City of Tempe’s Post

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According to George W. Bush Presidential Center America is facing a critical shortage of affordable housing, the worst since 1940. However, success stories in suburban cities such as Frisco, Texas, offer a beacon of hope. Their exemplary housing policies, such as streamlined permitting processes and a developer-friendly approach, illuminate a path forward. #AffordableHousing #HousingSolutions https://bit.ly/48ot772

County road, Northern Ireland

That’s all well and good and I agree something needs to be done with The Grand but there are fundamental issues that need fixing first. Scarborough has a massive pothole issue and the council seems to think that filling the holes with gravel will fix the problem. There’s a massive issue with drainage in Falsgrave park causing it to be either a bog or an ice rink. The council won’t grit it in the winter for fear of liability if someone has an accident, in the meantime, residents, especially the older generation fear taking a walk in the winter because they don’t want to fall. The A64 has had “talks” about it being a dual carriage way for years, when will this become a reality? There’s plots of land/warehouse at the back of Morrison’s that would be ideal for rock climbing/ice rink/trampoline centre to encourage residents and visitors all year round. What will be done about the fact there are Poundlands and charity shops but nowhere to encourage locals to shop local building a sustainable local economy? Surely these are issues that should be tackled before injecting millions of, presumably tax payers’ money into a project that will take years to come to fruition or is this a project for you purely to attract voters?

Yesterday, Senator Anderson and Representative Weaver delivered a press conference advocating for funding for the Village of Bishop Hill. This is the same task I will be completing on April 17 at the Illinois Municipal League Lobby Day. Bishop Hill is a small town in Illinois that is designated as a state and national historic site due to its Swedish cultural significance. However, the town is failing. Right now, the state provides them with an annual budget of $40,000, which isn't enough to repave roads, let alone have an administrative office. Many of their historical sites are in disrepair, and the Illinois DNR won't let the residents fix buildings or repair them themselves. This inspired my grandmother and I to develop a survey. We reached out to all the small towns in Illinois with a population of under 250. Based on my conversations with town mayors, they have almost identical experiences. Due to a low population, they: - Cannot afford an administrative office, laptops, or internet connection - Cannot afford to pay their town employees - Cannot afford basic maintenance, like repairing roads, buildings, or cemeteries - Cannot afford to pay a grant writer to obtain additional funding for the aforementioned items - Run their towns based entirely on volunteer efforts This is not sustainable. While most of the towns under 250 people are not tourist destinations, they deserve a fighting chance. For many people, these are towns where they grew up, run a business/farm, or have family members. While they do not need to be prioritized to the extent of larger towns a more significant commercial draw, they need a base level of funding to sustain administrative duties for their residents. I will be advocating for common-sense, practical ways to reallocate existing funding toward providing the basics for small towns in Illinois. Please reach out if you want to know how to use our formula for other towns across the country. https://lnkd.in/gqxWDdZ9

On the one hand, New Towns are a marvel, but on the other, we simply must re-invest in our existing towns and infrastructure. It makes so much more economic sense to retrofit and refurbish existing buildings and high streets than it does to carve new towns out of fields (brown, grey, or green doesn't matter). The embodied carbon sitting in derelict buildings is a ticking time bomb...we need to bring those buildings back to life now, before they are so delapidated there is no choice but to knock them down. Every person reading this post will immediately know of an abandoned or under-used building near them that could, with a bit of imagination, be brought back into use. Where is the #PresumptionOfRetrofit and #DontWasteBuildings ethos? I want to envision better spaces and to revitalise our communities, rather than ignoring them and moving on to the next new shiny thing. Let's #RetrofitOneMillionHomes and then maybe we move on to new builds!

#MHCLG and #HomesEngland have worked hand in hand since the election to develop the key concepts, outline the risks, the opportunities and the potential routes forward to help advise the Minister and Government on the next generation of #NewTowns. It's amazing how much expertise sits in both organisations which has helped to underpin the journey so far. This isn't any flight of fancy - this is an amazing future and real delivery on a scale we have not seen for a generation. I'm so glad to see this finally launch in #Stevenage, and Sir Michael Lyons and Dame Kate Barker will be brilliant in leading this. Whilst there were many hands helping bring it to this point, Julia Krause and John Whetstone MRICS have played a critical role and been amazing. Biased, I know, given they are on my team! #HomesEngland have played a critical role in the current generation of large scale delivery, from #HarlowandGilston to #MeridianWater and beyond. Now we'll be bringing our unmatched expertise in funding, infrastructure, delivery and placemaking to support this transformational programme. Personally, living in a town that has over 8,000 homes underway that will double it's size, and minutes from Urban&Civic's Tempsford scheme, this is both incredibly exciting and reassuring. It's the real change we have been asking for - from sporadic development often delivered through Appeal decision, to thought out, connected, planned settlements our kids will be proud to live in. I urge everyone to read the press release and forthcoming documents. Critical is the first bullet point about the work plan. It confirms over the next 12 months the Taskforce will be "Meeting with new and existing communities to hear first-hand about the design of desirable developments". That's where the work starts and tells you how much this isn't about numbers but about you, and me, and the people we care about. Let's make this brilliant. #WeAreHomesEngland #NewTowns #delivery #regeneration #development #planning #housing

Massachusetts has some of the worst traffic and most expensive, inaccessible housing in the Nation. Simple changes to our land use patterns could solve both of those problems and set us on a course to a sustainable, accessible Commonwealth... if we're willing to embrace them.

🇺🇸 #USA: the #collapse of the "Francis Scott Key" bridge in #Baltimore has raised questions about the safety of maritime #infrastructure. Although the bridge was not among the oldest, its failure highlights the need to adapt to the size and #safety of modern ships. With more than 42,000 bridges rated in poor condition, there is urgent need for investment in the sector. #Webuild - Read more in #WebuildValue 👉 https://bit.ly/3vKifT2