What do grants have to do with it?

Ok, I know that we are warned that the post that are placed on our blogs can be seen by co-workers.  Will I'm about to go off even if they can see.  Today I sent an email out to the departments grant team informing them that the deadline for competitive grants is approaching fast.  I did this as a courtesy, but you know what they say, "no good deed goes unpunshied".  One of the deputy director's in our department says that he had no idea that these grants were due and that his section has to prepare an application.  I find this hard to believe since I sent him an email last month telling him what staff are available to help him prepare the app.  To futher and insult to injury... He approaches my supervisor and says that I failed to communicate the grant information to him.  I have copies of four (4) seperate emails sent to him and his staff outlining the details of the grants.  Why is it so hard for people to admit when they make a mistake?

Health

23 ½ hours was a very insightful video. It is amazing to think of all the health benefits that can be accomplished with an act as simple as walking. There is no need to join an expensive gym or go out and buy a high price home fitness center. All that is needed is to get up for sitting or sleeping and walk. It seems to me that walking is something that most of us take for granted. We live in a world that does not encourage walking. Everything is built around convenience. Drive thru windows at fast food restaurants, banks, and post offices. Corporate America has also become the land of sitters. With a large portion of the job market working in white collar jobs, physical activity is very minimal. Technologies like computers and cell phones has made it possible for people to conduct business, pay bills, and socialize all without leaving their seat.

In the video Dr. Mike Evans gave examples of how 30 to 60 minutes of walking each day had several health benefits and improved the over all life experience. With one hour of walking three time per week people with knee arthritis experience 47% less pain and/or disabilities. That is amazing to think that walking for 3 hours a week could reduce the amount of discomfort that a person experiences. Depression decreased by 47% in people that walked for longer periods of time weekly. Dr. Evans calls walking a medicine. I think that is a perfect definition for walking when used in this term. One thing that is interesting to me is the fact that the medical field is so based on money. How many commercial do we all see on a daily bases that talk about the benefits of prescription drugs? These commercials talk about how the drug can relieve the user form what health issues that they have. At the end of these commercial they speed through a list of negative side effects that are sometimes more hazardous then the original health concern. Now let me ask you this, how many commercials have you seen encouraging you to get up and go for a walk. Why aren’t hospitals and health care providers pushing the word about the positives of walking. The bonus of walking is that there are not negative physical side affects. You may have to wash clothes more often or spend more money to purchase proper shoes, but the results are outstanding.

I’m going to take the challenge of getting my daughters more active each day. They already go will beyond the 1 hour a day recommendation and I go to the gym on a consistent bases, but this will be something that we can do together. Starting a routine now will hopefully help them in future years to be sure to incorporate walking into their daily life even if not required/provided during school/work.

City Manager of Saratoga County, New York

As City Manager of Saratoga County, New York I would focus on the the strengths that my community has from an economic stand point. Having access to capital, in place infrastructure that can support industrial or manufacturing, centrally located from communities and places of work, great access to leisure activities, and a top ranking educational system. Being home to industry leaders such as IBM and GE are just part of the reason that Saratoga County is considered to be one of the technology hubs of the world. Providing ample leisure activities such as dinning, theater, skiing, night life, and open spaces allows not only for individuals to advance career wise, but to also get a sense of community.

As City Manager, I would propose to create a strong presents of milt-use developments in the center of this area with a preference of dinning, entertainment, and shopping. We currently have a great infrastructure of educational institutions and corporations. However, employees have to leave the area to engage in activities ranging out side of work. By focusing on multi-use development we are able to accomplish two objectives at the same time; bringing a diverse economic funding source to the area, and eliminated the need to individual to take their purchasing power out of the region. One type of development could be a partnership between a hotel chain and condominium developer. Workers that desire to be in close proximity to their work place could purchase the condominium and visitor to the area could stay at the hotel to take advantage of the ski slopes and local rivers. With the decline of the industrial age and the rise of the post industrial society, services are the economic future for cities (Euchner and McGovern pg.99). By concentating our efforts into creating zoning that is condusive to multi-use developments, we can provide the existing industrial ecomonic development with the diversity that is needed to sustain the economy of our county.

