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Which U.S. city has the best park system?

by pitery Posted on June 6, 2013

Which U.S. city has the best park system?

By Claire Thompson

Michael Hartford

Even the Minneapolis winter can’t keep kids out of its parks.

If you’re a lover of outdoor urban activity, might we suggest a move to Minneapolis? Not only does the burg have a bike culture to rival Portland’s, it boasts the best park system of any major U.S. city, according to rankings released Wednesday by the Trust for Public Land in its second-annual ParkScore Index.

Minneapolis didn’t appear on last year’s inaugural ParkScore list, which ranked only the 40 largest U.S. cities (Minneapolis comes in at No. 48). But this year, TPL looked at 50 cities, and Minneapolis took top honors, bumping San Francisco, last year’s winner, to third place. New York City moved up from third to second.

Here’s the top 10:

  1. Minneapolis
  1. New York City
  1. Sacramento & San Francisco & Boston (a three-way tie)
  1. Washington, D.C.
  1. Portland, Ore.
  1. Virginia Beach
  1. San Diego
  1. Seattle

Most of the cities in the Top 10 are either older Eastern towns shaped by Frederick Law Olmsted’s legacy of urban design (such as New York and Boston) or newer Western ones with urban wilderness and open space to spare (Portland, San Diego, Seattle).

In calculating the rankings, ParkScore gives equal weight to three main categories: acreage (median park size and park land as a percentage of overall city area), services and investment (park spending per capita and playgrounds per 10,000 residents), and access (how many people live within a 10-minute walk of a park). Fresno, Calif., brought up the rear for the second year in a row. In that city, park land constitutes only 2 percent of the city area — compared to 15 percent in Minneapolis — and roughly half of every income and age group lacks easy access to a park. But Fresno’s not even the worst city in terms of access — that honor goes to Charlotte, N.C., where less than 30 percent of the population lives within a 10-minute walk of a park.

New York is by far the biggest city in the top 10. L.A. sits all the way down at No. 34; Chicago came in No. 16. Virginia Beach is the only Southern city in the Top 10; Midwestern and Western cities are more evenly distributed. You can compare all the cities’ scores in each main category here; click on a city for a breakdown of its rankings.

In general, cities known for their car-loving culture (L.A., Atlanta, basically every city in Texas) don’t appear to give much love to parks.

ParkScore rankings aren’t meant just to celebrate or shame certain cities; TPL says its website should serve as “a roadmap to guide park improvement efforts.” The detailed analysis shows city leaders which aspects of their park system deserve the most focus. Let’s hope, for the sake of the people in Fresno, that they’re paying attention.

Claire Thompson is an editorial assistant at Grist.

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Which U.S. city has the best park system?

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Connecticut will label GMOs if you do too

by Edbre23ne Posted on June 4, 2013

Connecticut will label GMOs if you do too

By Claire Thompson

CT Senate Democrats

Connecticut is poised to become the first state to require labeling of genetically engineered food — in theory, at least.

On Monday, the state House of Representatives passed an amended version of a labeling bill that the state Senate approved two weeks ago, and Gov. Dannel Malloy (D) has said he’ll sign it. The bipartisan bill passed unanimously in the Senate and 134-to-3 in the House, with little debate in either chamber — a major contrast to California’s contentious GMO-labeling ballot initiative that ultimately failed last year. Differences between the two states aside, it goes to show you how much more difficult passing such progressive measures becomes once corporate money and gullible voters are involved.

The Hartford Courant’s political blog reports that “Immediately after the vote, cheers could be heard outside the Hall of the House from advocates who had been pushing the labeling requirement.” The bill’s success is certainly an important victory for the GMO-labeling movement, which seems to have been motivated, not discouraged, by last year’s loss in California. Thirty-seven labeling proposals have been introduced in 21 states so far this year.

But the final version of the Connecticut bill includes quite a crucial catch: The labeling requirement won’t actually go into effect until similar legislation is passed by at least four other states, one of which borders Connecticut. Also, the labeling adopters must include Northeast states with an aggregate population of at least 20 million. So if, say, New York passed a labeling law, that would help a lot, as New York borders Connecticut and has a population of 19.5 million, which, combined with Connecticut’s 3.5 million, easily passes the population target.

