WHAT I’M LEARNINGNote: New to this section is source names for the hyperlinks along with labels for “podcast” and webinar” to help with finding those items on the page. AFFORDABILITY: Boulder residents are experiencing record-high levels of need for help from food banks. The Emergency Family Assistance Association’s (EFAA) Food Bank says it is overwhelmed and running out of many food items at the end of each day. EFAA and other local food banks are looking for volunteers and funds (Boulder Weekly). Worsening affordability in Boulder is caused by many forces. One of those is more expensive groceries nationwide (Today Explained podcast). Property taxes in Colorado are a paradox. They can be high because home values are high. But Coloradans pay the third-lowest property tax rate in the country, with a median tax bill of $2,600 (Colorado Sun). Boulder property taxes go entirely to local services. The breakdown is approximately 55% for the school district, 26% for the county, 13% for the city, and 5% for other uses. As of Spring 2023, property tax makes up 10% of the city budget, most going to the general fund to pay for police, housing and human services, and arts and culture (Boulder City Council meeting material for May 2023). CLIMATE: Between 1980 to 2023, the average number of weather and climate disasters in the United States with over $1 Billion in losses was 8.5. Last year, the number was 28. As a result of growing financial exposure, home insurers are retreating in Florida and Louisiana (CNN). They’re doing the same in California. State Farm says it will not renew 72,000 home insurance policies, about 2% of its portfolio in that state, partly due to rising wildfire risk (SF Chronicle). Climate migration is becoming more common. And with more people moving around, local governments have more to do to prepare for the future. Abrahm Lustgarten covers the issue in his book, On The Move, and reporting (The Atlantic, Fresh Air podcast, and Climate One podcast). A crucial way to cut greenhouse gas emissions is to create more housing near where people need to go (The Economist; subscription). This is consistent with what the world’s authority on climate science, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), reported in their most recent study in 2022 (IPCC). One thing people can do to support fuller climate action is speak up and ask public officials to take bold action consistent with the science of deep decarbonization and resilience. Jon Foley, Executive Director of Project Drawdown discusses this and more (Climate One podcast). HOUSING AND LAND USE: Austin, Texas has been building housing twice as fast as the national average. The result: Rent prices have decreased by 7% (The Atlantic; subscription). Apartments under 200 square feet in size, called micro-apartments, are taking hold in the Pacific Northwest to provide new options and lifelines to people with a diversity of needs (Associated Press). Just about every urban parking lot in the United States once held a building, points out a review of the new book, Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World (The Bulwark). Parking reform is happening nationwide, and coming to Denver (City Cast Denver podcast). INCLUSION: New research from CU Boulder shows GoFundMe campaigns helped wealthy households significantly more than low-income households in the aftermath of the Marshall Fire. This finding highlights the phenomenon that a driver of resilience (or lack thereof) is socioeconomic status and community support (Daily Camera; subscription). We are under-protecting our kids from social media and over-protecting them from the physical world, says Jonathan Haidt, author of the book, The Anxious Generation. Jonathan offers parents some suggestions (Politico and Hard Fork podcast). The City of Berkeley, California is returning stolen land. The deal will cost $25 Million and the city is paying $1.5 Million out of the general fund (Berkeleyside) SAFETY: A person driving a truck hit and killed a man in Westminster on March 30. Police believe the assault was intentional and are searching for the driver (Denver 7). A person driving a vehicle hit a child outside Pioneer Elementary School in Lafayette on March 19. The driver ran a red light and struck the child who was in a marked crosswalk with a crossing guard present (Denver 7). A person driving a pickup hit a child on a bike and fled the scene in Aurora on March 6. The driver apparently attempted to hit another child. The vehicle was carrying a total of seven people, three in the open bed (9News). TRANSPORTATION AND ACCESSIBILITY: When thinking about transportation, focusing first on mobility leads us to the wrong conclusions. A better organizing concept is accessibility (or access), which means the ability for people to reach and connect with the things they value (Dr. Jonathan Levine webinar [5 minutes] and Institute of Traffic Engineers).
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