Location: Detroit, MI
Website: www.whydontweownthis.com
Why Don’t We Own This? is a service by LOVELAND Technologies that displays every property in a city and provides meaningful lenses to understand property information including:
- Ownership Information
- Property Tax Status
- Information
- Foreclosure Prevention Resources
- Property Tax Payment Portals
- Real-Time Foreclosure Auction Updates
- Social Channels to comment and connect with others
- Additional tools for those who join our $25 annual membership program
The focus of Why Don’t We Own This? is Detroit, Michigan. We started WDWOT in 2011 to track the Wayne County Foreclosure Auction. Each year our work has grown along with the size and scale of the foreclosure auction and its effect on the City of Detroit, and now we're branching out to provide more year-round property and land use services.
We strive to provide property information in a clean and interactive way that is intuitive to use while increasing the sense of ownership and power a citizen has in their city. Hopefully WDWOT helps prevent the accidental and unnecessary loss of properties to tax foreclosure and auction, and helps connect you with otherwise invisible opportunities for enlightenment, investment, charity, and support.
It's free to look up information and comment on WDWOT, but we encourage you to become an annual member for $25 plus an optional tip of your choosing. Memberships and tips allow us to run and develop the service, and they also give you access to additional site features.
We're constantly developing things and looking for feedback on not only how to improve the site, but how to work with governments, businesses, neighborhood groups, and nonprofits. Our feedback page is at whydontweownthis.com/topics/feedback.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Innovative Housing Institute
Location: Nationwide
Website: www.inhousing.org
The Innovative Housing Institute promotes providing quality affordable housing in communities throughout the nation, primarily through the policies and practices known as Inclusionary Housing.
The Innovative Housing Institute offers a great depth of knowledge and experience in the variety of Inclusionary Housing tools and strategies used in different local jurisdictions and states.
Inclusionary Housing, also known as Inclusionary Zoning, calls for a portion of housing units in residential projects to be available for low- and moderate-income households.
Many programs provide developers with "cost offsets" or incentives, such as density bonuses, zoning or design flexibility, parking reductions, fee waivers, or an expedited review process for providing these affordable units. The term inclusionary is used to counter exclusionary practices that require minimum lot sizes and setbacks, effectively preventing affordable housing from being built.
Inclusionary Housing programs are based on a variety of legal frameworks and can be mandatory or voluntary. Affordable units can be provided on-site as part of a mixed-income project or at another location. In some cases, financial contributions in lieu of units can be made to affordable housing funds.
Since the 1970s, more than 300 local governments and numerous states have adopted inclusionary housing programs resulting in the production and preservation of hundreds of thousands of affordable homes and apartments. Adaptable to local conditions, Inclusionary Housing tools have been successfully used in states such as California, Colorado, Illinois, North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Burlington, Vermont, are among cities that have adopted Inclusionary Housing tools.
The success of Inclusionary Housing programs results from private residential activity, so the tool works best in locations with strong real estate markets.
Website: www.inhousing.org
The Innovative Housing Institute promotes providing quality affordable housing in communities throughout the nation, primarily through the policies and practices known as Inclusionary Housing.
The Innovative Housing Institute offers a great depth of knowledge and experience in the variety of Inclusionary Housing tools and strategies used in different local jurisdictions and states.
Inclusionary Housing, also known as Inclusionary Zoning, calls for a portion of housing units in residential projects to be available for low- and moderate-income households.
Many programs provide developers with "cost offsets" or incentives, such as density bonuses, zoning or design flexibility, parking reductions, fee waivers, or an expedited review process for providing these affordable units. The term inclusionary is used to counter exclusionary practices that require minimum lot sizes and setbacks, effectively preventing affordable housing from being built.
Inclusionary Housing programs are based on a variety of legal frameworks and can be mandatory or voluntary. Affordable units can be provided on-site as part of a mixed-income project or at another location. In some cases, financial contributions in lieu of units can be made to affordable housing funds.
