Quick tips and top hits in three easily-digestible bullets:
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Storefront Glow Up! — if your streetscape needs some TLC to wow your visitors and woo your foot traffic, consider this FREE webinar on Friday May 22nd at 1pm EST with the Storefront Renaissance team (including some of our fave placemaking smartypants; Storefront Mastery, Ash + Lime and Zero Empty Spaces.
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Shitty Issues — many agree that dogs are better than people, and the case can be made by the plops on the block. NYC is fed up with irresponsible owners and has proposed new legislation. Get the scoop on the poop here.
- Give it to us Straight — we’re planning to revamp the Bulletin and want your feedback, oh dear readers. If you’ve got opinions, ideas and want the inside track, throw your name in the hat for an upcoming focus group here.
Photo credit: by Alain ROUILLER on Unsplash
San Antonio, TX has long been a bastion of blue in a deep red state. And with recent machinations at the state and federal level imposing a stink-eye erasure of inclusivity and diversity initiatives on municipalities, we literally stood up and cheered for SATX’s stunning runaround. Elected Governor Greg Abbott of “The Great State of Texas” declared a “win” last fall by making rainbow painted crosswalks illegal in his state, and ordered the Texas Department of Transportation to remove any non-standard, decorative road markings deemed to promote “political ideologies”, threatening to withhold state transportation funding from cities that failed to comply. Not one to be bullied by ideologues from Austin, a gay city councilor in SATX said FAFO — by moving the welcoming rainbow semaphore onto the sidewalks. You see, the state controls the roadways where the crosswalks were scrubbed — but the city has purview over the sidewalks. This brilliant show of defiance in the face of extremism and hatred underscores the fact that there are good people everywhere, who welcome diversity and inclusion, regardless of current administration. Kudos to you SATX for another notch in the fight against social erasure.
Photo credit: by Greg Rosenke on Unsplash
… that putting AI in charge of traffic lights could save the State of California over $200MM? Let’s face it. Some days it feels like all anyone can talk about is AI and how it will revolutionize our everyday lives. But most applications seemingly fall short so far. We believe there’s a time and a place for AI integration, and this story outta Cali is one of the best use case scenarios we’ve seen so far. How many times have you frustratedly sat at a red light with zero opposing traffic, cross traffic or anyone else on the road — and yet you’re required by law to continue to emit emissions with your foot on the brake and the car in drive? You know all the very painful, exceptionally long lights in town, and you avoid these interactions. By using AI to load-balance and optimize our roadways in real-time makes absolute sense! And not just from a car-centric position of entitlement. (Brother, you’re not “in” traffic — you “are” traffic). Keeping traffic moving, accommodating cars, cyclists and pedestrians, as well as delivery vehicles, busses and PT — this AI solution seems poignantly realistic and impossibly practical. It’s more sustainable than what we have now, and we’re looking forward to learning the results of this five-year pilot. Guaranteed there’ll be a drop in emissions, decreased commute times and increased constituent satisfaction. Unless, of course, the AI goes rogue and makes all lights green at once. Ahem. We shall see!
Photo credit: by Eliobed Suarez on Unsplash
It’s simple. It’s easy. It’s imaginative and outside the box. Many districts tell us they grapple with how to grow share of headspace in their communities, and let the public know they’re the ones responsible for making downtown pop. We think that the Yerba Buena Partnership in SFCA did an amazing job of cross-promoting their cultural assets and public art, with the operations team and the folks whose feet are on the streets on the daily — while effectively storytelling how great Yerba Buena is. Take a look-see at how the YB rolls with this kick-ass video from LinkedIn.
Photo credit: by Mahdis Mousavi on Unsplash
Summer means many things to different folks, and the summer heat makes us all wanna scream … for ice cream! From historic haunts to innovative flavor combos, local ingredients and fresh-batched goodness, find the Best Ice Cream Flavors for all 50 states here, thanks to the finicky foodies over at FOOD & WINE.
Photo credit: by Courtney Cook on Unsplash
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“We thought, How do we send the strongest possible message to the L.G.B.T.Q. community that we’re not going to be bullied, and that they can get rid of the crosswalks, but we can follow that law and paint the sidewalks instead,”
— Jalen McKee-Rodriguez, San Antonio City Council
