Filter by author » Matt Stroud

• The Daily Report

  HUD chief resigns, Treasury overhaul, White House losers, sprawl, a bed to keep you safe, MORE

  Matt Stroud | Mon, Mar 31st, 2008 | Tags: | 0

  City and national news:

  HUD chief resigns amid ethics investigations
  Treasury Rolls Out Overhaul of Financial Regulators
  US charges embassy bomb suspect
  New Backing for Obama As Party Seeks Unity
  Ohio soldier’s remains found in Iraq
  Canada’s largest cities most diverse, study finds

  Plus, after the jump: Decomposition, White House losers, race, Baghdad curfew and answers to questions like Why did kamikaze pilots wear helmets?

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• NAC News

  Helping to innovate in the Great Lakes Region—NAC partners with Great Lakes Urban Exchange

  Matt Stroud | Fri, Feb 22nd, 2008 | Category: NAC News | City: NAC News | Tags: great lakes urban exchange | 1

  We want to build a movement among people with innovative ideas about how to improve their cities. Across the country we’ve started working with organizations and individuals who share that goal. Most recently we’ve struck a partnership with GLUE—Great Lakes Urban Exchange—to support their efforts to stimulate positive change in the region and to bring you, dear readers, ever more interesting, engaging and useful stories about what’s happening on the ground in the great lakes region. Stay…

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• The Daily Report

  Failures of the Public Participation Process

  Matt Stroud | Thu, Feb 14th, 2008 | Category: Report | Tags: police, suburb, missouri, nate berg, city council, political process, public participation, public opposition | 0

  Public participation turned ugly last week in suburban Missouri, where a man burst into a city council meeting and shot and killed two police officers and three city councilors. At least two others were injured by the gunman before he was fatally shot by police, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times.

  The armed man was a frequent attendee at city council meetings in Kirkwood, Missouri, and he was known for being a very vocal critic of the council and the city’s mayor.…

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• The Daily Report

  Whites and coloreds: Laundering racism with bad advertising

  Matt Stroud | Fri, Feb 1st, 2008 | Category: Commentary | Tags: color, advertising, italian, laundry, feministing | 0

  Probably doesn’t fit neatly into the category of “city issues,” but we can make an exception every now and then—particularly when something falls into the category of either “real dumb” or “offensive advertising.” This happens to fit both. Have a watch, and be patient—the 180 doesn’t happen until about 30 seconds in.

  Now. I know what you’re thinking: ”Finally, an ad that’s offensive to both black and white people!” But not so fast. Before you jump to conclusions, the smarmy, Italian…

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• The Daily Report

  Eat It, San Francisco: NYC Native Calls Dibs On Gentrification

  Matt Stroud | Thu, Jan 10th, 2008 | Category: Report | Tags: new york city, san francisco, williamsburg is ground zero, danny hoch, nyc native calls dibs | 1

  Interesting blog item from the folks at Curbed SF (via the San Francisco Bay Guardian (SFBG)). Listen to Danny Hoch, friends. Listen to hiiiimmmmm:

  “Williamsburg is ground zero for gentrification not just in New York but in the country, because it has provided a blueprint for how fast and how violent displacement and economic development can happen in a short amount of time.”

  And more:

  “Taking Over is about how gentrification is really masking the idea of colonialism and how everybody…

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• The Daily Report

  Continuing ‘The Wire’ Lovefest: ‘[The drug war] is a fraud,’ and other fun

  Matt Stroud | Thu, Jan 10th, 2008 | Category: Report | Tags: drugs, greatest tv show, drug war is a fraud, david simon, the wire, reason interview, simon | 0

  So, amid the billowing torrents of masturbatory gush flowing from every pore of the media re: the new/final season of the greatest television show on Earth, ever, we were reminded of this 2004 Reason interview with David Simon, which includes some very telling and honest discussion about the realities of America’s drug war. Dig:

  Reason: What’s the show’s underlying message about the drug war?

  Simon: That it’s a fraud. It’s all over except for the tragedy and the shouting and the…

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• The Daily Report

  ‘The fierce urgency of now’ at yesterday’s Jersey City Obama rally

  Matt Stroud | Wed, Jan 9th, 2008 | Category: Report | Tags: obama, barack obama, clinton, jersey city, new jersey, fierce urgency of now | 0

  Live from Jersey City… yesterday!

  Here’s a joke overheard last night.

  “With these genealogical surveys, you’re hoping you’ll be related to somebody cool, like, say George Washington or Willie Mays. But Dick Cheney—that was a real let down.”

