such global cities as London, New York, Singapore, San Francisco and Melbourne. A sample of the recommendations intended to help Toronto keep pace:

• Transform active thoroughfares to car-free pedestrian boulevards, shared zones and transit malls.
• Offer land use and housing credits to developers proposing multi-use developments in transit-supportive areas to encourage a balance between employment and residential growth.
• Re-develop "dead" urban space, including alleys, passageways, parking lots, utility corridors, and other underutilized interstitial spaces as active and functional components of the urban fabric.
• Encourage the construction of iconic and identifiable buildings as gateway elements throughout the City.
• Redefine the "base building" and "middle (shaft)" elements of Tall Buildings as a "streetwall zone" and "pedestrian zone", respectively, to reinforce the defining role of the street.
• Establish maximum parking standards within a 500m radius of mass transit stations for retail, office, institutional, industrial, and public facilities.
• Establish a system of Transit Revitalization Investment Districts to encourage density increases, redesigns, and infrastructural improvements in the areas surrounding mass transit stations
• Develop a View Management Framework to support the preservation of significant views and vistas within the urban landscape.
• Develop a detailed food policy for the City to encourage the growth of an accessible, resilient and sustainable City food system.

MI Gov-Elect: Cities are fundamental

Michigan governor-elect Rick Snyder put urban revitalization - along with common sense taxes, customer service oriented government and natural resource stewardship - high on the list of priorities in his victory speech.

8m 30s into the speech...

"It is fundamental that we restore our central cities. Michigan will only be a great state when it's cities, and particularly Detroit, are on the path to being a great city again."

Detroit in prime time

Wheater or not you like ABC's Detroit 1-8-7 (Really, how do you top The Wire?) it's interesting to watch Hollywood grapple with important themes of the the city's story.

The idea of shrinking a city as large as Detroit has attracted attention from the NY Times, Time and the UK's Daily Telegraph. But the controversial debate went prime time 13m 30s into 1-8-7's third episode as Sergeant Longford and Detective Mahajan drove past city's ruins:

Longford: Sometimes I wonder if it wouldn't be better to get rid of some of these old neighborhoods. Shrink the city limits and start over with a better plan.

Mahajan: How can you say that, man. I mean, look at these houses. Some are so historic.

Personally, I will continue watching with anticipation that these sleuths might solve the puzzling case of Tamara Greene. If Fitch can't do it, really who can? (Besides maybe Jimmy McNulty)