I would also support applications for the HOPE VI grant program. I feel that this program will not only insure greater living condition for the individuals of our community with lower income, but will also show our dedication to having a functional diverse community. This program well allow the county to focus on the down trodden areas that have been neglected. Improving these areas will have a positive impact on the surrounding areas and may also increase property values. Building new residences with community based amenities will promote a stronger sense of responsibility for the tents of these developments and will hopefully reflect in the preservation of these developments. It is important to focus on the counties entire region to encourage the best citizen experience possible for all residences.

High Speed Rail

The video against the construction of high speed rail was very interesting.  The concept of billions of dollars being spent to shorten travel times for existing AM Track passengers was an eye opener.  Not to say that all high speed rail systems are just modifications of existing light rail/train system.  The main speaker spoke about the concept of the fix risk and cost associated with the development of high speed rail.  One example of this was, if the new rail system is underutilized the tracks or rail cars could not be reused in another location or the rails be used for another function.  He also spoke about the concept that the US is following the pattern set in Europe and Asia.  The major factors that impact the use of rail in these locations oppose to here in the US are; most roads in these area are pay for use (toll), and gas taxes are on average three time the taxes that we pay here in the US.  Another thing that was pointed out was the fact that in these area the rail systems are not experience growth at a notable rate, but automotive and air travel are increasing at a quick pass.  The second speaker spoke about the stance that is being seen from the policies President Obhama  is pushing for.  This speaker stated that individual drivers are being pushed to paying for items outside of the realm of highway and streets.  Drivers are being pushed to pay for regional transportation and alternative transportation measures.

I have mixed feeling about what the above video spoke about.  The other two videos showed great examples of high speed rail systems that not only serve a purpose of commuting, but also the experience that it provides the passenger.  Unlike the speaker in the first video, I feel that people will use the high speed rail to travel to places they would normally drive, even if there is not a large amount of time savings.  As the state of our economy changes, so does the way the people spend and save money.  If people can save on gas cost, vehicle maintenance, and not increase commute times by large amounts people will utilize the system.  Pushing drivers to get out of their cars and use forms of public transit are extremely critical to the future of this nation.  I think that the long term benefits of rail systems will not only help the environment but will also revolutionize the way that economies are form.  Works with less disposable income would be able to live further away from their place of work and commute to those locations.  There are several other benefits to moving towards this change, but I would like to hear what you think about it. 

Education

“He who pays the Piper calls the tune” (Urban Experience 247). This statement speaks to one of the major causes of the problem we witness today in the educational system here in the US. Money determines a large majority of the educational decisions made in today’s world. Teacher’s salary, books and supplies, and programs offered are all aspects of finical expenditures that ultimately impact the students of our countries educational system. “Education is a money problem …. but its not just a money problem” (Clinton, Waiting for Superman). This is a perfect way to say that a lack of funding is being put towards improving the education system, but the educational system produces problems beyond financial. The children that are placed in the failing system are the future of our nation. With out improvements to the way that we implement the institution of education, many of the children of this country will be lost with no future. In the reading Wilson's Truly Disadvantaged, it gave a great example of how education has impacts beyond the classroom. With the fight for civil rights equality and preferential treatment policies have been created to 'even the playing field' so to speak. However, no matter what number of positions are available or what hiring practices are in place, individuals that are not educated or trained will not have the opportunity to compete for those position. This all starts because of a lack of opportunity to gain the education necessary for the career needs.

Changing the educational system doesn't have a cut and dry solution. The paradigms that have been set for education in the US have lead us down a road similar to an industrial plant. Producing Two types of individuals; educated professionals and uneducated workers (RSA -Animate). I feel that we will continue to loss some of the brightest and innovative people of this country if the paradigms do not change. One of the major factors that make creating a change of this size possible is the involvement of government. With the implementation of standardized testing and centralized educational systems, it is very difficult to break away from the 'old world' train of thought . I feel that a decentralized educational system is not the answer to solving the problem. However, why does having a centralized government administrated system have to equal 'same'? Is it possible for the government to allow local school systems to evaluate the different learning styles and behaviors of children, and develop educational programs based on this information? Could the government evaluate these suggested programs and create minimums for each program type?