  Looking lean and tired, Barack Obama was playing the crowd for laughs. And some 2000 or so supporters in the St. Peter’s College gym in Jersey City, NJ, laughed. Middle-age women climbed barricades and leaned to look between the legs of…

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• The Daily Report

  Post-gloom in Hillaryland, Obama = Princess Leia, NYC death rate reaches historic low

  Matt Stroud | Wed, Jan 9th, 2008 | Category: Guests | Tags: commentary, hillary clinton, obama, barack obama, election 2008, cnn, john mccain, president, post-gloom in hillary land, antiwar groups | 0

  To warm up, we begin with a throwback—Christopher Morris’ 2003 satirical interpretation/re-framing of President Bush’s State of the Union address:

  “...this year, for the first time, we must offer every child in America three nuclear missiles.”

  If that doesn’t get you ready to read about presidential primaries, we don’t know what will. So:

  The Atlantic has an insider report from the Hillary camp, describing first the ”deep sense of gloom that settled over Hillaryland,” and then the…

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• Headlines

  Murder rate rising in Louisiana’s major cities; U.S.’s obsession with Obama’s race

  Matt Stroud | Tue, Jan 8th, 2008 | Category: Commentary | City: Headlines | Tags: commentary, barack obama, new orleans, murder rate rising in louisiana, u.s. obsession with obama, baton rouge | 0

  We lead with this: “FBI figures show murder rate rising in Louisiana’s major cities.” From Baton Rouge Police Sgt. Don Kelly:

  ‘‘Murder is the single category that gets the most attention. And it’s the one we have the least ability to effect. Most murders are done by people who know each other, many are done in private, and almost all are done without much planning and forethought. Those are almost impossible to prevent.’’

  How do you like that?

  Now: some Obama commentary via Jesse…

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• The Daily Report

  Preserving the Recent Past - an Interview with Christine Madrid French

  Matt Stroud | Tue, Jan 8th, 2008 | Category: Guests | Tags: architecture, marcel breuer building, preserving the recent past, christine madrid french, boston city hall | 1

  Ray Hainer discusses Brutalism, thoughtless demolition and the preservation of the recent past with Christine Madrid French.

  This is a perilous time for modern architecture. Numerous landmark buildings from the postwar decades have been laid low in recent years by cities, developers, and institutions eager to make way for new development, and many more, old enough to have fallen out of fashion but too young to be considered historic, are now endangered, including works by celebrated…

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• The Daily Report

  Just in time for the the Caucuses: Good Magazine translates capital cities

  Matt Stroud | Thu, Jan 3rd, 2008 | Category: Report | Tags: new york city, capital cities, good magazine, caucuses | 0

  Literally! Have a look.

  Good tool for an added (perhaps trivial) edge as you debate which hopeful presidential candidate is most qualified to run in an increasingly global economy. For more fun, go here; make your own judgments about whether or not “eight years in [New York] City Hall constitute[s] foreign-policy experience.” Selah.

  …

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• The Daily Report

  Filmmaking as public art

  Matt Stroud | Sat, Dec 29th, 2007 | Category: Commentary | Tags: los angeles, public art, planetizen, filmmaking | 0

  When a building is surrounded by cameras and lights or an entire street is blocked off for filming in L.A., you don’t really notice. At least I don’t. Not anymore. Well, I notice, but the sight is so familiar that to me and to many in Los Angeles, it is not too much different than seeing kids at the park or hardhat guys working on a road.

  Witnessing something being filmed in L.A.—be it a movie, a car commercial, a TV show or a music video—is not unusual. But the fact that it just kind…

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• The Daily Report

  Atlanta Mayor’s daughter pleads guilty in drug case

  Matt Stroud | Mon, Dec 17th, 2007 | Category: Commentary | Tags: commentary, atlanta, drug case, intelligence, plead guilty, mayor's daughter | 1

  From the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

  A daughter of Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin pleaded guilty today to federal charges that she illegally concealed proceeds from her former husband’s transcontinental drug-trafficking ring.

  Kai Franklin Graham, 35, the oldest of the mayor’s three children, pleaded guilty to structuring financial transactions in a way that avoided scrutiny from federal authorities.

  While her former husband, Tremayne Graham, 34, was a fugitive from justice, she…

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• The Daily Report

  Playful City USA: Can a new playground initiative inspire safe adventure for kids?