Since the 1970s, more than 300 local governments and numerous states have adopted inclusionary housing programs resulting in the production and preservation of hundreds of thousands of affordable homes and apartments. Adaptable to local conditions, Inclusionary Housing tools have been successfully used in states such as California, Colorado, Illinois, North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Burlington, Vermont, are among cities that have adopted Inclusionary Housing tools.
The success of Inclusionary Housing programs results from private residential activity, so the tool works best in locations with strong real estate markets.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Northeast Los Angeles (NELA) Riverfront Collaborative
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Website: www.mylariver.org
The Northeast Los Angeles Riverfront Collaborative (NELA RC) is an innovative, interdisciplinary partnership that will capture the energy of the Los Angeles River (River) as a catalyst for implementing revitalization strategies and help NELA communities to thrive.
The NELA RC process builds upon the growing momentum of efforts already underway to transform the River, and aims to create a Riverfront District as a focal point of community revitalization, recreational activities, environmental stewardship, sustainable civic engagement, and economic growth for the entire city.
What do you want your L.A. River to be?
Contact
NELA RC Program Manager: Louis Morales
CDD Administrative Manager: Gerardo Ruvalcaba
Email: info@mylariver.org
Resources
KCET Departures: Los Angeles River
City of Los Angeles River Website
Website: www.mylariver.org
The Northeast Los Angeles Riverfront Collaborative (NELA RC) is an innovative, interdisciplinary partnership that will capture the energy of the Los Angeles River (River) as a catalyst for implementing revitalization strategies and help NELA communities to thrive.
The NELA RC process builds upon the growing momentum of efforts already underway to transform the River, and aims to create a Riverfront District as a focal point of community revitalization, recreational activities, environmental stewardship, sustainable civic engagement, and economic growth for the entire city.
What do you want your L.A. River to be?
Contact
NELA RC Program Manager: Louis Morales
CDD Administrative Manager: Gerardo Ruvalcaba
Email: info@mylariver.org
Resources
KCET Departures: Los Angeles River
City of Los Angeles River Website
Metamorphosis
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Website: www.metamorph.org
Our mission is to understand the transformation of urban community under the forces of globalization, new communication technologies, and population diversity so that our research can inform practitioner and policy maker decisions. Our site of study is Los Angeles and its many ethnic communities of both new and settled immigrants.
We have developed a communication infrastructure perspective that privileges a grassroots understanding of how people construct and re-vitalize their residential communities, and how they go about solving everyday problems of family, health, inter-group relations, and ethnic identity. Our challenge is to make the communication infrastructure of daily life visible so that it can be employed by residents, practitioners, and policy makers to improve the quality of family and community life.
At the heart of this infrastructure is the neighborhood storytelling network. This network involves residents, community organizations, and geo-ethnic media in a dynamic communication process whereby they stimulate each other to focus upon and talk about neighborhood events, issues, threats, and opportunities. As such, this network is hard to see without in-depth and grounded research. Nonetheless, the storytelling network can be a powerful tool for all who wish to bring about changes that are grounded in the dynamics of everyday community life and are, therefore, more likely to endure.
Website: www.metamorph.org
Our mission is to understand the transformation of urban community under the forces of globalization, new communication technologies, and population diversity so that our research can inform practitioner and policy maker decisions. Our site of study is Los Angeles and its many ethnic communities of both new and settled immigrants.
We have developed a communication infrastructure perspective that privileges a grassroots understanding of how people construct and re-vitalize their residential communities, and how they go about solving everyday problems of family, health, inter-group relations, and ethnic identity. Our challenge is to make the communication infrastructure of daily life visible so that it can be employed by residents, practitioners, and policy makers to improve the quality of family and community life.
