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Ask HN: As a person, what can I do to improve a city?

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Re: Ask HN: As a person, what can I do to improve a city?

#91

Would you mind linking to the list you’re referring to? My off-the-cuff thought was, “join Transportation Alternatives and push for more bike lanes, public transit, etc.”, as I see automobiles as one of the most significant dangers to both urban areas and even the planet. But when I google "ten most dangerous cities," they seem to list places whose danger is more poverty-driven.

I think you might be in a minority of people that hear "dangerous" and then think about transportation first. My guess would be most people think of danger as violent crimes. At the same time, people are aware of other types of accidental deaths, but may view those differently because they feel they have more control over them.

Transportation and crimes are related, if indirectly. In many major cities, it's hard to get a legit job if you don't have a car, because you can't get to work reliably. Folks who live in poverty and don't have access to legit work will do something to make money, and crimes ensue.

Bikes might not be a great solution in these areas -- they're easy to steal and somewhat unreliable due to weather and other factors. And, if somebody already feels that they're taking a risk hiring a poor person... is it going to help if they're showing up sweaty? Perceptions matter on both sides of the equation -- I won't apply for a job if I don't think that I'd last a week.

Rather than focus on the impact of cars, which is a bit of a "boil the ocean" solution, it would be directly impactful to fund a local restauranteur. It makes local jobs, and makes the neighborhood more livable and walkable.

If I had a billion dollars, I'd do an incubator for small, local businesses focused on sustainability, not disruption.

Re: Ask HN: As a person, what can I do to improve a city?

#92
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Automobiles (and their drivers) kill, maim, or injure significantly fewer people than intentionally aggressive individuals in major cities. For example, in 2017 there were 343 murders in Baltimore [0] (which I knew would be on the list before looking for one) vs. 38 fatalities due to car accidents [1]. Here's an example of a list: https://www.statista.com/statistics/217685/most-dangerous-ci... These lists are based o…

Those are just the direct costs. Cars also make a lot of air pollution, which is the #1 killer worldwide. Enabling/enforcing sedentary life, noise pollution, crowding out streets are other indirect but large costs. Edit: you could add in the costs of minimum parking requirements, which crowd out housing and increase housing prices.

Okay, but that's not what these types of lists take into consideration, partially because these are problems that are endemic in all cities.

Re: Ask HN: As a person, what can I do to improve a city?

#93
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, provide basic income and then magically wave a wand over anything in finite supply to keep it from inflating in price?

> magically laws > wave a wand the guns that enforce the laws

Laws to keep things from inflating in price have a bad history of unintended consequences. Rent control in particular.

Re: Ask HN: As a person, what can I do to improve a city?

#94
Am I insane for thinking permaculture? Get out of the city lifestyle mindset and turn more people into rob greenfield style mindset. Everybody’s already thinking it, people are starting to do it, and it could just be the next big thing that does wonders for people happiness and healing the environment.

Re: Ask HN: As a person, what can I do to improve a city?

#95

"community organizer" is not a bad word. It means that you should walk into your local YMCA, public library, boys and girls club, food pantry, homeless shelter, religious center, etc. of your choosing, find someone who looks like they're too busy and thus must be in charge, and say "Hi, I'm Bob. I have Mondays free for the foreseeable future. What do you need?" Then, pay attention, show up every Monday promptly on ti…

If you join a volunteering group, you should decide after a couple meetings if it's worth staying with that group or finding another. It's not just whether you agree with their mission but also their social dynamics.

There's no "best setup" here; it's whatever you'd enjoy most. It's hard to help people if you're unhappy doing it. You may prefer a "show up, help, leave" deal, or something more like a social club that meets over drinks to plan events and chat about life. So don't feel discouraged if your first group doesn't feel right.

Re: Ask HN: As a person, what can I do to improve a city?

#96
post #69

In line with the broken-window-theory you could call the respective department to collect randomly deposited trash and bulk garbage or report broken infrastructure. Also calling the police to report antisocial behavior like cars intentionally causing noise by means of illegal manipulations, excessive partying, etc.

Breaking out the bylaw book and getting the police on speed dial is fundamentally the wrong way to deal with visible poverty. A litany of $20-$200 fines is a net negative to the neighborhood no matter how you distribute them.

Re: Ask HN: As a person, what can I do to improve a city?

#97

The single best thing you can do is pick a neighborhood - not the whole city - and invest deeply. Get to know everyone in the neighborhood and understand what they want and need, then try to find ways to bring that. When you have a strong network of neighbors and a little bit of cash, you can ramp up investment by cleaning up dirty corners and getting the basic services that a neighborhood is missing. Here’s an examp…

If you do all that, it would make a lot of sense to then run for mayor or at least some local government position.

Re: Ask HN: As a person, what can I do to improve a city?

#98

Fight for just housing/zoning policies and against NIMBYism Join orgs supporting the homeless and fighting against the criminalization of homelessness. Buy from locally-owned businesses that treat their employees well. Not the gentrifying upscale cafes and restaurants and boutiques

> Fight for just housing/zoning policies and against NIMBYism

With you on that one. But this is a problem of successful, growing cities and it sounds like OP is in a city in the opposite situation that is lacking in economic opportunities.

> Join orgs supporting the homeless and fighting against the criminalization of homelessness.

When most people complain about homelessness, they're talking about the homeless on the streets, and particularly the ones on drugs who accost the people walking by. Criminalization of homelessness might be bad for moral reasons, but letting an unlimited number of homeless people live on streets indefinitely is exactly the opposite of what almost everybody wants. We need to focus on getting them off the streets into shelters and housing, and then everybody wins because they are also not being arrested anymore. Just focusing on the "criminalization" aspect and ignoring everything else is just making the problem worse in other ways.

> Buy from locally-owned businesses that treat their employees well. Not the gentrifying upscale cafes and restaurants and boutiques

This one is where you've really lost me.... who do you think provides good paying jobs and can afford to treat their employees well? Businesses that are making money, such as upscale cafes and restaurants and boutiques. These are also often locally-owned.

Re: Ask HN: As a person, what can I do to improve a city?

#99
I haven't officially "launched" it yet as I still have a lot more to do, but I've been working on a community website to track air quality & industry in my community, as I live in Gary, IN, nestled in the the middle of some mega polluters.

My neighbours and I got sick 2 years ago from some foul smell in the air and we ended up buying a PurpleAir monitor, and then I just tried to track everything pollution-related I could.

Of course, I'm the one who runs the monitor, website, etc, vested time, effort, money highlighting the issue of pollution, and on 8th September this year, my daughter was born with congenital heart disease, whose condition is made worse by pollution. Go figure.

https://millerbeach.community https://github.com/kingsloi/community-airmonitor

Re: Ask HN: As a person, what can I do to improve a city?

#100
post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's highly misleading. Overall cars kill way more people than murderers (at least double) in America. Baltimore just happens to be at the top of the list for murders per capita and apparently slightly below average for auto fatalities. For most cities there is a greater chance of dying from a car crash than from being murdered.

It's not misleading for major cities that I'm aware of, and especially not so for the "most dangerous" ones that the parent brought up. It doesn't "just happen" that I picked Baltimore, it's highly relevant to the topic the parent posted raised, even if you'd like to redirect the discussion elsewhere and it doesn't represent the US as a whole.

In addition to the effects of car pollution on health, education, etc., car infrastructure is also a big driver of segregation in cities, which leads to a lot of the social problems that engender violence. So shifting infrastructure away from cars is really relevant.
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