Citizenship Building Block #18: Try Biking to Work
- Zachary Slobig wrote in Transportation, Cities and Living
Commuting sucks. ‘Mega commuters’ endure 90 minutes each way to punch the clock. More Americans fall into that category than there are residents of Copenhagen. Why point to that Danish city? It’s got the busiest biking street in the Western world—the result of years of public pressure and infrastructure investment that reshaped commuting habits. The arguments for bike commuting are familiar: healthier for you and the environment; saves you tons of cash; often faster than driving or taking public transit. Here’s another: it’s an opportunity to see your city or town without looking through a pane of shatter-proof glass. Another: it’s a lot of fun. In many places it can seem too dangerous to bike to work—no bike lanes and a gauntlet of taxi doors and four-wheeled aggression. A suggestion to mitigate those concerns: find at least one bike buddy. There’s strength (and safety) in numbers. So go ahead and try it. This week, saddle up and ride a bike to work. It might become a habit.
Turns Out Bike Lanes Are Really Good for Local Business
- Meghan Neal wrote in Business, Transportation and Cities
Good news for bike activists: Making a safe place on streets for cyclists (and pedestrians) boosts sales for the small businesses in the area.
This according to a recent report from the New York Department of Transportation. The study found that on commercial blocks where new bike lanes were built, the businesses saw a nearly 50 percent increase in sales.
Join us for our Fix Your Street Challenge on the last Saturday of May. Click here to say you’ll Do It and be sure to share stories of transportation innovation all month.
Why Good Fences Make Bad Neighbors: Annie Leonard’s Backyard Commune
- Annie Leonard wrote in Living, Cities and Communal Living
When we were younger we all lived together in a big house in Washington, D.C. One couple moved out west for grad school at UC Berkeley, and over the next two decades, as other houses on the block became available, we all migrated. We tore down the fences in our back yards to have one huge shared garden; because so many in the community are avid gardeners (I’m not), I like to say that I live in a Monet painting with my best friends.
We share Stuff all the time. We only need one barbecue, one table saw, one lawn mower, one fax and scanner. Because we share so much, we buy and consume and throw away less Stuff. Sure, we save money and conserve resources, but the real benefits are not material.
Playborhoods: Why Children Playing Street Games Is the Best Measure of a Healthy Neighborhood
- Mike Lanza wrote in Education, Living and Cities
Many decades ago, neighborhoods were bustling with life. They were also bustling with children playing in groups, with no adults supervising them. Today, most neighborhoods are dead boring, and it’s difficult, if not impossible, to find children playing in them.
All this is no mere coincidence. Children have always been the most prominent people in neighborhoods. In fact, in many ways, children have always acted as the catalysts for neighborhood life. In my childhood neighborhood in the Pittsburgh suburbs back in the 1960s and 70s, my activities with friends were constantly pulling my parents and my friends’ parents together. They’d call each other to discuss one kid eating or sleeping at another’s house, and then they’d end up chatting about other things.
The Home Team: In an Age of Virtual Niches, In Praise of Opening Doors to Unfamiliar Neighbors
- Frank Chimero wrote in Living, Creativity and Cities
I’ve never had a door that wasn’t next to someone else’s. Growing up, my bedroom was nearest to my sister’s; after that, I left home for college and dorm life, then greeted adulthood with successive apartments in the city. Chicago, Portland, then Brooklyn—with each move, I gained more neighbors on each side.
10 Days Till Neighborday: How Are You Celebrating?
- GOOD HQ in Culture, News and Cities
On April 27, GOOD community members everywhere (in 34 states and 12 countries so far, but our list is growing!) will be celebrating Neighborday. From potlucks to street clean-ups, people have inspiring plans to be social the old-fashioned way—spending quality face-to-face time with the friends and neighbors in their communities.
Will you join us? With only 10 days left, we’re hoping you’ll sign up and create your own Neighborday with our toolkit. It’s easy—check out the map above to see where people all over the country are celebrating and read on for inspiration to create your own.
Illustration by Tyler Hoehne
Offer Spare Room to Someone Displaced by Boston Bombing
- Zachary Slobig wrote in Living, Pray For Boston and Cities
Join the massive and inspiring list of folks opening up their homes in a time of crisis.
![Why Dallas Is No Longer ‘The Butt of Everyone’s F*cking Joke’- Patrick McDonnell wrote in Living, Cities and Urbanism
The other day I saw a poster on a friend’s Facebook that said “Welcome to Austin. Please don’t move here. I hear Dallas is great!” The accompanying description read: “My city is the butt of everyone’s f*cking joke.”