This “trigger clause” is meant to allay fears that Connecticut could suffer negative economic impacts by going it alone — higher food prices and lawsuits from major food companies. Lawmakers are counting on safety in numbers, and hoping their state’s precedent will encourage others to follow suit. The Connecticut Post reports:

“Somebody has to go first and say it’s OK to do it with some kind of trigger,” [Senate Minority Leader John McKinney (R-Fairfield)] said. “This gives great momentum for advocates in Pennsylvania and New York, for example, for GMO labeling, because if they’re successful in New York we’ll probably see it along the entire East Coast.”

OK, Pennsylvania, New York, and all those other states considering GMO labeling: It’s on you now.

Claire Thompson is an editorial assistant at Grist.

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Connecticut will label GMOs if you do too

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Bike culture: Not as white as you think

by Bob Hurley Posted on May 29, 2013

Bike culture: Not as white as you think

By Claire Thompson

Richard Masoner / Cyclelicious

Even as it grows in popularity, cycling just can’t shake its reputation as a pastime for spandex- or skinny jean-clad white people. But a new report from the Sierra Club and the League of American Bicyclists challenges that common stereotype, spotlighting a decade of rapid growth in biking among communities of color.

From 2001 to 2009, the percentage of trips taken by bike increased by 50 percent among Latinos, and by 100 percent among African Americans — compared to only a 22-percent increase among whites. This, the report notes, is in spite of the fact that communities of color often lack the kind of infrastructure that makes biking safer, easier, and more appealing. Twenty-six percent of non-whites said they want to ride more but worry about safety (compared to only 19 percent of whites); 47 percent of non-whites said they’d ride more if they had better access to secure places to park and store their bikes (versus 32 percent of white folks).

These safety concerns aren’t unfounded: The report cites data from the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition indicating that neighborhoods with the largest share of people of color have lower distributions of bike facilities, and that the lowest-income neighborhoods have the most bike and pedestrian crashes. Those neighborhoods have the most to gain from an increase in cycling: The nation’s poorest families spend the biggest chunk of their income on transportation — 30 percent. The average yearly cost of owning and operating a bike is only $308, compared to $8,220 for an average car.

Simple infrastructure upgrades can have major impacts on riding habits, says the report:

In New Orleans, the installation of a bike lane on South Carrollton Street dramatically increased the number of diverse riders, including a 135% growth in youth, 115% rise in female and 51% increase in African American bicyclists.

Red, Bike & GreenA participant in a Red, Bike & Green family ride.

As traditionally underrepresented cyclists grow in number, groups supporting them are increasingly popping up and pushing for bike-friendly policy changes. The report highlights how organizations like Oakland-founded Red, Bike & Green, L.A.’s Multicultural Communities for Mobility, and Chicago’s Girls Bike Club can give marginalized cyclists a political voice and a support system, both of which are critical for increasing ridership. In Atlanta, for example, local groups rose up against the city’s failure to include Black neighborhoods in its distribution of bike lanes, and successfully petitioned planners to reconsider their designs and refocus funding. And 36 percent of people of color (compared to just 21 percent of whites) say an active riding club would encourage them to bike more.

That need for solidarity is what prompted Jenna Burton to found Red, Bike & Green:

Even in the bike-friendly Bay Area, a black cyclist was a bit of an aberration. This led Burton to start an all-black cycling group, simply because “I wanted other black people to be just as excited about bike riding as I was.”

It’s a simple goal that makes for an effective strategy. The report found African Americans twice as likely as whites to agree that they’d have a better perception of cyclists if they represented a “broader cross section of Americans, such as women, youth and people of color.”

That’s just the change we see happening. And if we want the cycling population to more closely reflect the changing demographics of this country — the women, youth, and people of color leading us into the future — it’s essential that this healthy, sustainable, and cheap transportation option become more accessible and appealing even to those who wouldn’t be caught dead in spandex.

kellan

Does this mysterious sticker represent the family vehicle of the future?

Claire Thompson is an editorial assistant at Grist.

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Bike culture: Not as white as you think

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Coal-export plans going off the rails in Pacific Northwest

by t07c6o Posted on May 10, 2013

Coal-export plans going off the rails in Pacific Northwest

By Claire Thompson

Scott Granneman

You shall not pass.