At the heart of this infrastructure is the neighborhood storytelling network. This network involves residents, community organizations, and geo-ethnic media in a dynamic communication process whereby they stimulate each other to focus upon and talk about neighborhood events, issues, threats, and opportunities. As such, this network is hard to see without in-depth and grounded research. Nonetheless, the storytelling network can be a powerful tool for all who wish to bring about changes that are grounded in the dynamics of everyday community life and are, therefore, more likely to endure.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Municipalities With Soil Volume Minimums for Trees
Location: Various cities
Website: www.deeproot.com/blog/blog-entries/municipalities-that-are-doing-more-for-trees
Adequate amounts of lightly compacted, good-quality soil are essential to healthy tree growth.
Nowhere are these conditions more challenging than in urban areas dominated by streets, sidewalks, buildings and parking lots. These surfaces are essential for urban living but require heavy soil compaction, which limits the development of large, healthy root systems.
The USDA Forest Service recently determined that U.S. cities are losing around 4 million trees annually — this at a time when average urban canopy cover in North America is still lower in most places than what is recommended by American Forests.
Still, it’s not all doom and gloom. Cities across North America recognize that in order to have healthy, vibrant urban forests, they need to plant trees in more soil.
Guidelines already exist that correlate tree size directly with available soil volume, so this isn’t a matter of guesswork. What these cities are doing is simple, but remarkable: They are literally changing their landscapes by mandating that all street trees (used here as a general term to mean any tree planted in a paved area) receive a certain minimum amount of soil.
We’ve identified the following communities for their ambitious policies that are redefining requirements for green utilities, specifically for trees, soil and stormwater management:
Toronto, ON –
Perhaps the most ambitious initiative we’ve yet seen, the City of Toronto calls for street trees to get a minimum of 15 m3 (529 ft 3)of high quality soil per tree if in a shared planter, and a minimum volume of 30 m3 (1,059 ft3) of soil per tree if in a single planter.
Oakville, ON –
this City requirement calls for 30m3 (1,059 ft3) of soil per tree, or 15 m3 (530 ft3) if in a shared trench.
Baltimore, MD –
This initiative sets an example for increasing the tree canopy as a way to preserve the environment and manage stormwater. Using permeable paving, landscaping, rain gardens, and green roofs, it asks for sites to filter more than 50 percent of stormwater runoff from areas and install at least 1,500 cubic feet of soil for tree pits using structural soils or suspended pavement for any new impervious surfaces or retrofit/redevelopment projects.
University of Florida (IFAS Extension) –
The project created an Urban Design for a Wind Resistant Urban Forest. Planners increased the soil and depth requirements to allow trees to mature and live longer using the following guidelines (soil area based on mature tree size, 3’ deep or greater):
• Small (shorter than 30’) = 10’x10’x3’ = 300 ft3
• Medium (Less than 50’ height or spread) = 20’x20’x3’ = 1,200 ft3
• Large (Greater than 50’ height or spread) = 30’x30’x3’ = 2,700 ft3
State of West Virginia –
The community created a municipal handbook to manage wet weather through specific green infrastructure and made the following soil recommendations based on those from Prince William County, VA:
• Large tree = 970 ft3,
• Medium tree = 750 ft3 and
• Small tree = 500 ft3
Athens-Clarke County, GA –
The community created best management practices for community tree planting and soil volume minimums:
• Small Canopy: 100 square feet x 2’ deep = 200 ft3,
• Medium Canopy: 225 square feet x 2’ deep = 450 ft3 and
• Large Canopy: 400 square feet x 2’ deep = 800 ft3
State of Minnesota –
Where trees are planted in hard surfaces, the community uses a structural soil media mix of minimum soil volume of 500 cubic feet (cf) per tree. If soil volumes cannot be met it is recommended that trees be planted in minimum 8′ wide by approximately 3′ deep trenches so that soil volumes are shared between trees.
Charlotte, NC –
Planners amended the planting area requirements and recommendations for commercial development to increase the absolute minimum soil volume and planting area to 274 square feet per tree. The minimum width of the planting area is 8’ at the trunk of the tree.