That sentiment really gets at the root of how people view Dallas. It’s not an Austin or Portland or Seattle. It doesn’t have that flavor and urban lifestyle where you can walk, bike, and ride public transportation easily, where there’s a diverse city life and robust population density. Interestingly, all three of the aforementioned cities lay claim to the “Keep [your city] Weird” slogan.
Continue reading at good.is](http://24.media.tumblr.com/15519e2c75308ca25f197a55d98cc3a5/tumblr_ml1vi7chLP1qjq5r9o1_250.jpg)
Why Dallas Is No Longer ‘The Butt of Everyone’s F*cking Joke’
- Patrick McDonnell wrote in Living, Cities and Urbanism
The other day I saw a poster on a friend’s Facebook that said “Welcome to Austin. Please don’t move here. I hear Dallas is great!” The accompanying description read: “My city is the butt of everyone’s f*cking joke.”
That sentiment really gets at the root of how people view Dallas. It’s not an Austin or Portland or Seattle. It doesn’t have that flavor and urban lifestyle where you can walk, bike, and ride public transportation easily, where there’s a diverse city life and robust population density. Interestingly, all three of the aforementioned cities lay claim to the “Keep [your city] Weird” slogan.
Social Designers: Why Our Own Neighborhoods Need Us as Much as Sub-Saharan Africa
- julie kim wrote in San Francisco, Social Design and Cities
Social change is a complex, messy business. It takes a long time. We’re best positioned to affect long-term outcomes when we stay home and work within our own communities.
Many of you are already enmeshed in local design activism. But do we see our work as designers as a form of community service? If not, I think we should. Think of programs and service delivery models like soup kitchens, Americorps, trash pick-up days. These models, more than global humanitarian work, are most relevant for designers looking to work locally.
‘The American Dream Starts With the Neighborhoods’: Why Harvey Milk is the Patron Saint of Neighborday
- GOOD HQ wrote in Living, San Francisco and Cities
You may have heard we’ve declared the last Saturday of April “Neighborday” and we’re encouraging you to spend some time that day getting to know the folks who live near you. April 27 will be a celebration of that basic human inter-connectedness that powers great neighborhoods—the kinds of places where we all want to live.
Overlooking Duboce Park in San Francisco sits the Harvey Milk Center for the Recreational Arts, a monument to a man devoted to creating thriving communities, one block at a time. One of the outside walls of this building contains a fragment of a quote from a little known speech he made in the early days of city politics: “The American Dream starts with the neighborhoods.”
Illustration by Jessica De Jesus
This Is Neighborday
- GOOD HQ wrote in Neighboring and Cities
Admit it, your neighborhood isn’t like Mister Rogers’. You don’t know the name of your postal carrier or beat cop, or even the person who lives next door. But why shouldn’t you? These people who occupy the orbit of your house have the potential to turn an otherwise dull domestic existence into the rich experience we used to know as community.
We’d like to help return some of that richness. Henceforth, let’s make the last Saturday in April (that’s April 27th this year) Neighborday, a global celebration of the people with whom we share space. It’s about potlucks and having face-to-face interactions with the people around you. It’s about taking care of your streets and supporting your local shops. It’s about getting to know the people around you that you may not notice every other day of the year. Think of it as a holiday of the GOOD community everywhere.
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Here’s how it breaks down:
1.
Sign up to celebrate Neighborday this year (4/27/13) by going here. Will you host a dinner? Start a lemonade stand? Stage a barn raising? It should be a day of block parties, yard sales, trading stuff, and barbecues. It should happen on sidewalks, front lawns, and on side streets. No traveling allowed; the idea is to know and enjoy the company of your immediate neighbors.
2.
Once you click “Do it,” our community manager Hannah will email you and introduce herself in case you have questions. (She’s really nice.)
3.
While Neighborday is on your mind and you’re still at your computer, let your friends know about it. Share it over email, on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, MySpace, wherever you like spreading the word. Here’s some helpful stuff to get you started on that.
4.
Keep a lookout for a weekly email from us on Saturdays. Theyll include helpful tips, new ideas, and all sorts of ways to make sure Neighborday is off the hook.
5.
Get outside and talk to your neighbors. Download a sample set of invitations that you can print and start giving out to the people next door. Or feel free to create your own, and let us know what it looks like by emailing it to neighborday@goodinc.com or tagging it online with #neighborday.
6.
Document your own neighboring, and collaborate with us on the Neighborday documentary (we’ll be sharing more about that next week). Capture video, take photos, share thoughts and experiences in the comments.
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Got questions? Email us at neighborday@goodinc.com. It’ll likely go to Hannah.