Plans for two Oregon coal-export terminals have gone up in smoke in the last two months. That makes for a total of three scrapped terminals in the Pacific Northwest, after a proposed facility in Grays Harbor, Wash., bit the coal dust last year. Three others in the region remain in the works, but they face many of the same challenges — permitting and zoning issues, stalled negotiations, and delayed environmental reviews, not to mention fierce public opposition.

A spokesperson for Kinder Morgan, which announced Wednesday it was abandoning plans for a coal-export terminal at Oregon’s Port of St. Helens, “blamed site logistics for stopping the project, not the intense controversy over exporting coal from the green Northwest,” reports The Oregonian. He said Kinder Morgan would continue to explore options for a West Coast terminal.

The abrupt announcement came barely a month after the Port of Coos Bay ended negotiations with a California company looking to build a terminal there. There’s a chance the port could consider coal-export options with other companies, but the expensive rail improvements any project would require make a coal deal unlikely, said David Petrie, founder of Coos Waterkeeper.

Meanwhile, as options for shipping coal dwindle, the supply side has its own struggles. A deal to give Australian company Ambre Energy full control of a mine in Decker, Mont., has stalled amid reports of Ambre’s financial instability, and after the mine laid off 59 people — a third of its workforce — in December. The Associated Press reports:

Ambre has been seeking to ramp up production from the once-bustling mine, and ship coal to growing Asian markets through a pair of proposed ports along the Columbia River.

But the company faces stiff opposition in Oregon and Washington state, and critics have questioned whether Ambre has the financial wherewithal to see its ambitious plans to fruition.

And speaking of setbacks, the state of Oregon has delayed permits for a transfer station at the Port of Morrow — one of the three still-viable proposed terminals — where Powder River Basin coal would arrive by train, be loaded onto barges, and be shipped down the Columbia River. The state will give Ambre Energy until Sept. 1 to put together more information about the terminal’s potential impacts.

As for the other two proposed coal-export sites in the Northwest? Officials are still deciding what to cover in their environmental review of the Cherry Point terminal in Bellingham, Wash. (prompting one scientist to go rogue with his own crowdfunded investigation). The results won’t be out until 2014 or 2015. And the review process for the final proposed terminal, in Longview, Wash., lags behind by another year.

Meanwhile, China — the supposed market for all this coal — continues to boost renewable energy production and gradually wean itself off coal. If any of these terminals do finally start operating, will China even want our dirty coal anymore?

Claire Thompson is an editorial assistant at Grist.

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Coal-export plans going off the rails in Pacific Northwest

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North Dakota’s red-hot, frack-fueled economy is starting to slow down

by h0rt67bx11 Posted on February 12, 2013

North Dakota’s red-hot, frack-fueled economy is starting to slow down

By Philip Bump

Lindsey GeeA fracking rig in North Dakota.

Remember that massive economic boom in North Dakota? That was so early 2012.

The Atlantic‘s Derek Thompson outlines the state’s slowdown at the end of last year. He starts with this graph:

Derek Thompson/Atlantic

Click to embiggen.

This chart tells two stories about America’s little petro state. First story: At the beginning of 2012 (much like in 2011 and 2010), North Dakota’s stratospheric job creation numbers made even the next frothiest states look like they’re were suffering a post-Soviet-breakup depression. Second story: Something happened in the second half of 2012. North Dakota’s economy fell back to earth. …

You might say, don’t be unfair, North Dakota never could have kept up its 2011 rate!, and I might respond, you’re right. If the U.S. had experienced Dakotan growth across 2011, we would have added about 400,000 jobs per month, and that’s just absurd.

Why the slowdown? In part, because drilling (and ancillary costs) gets more expensive as it gets more popular. Supply and demand.

The rig count across North Dakota, and particularly in the rich Bakken shale, dropped sharply in September and hiring has slowed since the summer, as drilling companies have turned their focus to efficiency as capital costs (and concerns of regulation) rise in the Bakken. That’s probably had spill-over effects in transportation hiring.

And in housing: A massive spike in new house construction at the beginning of 2012 leveled off as oilfield hiring slowed.

Thompson notes that the state is not seeing a bust, just a slowdown. So if you want to get in on that North Frackota action, you still can. But open a hotel, not an oil well.

Source

Is North Dakota’s Miraculous Boom Already Over?, Atlantic

Philip Bump writes about the news for Gristmill. He also uses Twitter a whole lot.

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North Dakota’s red-hot, frack-fueled economy is starting to slow down

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