Afternoon links: More for schools

by Erik Weber • August 24, 2010 3:14 pm

Photo by loop_oh

Tops in schools: DC and Maryland school systems will receive Federal Race to the Top grants. The exact amounts have yet to be announced but DC and Maryland will share $3.4 billion with 8 other states. (TBD, AP)

On a side note, Cincinnati Public Schools, once one of the worst systems in the state of Ohio recently received rankings making it the best urban system in the state. As a city with its own history of urban racial tensions, can DC learn something from the Queen City? (Cincinnati.com)

Metro twhining: TBD launched a new service where they will map WMATA outages based on twitter complaints. If you're used to #wmata, try out #tbdwmata and see your notifications pop up on a map, not just retweeted out of schadenfreude. There are other ways to submit tips as well.

Strong dissent: At least a few members of Congress have their heads screwed on right about security: over 30 members, led by Anna Eshoo (D-CA) are supporting a resolution to ask the Supreme Court to keep its iconic marble steps open to the public. (Post, David)

Breaking through the windshield: In a breath of fresh air, a big-city newspaper gets out from behind the windshield to support long-term transportation planning and funding mechanisms that emphasizes the importance of transit. Pretty impressive for an Atlanta paper that just closed up shop in downtown and moved to the far-flung suburbs. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Erik W)

Stuck in the 90s: Aaron Renn, "The Urbanophile," writes that cities are still using outdated thinking when looking to generate economic recovery and development. Pointing out massive job-losses in cities during the last decade (noting "recession-proof Washington" as an exception) Renn says cities need to think more about job creation and less about real estate development, green initiatives and the like. (New Geography, charlie)

Transit fits: The people over at the Freakonomics Blog have compiled the various articles and infographics floating around the web addressing transportation choices and obesity. Unlike the questionable comparisons of state driving and obesity rates, there actually is a reputable scientific study that shows weight loss in transit riders. Meanwhile, TheCityFix covers new VTPI and APTA reports about public health benefits of transit. (Freakonomics Blog, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, CityFix)

Standing on the right: While other local outlets poke fun at this morning's Tea Party Guide to DC, Tim Krepp over at DC Like A Local has created a realistic, amazingly apolitical guide for this weekend's visitors. (DC Like a Local)

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3 comments

Tags: links

Erik Weber has been living car-free in the District since 2009. Hailing from the home of the nation's first Urban Growth Boundary, Erik has been interested in transit since spending summers in Germany as a kid where he rode as many buses, trains and streetcars as he could find. Views expressed here are Erik's alone.

Comments

Does anybody really think the Tea Party people are scanning all these pixels devoted to their "Guides"? Seems like a lot of blogger masturbation at this point.

by Lou on Aug 24, 2010 3:34 pm • link • report

"cities need to think more about job creation less about real estate development, green initiatives and the like."

What a simplistic, self-contradictory article. This is like saying to a sick person, "instead of taking those meds, you should just get better."

What should we be doing instead of investing in green technology, and building infrastructure and housing that is needed? His argument seems to only be that these are not sure-fire job creators for the long haul. I don't see any better suggestions, though, and I can assure you that these are better bets than, say, building a new automobile factory.

Beyond that, while the stats on job growth/loss in cities are interesting, they mean nothing unless you compare them to the statewide and national stats. Hello: everywhere in this country most likely lost tons of jobs in last decade.

by Jamie on Aug 24, 2010 3:38 pm • link • report

@Jamie; well, I sent in the link although I suspect the website it comes from is part of some right wing noise machine.

In terms of data, yes, interesting, but cutting if off at 2009 also is suspect. I can blame urbanists for a lot, but not for Global Financial Crisis in the US.

by charlie on Aug 24, 2010 9:25 pm • link • report