British Columbia -
Recommended minimum soil volume per tree of 6m3 (212ft3), and more is better.
Markham, ON –
These design guidelines make the following soil volume recommendations:
• Large stature tree in boulevard = 30 cubic meters/1,059 cubic feet (if single) or 15 cubic meters/530 cubic feet (if shared) of root space,
• Medium stature tree in boulevard = 23 cubic meters/812 cubic feet of root space,
• Small stature tree = 15 cubic meters/530 cubic feet root space
• Minimum soil volume for tree planting in a parking lot island is 15 cubic meters/530 cubic feet.
Aspen, CO –
The community amended its structural soils specifications so that soil area is now based on a targeted mature tree size, requiring 30 inches or more depth and a correcsponding increase in soil volume.
Soil area based on mature tree size, 30” deep or greater:
• Small (shorter than 30’) = 10’x10’x2.5’ = 250 ft3,
• Medium (Less than 50’ height or spread) = 20’x20’x2.5’ = 1,000 ft3,
• Large (Greater than 50’ height or spread) = 30’x30’x2.5’ = 2,250 ft3
Chicago, IL -
The city amended planting standards and now requires parkway trees to have a minimum depth of three feet of soil. Planting areas require a minimum of 24 square feet of surface area with no dimension less than three feet.
Denver, CO –
The city’s “Street Tree Plan Review Checklist” sets a soil volume minimum of 750 cubic feet of soil per tree and states that, “5’ x 5’ pit areas shall no longer be accepted, must use trenches, root paths, break out zones, structural cells, or other un-compacted soil technology.”
Emeryville, CA -
The community requires minimum rootable soil volumes for new trees planted in the public right of way by private developers. The minimum is based on the size of the tree at maturity:
• 600 cubic feet for a small tree,
• 900 for a medium tree and
• 1200 for a large tree.
Alexandria, VA –
The city’s Landscape Guidelines specify that street trees be provided with a minimum of 300 cubic feet of soil per tree and recommends that one tree be present for every ten spaces in parking areas.
Are any of these perfect? Probably not.
Certainly there are things we would change about almost all of them. Still, setting soil volume minimums for street trees tacitly enforces the message that business as usual as far as tree planting is concerned isn’t good enough.
We need to rethink how we plan for our urban forests and the role of green infrastructure in the built environment. The new game in town is high performance urban forestry.
Are you involved with making soil volume recommendations for trees? Hopefully you can use some of this information to help persuade your co-workers and clients of this important effort.
Should your city or town be on this list, or do you know of any others that we missed? We want to hear about your goals for growing healthy trees in your community.
(from Deep Root Corporation)
Website: www.deeproot.com/blog/blog-entries/municipalities-that-are-doing-more-for-trees
Adequate amounts of lightly compacted, good-quality soil are essential to healthy tree growth.
Nowhere are these conditions more challenging than in urban areas dominated by streets, sidewalks, buildings and parking lots. These surfaces are essential for urban living but require heavy soil compaction, which limits the development of large, healthy root systems.
The USDA Forest Service recently determined that U.S. cities are losing around 4 million trees annually — this at a time when average urban canopy cover in North America is still lower in most places than what is recommended by American Forests.
Still, it’s not all doom and gloom. Cities across North America recognize that in order to have healthy, vibrant urban forests, they need to plant trees in more soil.
Guidelines already exist that correlate tree size directly with available soil volume, so this isn’t a matter of guesswork. What these cities are doing is simple, but remarkable: They are literally changing their landscapes by mandating that all street trees (used here as a general term to mean any tree planted in a paved area) receive a certain minimum amount of soil.
We’ve identified the following communities for their ambitious policies that are redefining requirements for green utilities, specifically for trees, soil and stormwater management:
Toronto, ON –
Perhaps the most ambitious initiative we’ve yet seen, the City of Toronto calls for street trees to get a minimum of 15 m3 (529 ft 3)of high quality soil per tree if in a shared planter, and a minimum volume of 30 m3 (1,059 ft3) of soil per tree if in a single planter.