January 17

This week has been another one of those, ‘I’m glad it is over’ weeks. After what seems like days upon days of reading, I have come to the conclusion that I had really no idea about Gentrification. Needless to say I knew even less about how important gentrification was to urban policy. I thought of this concept as simply rich/wealthy moving into a low income area and pushing the local residence out. Man, was I wrong. There is much more to it then that.

The areas of the reading that resonated with me the most are the affect that gentrification has on the central city areas, the types of people responsible for the movement, and the impacts that it has on the value of property. Three kinds of developers are responsible for revitalizing neighborhoods: professional developers that resale property, occupiers that reside in the residences and landlords that place property for rent (Neil Smith pg82). All of these are need to ensure that the efforts placed into renovating an area with low equity and be sustained for future years. It is not enough to simply have home ownership, rentals and investors are needed to keep the drive of improvement moving forward. I feel that if you insulate an area of revitalization with only one demographic, the area will continue in the aging cycle and the attractiveness of the area will fade. As homeowners age many factor will being to plague the area; owners physically unable to perform maintenance or vacant properties due to death of placement in living facilities.

Gentrification transitioned downtown development, by increasing private sector involvement and decreasing public sector presents. Also, construction changed from large scale buildings to small renovations (Sharon Zukin pg38). I feel like that perfect example of this is the initiative that the City Of Phoenix has been pushing to entice small business owners to utilize existing building in the course urban are for the purpose of there business. Phoenix has even put a catchy name on it ‘adaptive reuse’. Exceptions to building codes and zoning regulations are given to these properties to make them more desirable from a cost perspective. I feel that these types of policies will motivate residence to move into these areas of low equity. Downtown Manhattan was revitalized on the triumph of an artist’s and historic preservationist’s coalition (Sharon Zukin pg39). This seems to be taken from a page directly out of the First Friday’s book. If you ever have a chance to go to First Friday’s, you should definitely go. It is a true illustration of what can be accomplished with a coalition of that nature.

Well, I’m out of here. I have a ton of more reading to do, and I would like to actually be able to drink a beer and watch football next weekend.

Jan 5-10

One thing from the reading that interest me most was the concept of suburbanites feeling that they are insulated from urban issues.  In the reading the main point that is giving for why the suburban areas should be engaged in urban issues, is due to the cost benefit of providing infrastructure.  Providing infrastructure to fringe cities and rural areas is very expensive and not very cost efficient.  Urban areas with high densities have less cost to provide these services, but also create a larger users base to spread fixed cost.  One of the examples used in class was the idea of someone not  using the highway system, thus feeling that they should not have to pay taxes for this form of infrastructure.  Even if a person is not themselves driving on the highway system, we ALL still receive a benefit from it.  Highways are used to transport goods that are essential for life.  Things like clothing, food, and chemicals needed to treat the potable water that we use are brought to us with the use of highways.  I feel that this is most interesting because every decision has an out reaching impact.  I am excited to learn more of how this is kept to a minimum when creating policy and how it is evaluated before hand.

INTRODUCTION

Hello, my name is Markus Coleman.  I am in my senior year of college and second year here at ASU.  I have work for the City of Phoenixfor a total of 16 years.  A majority of this time has been with the Development Services Department.  I have mostly worked in the civil field of development.  I have reviewed, approved and issued permits for civil construction.  Working on minor and major commercial project such as Happy Valley Towne Center to Master Planned Communities such as Desert Ridge, has allowed me to see several aspects of construction policies. I currently work for the Public Transit Department, I have the duty of managing the contracts in which the City of Phoenix sells transit service to other cities/agencies.  As we experience economically hard times, transit service is being eliminated and/or consolidated to become more efficient.  Deciding what transit services to modify and how in turn that will impact the citizens that utilize these services required knowledge of planning and policy.  I am hoping that through this course I will gain a better understanding of the variables that are considered when creating policies.