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N.B. Neighborday was first proposed to GOOD as we were putting our Neighborhoods issue of the magazine together in the Spring of 2010. Someone named Gene Benjamin Baker suggested it to us on our Facebook page. We’re yet to track Gene down again, but if you know him, tell him thanks or give him a high five, and feel free to let us know how to get in touch if you’ve got any leads.
![[Updated: Round 1 Results] Elimineighbor™ Challenge- GOOD HQ wrote in Living, Cities and Neighboring
ROUND 1 UPDATE:
Mr. Rodgers was the big winner of Round 1, when he lambasted Marcy D’Arcy with a whopping 98 votes to her 2! The biggest upset of the the week was Mr. Feeney just barely edging out Wilson from “Home Improvement,” who was the heavy favorite (Vegas odds were 3:1). Boner Stabone is turning out to be the real Cindarella story of the Elimineighbor Bracket Challenge, where he hopes to continue his momentum when he faces Mr. Feeney in Round 2.
Next week’s marquee matchup: Urkel vs. Freddie Krueger. Will Urkel manage to annoy Freddie to the point of defeat, or will Freddie claw his way to victory?
Don’t forget to cast your vote next Monday and Tuesday on our Facebook page at 12pm PDT, and remember to sign up to host a Neighborday HERE.
Hang out with your neighbors on the last Saturday of April (a day we’re calling “Neighborday”). Click here to say you’ll Do It, and we’ll send you GOOD’s Neighborday Survival Guide and a bunch of other fun stuff.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/6a19a930701bc689870dfce8fbe80f83/tumblr_mkc8uezVnA1qjq5r9o1_250.jpg)
[Updated: Round 1 Results] Elimineighbor™ Challenge
- GOOD HQ wrote in Living, Cities and Neighboring
ROUND 1 UPDATE:
Mr. Rodgers was the big winner of Round 1, when he lambasted Marcy D’Arcy with a whopping 98 votes to her 2! The biggest upset of the the week was Mr. Feeney just barely edging out Wilson from “Home Improvement,” who was the heavy favorite (Vegas odds were 3:1). Boner Stabone is turning out to be the real Cindarella story of the Elimineighbor Bracket Challenge, where he hopes to continue his momentum when he faces Mr. Feeney in Round 2.
Next week’s marquee matchup: Urkel vs. Freddie Krueger. Will Urkel manage to annoy Freddie to the point of defeat, or will Freddie claw his way to victory?
Don’t forget to cast your vote next Monday and Tuesday on our Facebook page at 12pm PDT, and remember to sign up to host a Neighborday HERE.
Hang out with your neighbors on the last Saturday of April (a day we’re calling “Neighborday”). Click here to say you’ll Do It, and we’ll send you GOOD’s Neighborday Survival Guide and a bunch of other fun stuff.
A Neighborday Manifesto: Because We’re Better Together
- Kyla Fullenwider wrote in Living, Cities and Neighboring
Neighborday is about creating a new story. It’s about transcending the old story of self to create a new story of us. It’s about expanding our definition of self to include those who live above us, below us, and next to us. It’s a call to action of the most important kind: to let our neighbors in, and to build more self-reliant streets, blocks, and neighborhoods, together.
Read the full manifesto on good.is
Hang out with your neighbors on the last Saturday of April (a day we’re calling “Neighborday”). Click here to say you’ll Do It, and we’ll send you GOOD’s Neighborday Survival Guide and a bunch of other fun stuff.
Illustration by Tyler Hoehne
Welcome to the Elimineighbor™ Bracket Challenge
- GOOD HQ wrote in Living, Cities and Neighboring
Hidey ho, neighbors!
Have you always liked Quagmire more than Flanders, and it keeps you up at night? Ever been in a fistfight over who’s more adorable, Winnie Cooper or Marisa Cooper?
Well, now’s your chance to make your opinions heard.
Welcome to the inaugural Elimineighbor Challenge, a weekly Facebook contest where you get to vote for your favorite pop culture neighbors, from Kramer to Urkel and everyone in between. You’ve heard of March Madness, well this is… Neighbor… madness… or something.
Every Monday and Tuesday for the next five weeks, we’ll be hosting polls on our Facebook page at noon PST, with results posted every Wednesday until a winner is crowned.
We started this tournament to raise awareness for Neighborday, a new holiday on April 27th where we at GOOD HQ are challenging our community to host 1000+ block parties around the world. We’re so excited about it that we even made a video, see?
Go here to learn more and sign up.
And don’t forget to tell your friends, say hi to your neighbors, and get out the vote!
Thou Shalt Love Thy Elimineighbor!