Oakville, ON –
this City requirement calls for 30m3 (1,059 ft3) of soil per tree, or 15 m3 (530 ft3) if in a shared trench.
Baltimore, MD –
This initiative sets an example for increasing the tree canopy as a way to preserve the environment and manage stormwater. Using permeable paving, landscaping, rain gardens, and green roofs, it asks for sites to filter more than 50 percent of stormwater runoff from areas and install at least 1,500 cubic feet of soil for tree pits using structural soils or suspended pavement for any new impervious surfaces or retrofit/redevelopment projects.
University of Florida (IFAS Extension) –
The project created an Urban Design for a Wind Resistant Urban Forest. Planners increased the soil and depth requirements to allow trees to mature and live longer using the following guidelines (soil area based on mature tree size, 3’ deep or greater):
• Small (shorter than 30’) = 10’x10’x3’ = 300 ft3
• Medium (Less than 50’ height or spread) = 20’x20’x3’ = 1,200 ft3
• Large (Greater than 50’ height or spread) = 30’x30’x3’ = 2,700 ft3
State of West Virginia –
The community created a municipal handbook to manage wet weather through specific green infrastructure and made the following soil recommendations based on those from Prince William County, VA:
• Large tree = 970 ft3,
• Medium tree = 750 ft3 and
• Small tree = 500 ft3
Athens-Clarke County, GA –
The community created best management practices for community tree planting and soil volume minimums:
• Small Canopy: 100 square feet x 2’ deep = 200 ft3,
• Medium Canopy: 225 square feet x 2’ deep = 450 ft3 and
• Large Canopy: 400 square feet x 2’ deep = 800 ft3
State of Minnesota –
Where trees are planted in hard surfaces, the community uses a structural soil media mix of minimum soil volume of 500 cubic feet (cf) per tree. If soil volumes cannot be met it is recommended that trees be planted in minimum 8′ wide by approximately 3′ deep trenches so that soil volumes are shared between trees.
Charlotte, NC –
Planners amended the planting area requirements and recommendations for commercial development to increase the absolute minimum soil volume and planting area to 274 square feet per tree. The minimum width of the planting area is 8’ at the trunk of the tree.
British Columbia -
Recommended minimum soil volume per tree of 6m3 (212ft3), and more is better.
Markham, ON –
These design guidelines make the following soil volume recommendations:
• Large stature tree in boulevard = 30 cubic meters/1,059 cubic feet (if single) or 15 cubic meters/530 cubic feet (if shared) of root space,
• Medium stature tree in boulevard = 23 cubic meters/812 cubic feet of root space,
• Small stature tree = 15 cubic meters/530 cubic feet root space
• Minimum soil volume for tree planting in a parking lot island is 15 cubic meters/530 cubic feet.
Aspen, CO –
The community amended its structural soils specifications so that soil area is now based on a targeted mature tree size, requiring 30 inches or more depth and a correcsponding increase in soil volume.
Soil area based on mature tree size, 30” deep or greater:
• Small (shorter than 30’) = 10’x10’x2.5’ = 250 ft3,
• Medium (Less than 50’ height or spread) = 20’x20’x2.5’ = 1,000 ft3,
• Large (Greater than 50’ height or spread) = 30’x30’x2.5’ = 2,250 ft3
Chicago, IL -
The city amended planting standards and now requires parkway trees to have a minimum depth of three feet of soil. Planting areas require a minimum of 24 square feet of surface area with no dimension less than three feet.
Denver, CO –
The city’s “Street Tree Plan Review Checklist” sets a soil volume minimum of 750 cubic feet of soil per tree and states that, “5’ x 5’ pit areas shall no longer be accepted, must use trenches, root paths, break out zones, structural cells, or other un-compacted soil technology.”