  Matt Stroud | Sat, Dec 15th, 2007 | Category: Commentary | Tags: brendan crain, adventure playgrouds, playful city usa, safe adventure for kids, playgrounds, kaboom, safe kids | 1

  
  Image courtesy of HeartShare.

  More playgrounds = good. Lame playgrounds? Not so much.
  By Brendan Crain

  Last month, a national nonprofit on a mission to put a playground within walking distance of every child in America, launched the Playful City USA program, where cities were recognized for meeting the following criteria:

  1. Creating a local play commission or task force
  2. Designing an annual action plan for play
  3. Conducting a play space audit
  4. Outlining a financial…

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• The Daily Report

  A Floating City of Peasants: The Great Migration in Contemporary China

  Matt Stroud | Thu, Dec 13th, 2007 | Category: Reviews | Tags: china, migration, peasants, chinese immigrants, william j. evitts, reviews, contemporary china | 0

  Just Enough for the City: the Great Chinese Migration
  By William J. Evitts

  Review: A Floating City of Peasants: The Great Migration in Contemporary China. Van Luyn, Floris-Jan, translated from the Dutch by Jeannette K. Ringold (New York: The New Press, 2007).

  A Floating City of Peasants begins and ends with numbers—the astonishing (and astonishingly unremarked) statistical outpouring of peasants leaving the Chinese countryside. The U.N. calculated that 200 million Chinese will…

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• The Daily Report

  Do you have a question for one (or all) of the 2008 US presidential candidates?

  Matt Stroud | Tue, Dec 11th, 2007 | Category: Report | Tags: election 2008, city limits, questions for candidates | 0

  Just got this note from City Limits.

  I’m writing to get your input for a story City Limits is doing about the presidential race and housing policy.

  We’re trying to put together a comprehensive look at where the candidates stand on key housing policy questions. The idea is to get this out before the Iowa caucus, as a tiny antidote to the poll and personality driven coverage out there.

  We’re asking housing developers, advocates, activists, residents, etc. to submit the question or…

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• The Daily Report

  Backwards Enforcement Will Not Improve Pedestrian Safety

  Matt Stroud | Thu, Dec 6th, 2007 | Category: Commentary | Tags: fines, right of way, drivers, reckless driving, pedestrian safety, backwards enforcement | 2

  On my way to work the other day, I happened to get off of one bus just in time to catch another one across the street. So I jogged my way across the street and was on my way to a timely departure when a gloved cop finger beckoned me. “Come here” it said. The officer told me that, even though I was in the crosswalk and the light was not red, my street crossing was unsafe and thus warranted a citation.

  Here in L.A. we have crosswalk signs that count down the seconds until the yellow…

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• Headlines

  Tuesday Headlines

  Matt Stroud | Sun, Dec 2nd, 2007 | Category: Headlines | City: Headlines | Tags: headlines, wind power, future planet, solar power, political snow | 0

  Future Planet

  “What does New York City have in common with cities in Africa and Asia, like Mumbai, Seoul, Jakarta, Lagos, Cairo and Kinshasa? Population growth, aging and environmental pressures will transform these metropolises by 2050, according to a panel of experts who took up the issue of “sustainable cities” at a panel discussion.

  “The members of the panel — a population scientist, a deputy mayor and an architectural critic — made sobering predictions about urban change…

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• The Daily Report

  Worst Cities for Foreclosures

  Matt Stroud | Tue, Nov 20th, 2007 | Category: Report | Tags: california, florida, ohio, forclosures, worst cities | 0

  No Slowdown in Foreclosure Filings

  “California, Florida, and Ohio continue to dominate new foreclosure filings, as most of the nation saw increases in the third quarter, according to a new survey.

  “During the period ended Sept. 30, 77 out of the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas reported rises in delinquencies compared with the previous three months, according to the latest report from RealtyTrac, an online marketer of foreclosure properties.

  …

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• The Daily Report

  Predatory lending: helping to extract money from the poor!

  Matt Stroud | Fri, Nov 16th, 2007 | Category: Report | Tags: satire, pla, robbery, predatory lending association, predatory lending, extract money from the poor | 0

  Nice little piece of satire here:

  The Predatory Lending Association (PLA) is dedicated to extracting maximum profit from the working poor by increasing payday loan fees and debt traps. The working poor is an exciting, fast growing demographic that includes: military personnel, most minorities, and a growing percentage of the middle class.

  Bonus points if you’ve shaken hands with (or punched) anyone on the ”outreach” page.

  Thanks, Seth, for the link.

  …

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