Biking like Europeans: Event

The City of Seattle Department of Planning and Development
city green building

Invites you to:

Bicycling: A Sustainable Choice
Niels Tørsløv, City of Copenhagen

More than 36 percent of all Copenhagen commuters arrive on bikes, and cycling has become a significant part of urban life there. Now the city has even more ambitious goals -- service improvements aim to increase bicycling commute trips to 50 percent by 2015. Copenhagen's use of cycling to improve public health and reduce the city's carbon footprint inspires cities around the world. Please join us for a brown bag lunch with city of Copenhagen Traffic Director Niels Tørsløv, who is visiting a number of North American cities to share his knowledge and experience.

Sponsored by:
Seattle Department of Transportation, Cascade Bicycling Club,
& International Sustainability Institute

Bicycling: A Sustainable Choice Niels Tørsløv
Friday, Feb. 27, 2009 Noon - 1 p.m.
Seattle Central Library's Microsoft Auditorium1000 Fourth Ave.Seattle, WA 98104

International District Planning Action for 2030

Anticipating significant zoning changes to South Downtown the International District community produced a plan to guide and shape growth, ID Vision 2030.

Please join us at GGLO on March 12 for a brownbag lunch presentation on ID Vision 2030 by Tom Im, hosted by Seattle Great City Initiative.

Tom Im has been a community organizer and planner for InterIm Community Development Association in the ID for the last 11 years.

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Find details here
Time: March 12, 2009 from 12pm to 1:30pmLocation: GGLO Harbor StepsStreet: 1301 First Ave – Enter at GGLO Level A-off of the steps.Event Type: brown, bag, lunch

Beginning the Discussion of Facts

Health Effects of Gentrification

Center for Disease Control

http://www.cdc.gov/HEALTHYPLACES/healthtopics/gentrification.htm

Gentrification is often defined as the transformation of neighborhoods from low value to high value. This change has the potential to cause displacement of long-time residents and businesses. Displacement happens when long-time or original neighborhood residents move from a gentrified area because of higher rents, mortgages, and property taxes.

Gentrification is a housing, economic, and health issue that affects a community’s history and culture and reduces social capital. It often shifts a neighborhood’s characteristics (e.g., racial/ethnic composition and household income) by adding new stores and resources in previously run-down neighborhoods.

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So we start this conversation, a deconstruction of the words, terms, and phrases that guide our economic choices, an analysis of our responses to things we lost control or direct of like urban land use, displacement, political disempowerment (outside or inside), and a littany of other factors, measureable effects/affects, all relevent and important.

However, there are two sides to every coin and a message in every middle.

2009 Agenda Actions & Think Tank Development

Welcome to Action Item #1

The Community Leadership Assessment Group, a name temporary in nature, on the heels of a historic presidential election, a radical redistribution of economics, a crippling free-market collapse, an expansion of nationalization of resources, banking, and education, and the continued failure to create a future for our children that is equitable, sustainable, and productive, is initiating a far-reaching, sustainable, strategic, and managed action plan beginning this month, February 2009.

This begins simply by sitting down and talking. The talking will coordinated the vision. The vision will provide pathways to measurable solutions. The solutions will come from a strategic application of our shared tools, skills, and abilities. Those that participate are will be working as a team to assess, review, research, and report on the state of our community from the view-point of those that are living and breathing its activities.

Representation on this body will come from all quarters of the community; institutional, non-profit, grassroots, activists, radicals, residential, commercial, retail, business, insiders, outsiders, advocates, youth, new residents, old timers, elders, and clergy of all denominations.

The goals will be set by the group and maintained by the group. The completion of a goal will allow the group to move to another goal on the list created by the fluid body of participants. The mission of the group is “to complete the goals defined by the group and represent the issues relevant to the community as defined by the needs of our children and young adults.”

If it doesn’t help the youth by improving their lives, sustaining their survival, improving their health, enriching their environment, education, or lives, then it is not dealt with by the group.
The Community Leadership Assessment Group will utilize the following tools to gather information to create and maintain a shared vision including:

Needs Assessments
Phone Calls
Town Hall Meetings
Strategic Planning Retreats
Advisory Committees
Questionnaires
Interviews
Focus Groups

This may sound familar, and it should. It has been done before and it is time to actually do it again....completely and responsibly.

Get to work. I am.