Emeryville, CA -
The community requires minimum rootable soil volumes for new trees planted in the public right of way by private developers. The minimum is based on the size of the tree at maturity:
• 600 cubic feet for a small tree,
• 900 for a medium tree and
• 1200 for a large tree.
Alexandria, VA –
The city’s Landscape Guidelines specify that street trees be provided with a minimum of 300 cubic feet of soil per tree and recommends that one tree be present for every ten spaces in parking areas.
Are any of these perfect? Probably not.
Certainly there are things we would change about almost all of them. Still, setting soil volume minimums for street trees tacitly enforces the message that business as usual as far as tree planting is concerned isn’t good enough.
We need to rethink how we plan for our urban forests and the role of green infrastructure in the built environment. The new game in town is high performance urban forestry.
Are you involved with making soil volume recommendations for trees? Hopefully you can use some of this information to help persuade your co-workers and clients of this important effort.
Should your city or town be on this list, or do you know of any others that we missed? We want to hear about your goals for growing healthy trees in your community.
(from Deep Root Corporation)
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Dine Downtown
Location: Sacramento, CA
Website: www.dowtownsac.org/events/dine-downtown
Experience the best of Downtown Sacramento’s dining scene during the award-winning Dine Downtown Restaurant Week presented this year by Sacramento Magazine. For 10 days only, local chefs will create special three-course dinner menus for only $30 per person.
Dine Downtown 2013 will kick off on Wednesday January 9th and continue through Friday January 18th.
Website: www.dowtownsac.org/events/dine-downtown
Experience the best of Downtown Sacramento’s dining scene during the award-winning Dine Downtown Restaurant Week presented this year by Sacramento Magazine. For 10 days only, local chefs will create special three-course dinner menus for only $30 per person.
Dine Downtown 2013 will kick off on Wednesday January 9th and continue through Friday January 18th.
Geodesign Summit
Location: International
Website: www.geodesignsummit.com
The Geodesign Summit is an annual gathering of professionals interested in using geospatial technologies to arrive at the best and most sustainable design solutions. The two-day summit focuses on Geodesign frameworks and concepts, geospatial technologies that support Geodesign, and sharing real-world examples of Geodesign in practice.
The overall goal of the Geodesign Summit is to help people find innovative solutions to the most pressing challenges by fusing design processes with geospatial technologies.
The Geodesign Summit draws from a multitude of interdisciplinary experiences. GIS and design professionals across all industries.
The Geodesign Summit is the ultimate event for anyone working at the intersection of geography and design. The breadth and depth of sessions, the opportunities for hands-on learning, and the many ways to cultivate skills and relationships make it a must-attend event.
Network with Geodesign thought leaders; funders and other researchers; and regulators and government agencies.
Observe Geodesign in action—the intersection between design and geographic space.
Understand how Geodesign will impact your field, and how you can use it.
Participate in the continuing evolvement of Geodesign.
Website: www.geodesignsummit.com
The Geodesign Summit is an annual gathering of professionals interested in using geospatial technologies to arrive at the best and most sustainable design solutions. The two-day summit focuses on Geodesign frameworks and concepts, geospatial technologies that support Geodesign, and sharing real-world examples of Geodesign in practice.
The overall goal of the Geodesign Summit is to help people find innovative solutions to the most pressing challenges by fusing design processes with geospatial technologies.
The Geodesign Summit draws from a multitude of interdisciplinary experiences. GIS and design professionals across all industries.
The Geodesign Summit is the ultimate event for anyone working at the intersection of geography and design. The breadth and depth of sessions, the opportunities for hands-on learning, and the many ways to cultivate skills and relationships make it a must-attend event.
Network with Geodesign thought leaders; funders and other researchers; and regulators and government agencies.
Observe Geodesign in action—the intersection between design and geographic space.
Understand how Geodesign will impact your field, and how you can use it.
Participate in the continuing evolvement of Geodesign.
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