The only "micro" thing you can do is stop thinking that some small personal investment will magically have an outsized impact. Nothing short of a massive & collective investment of resources and time will even make a dent in American cities that have been systematically segregated and bled dry by racist capitalists for 100 years. Cities are run by monopolist developers, landlords, investors, & wage theives and we must sytematically reappropriate them through class struggle.
If you really want to help the people––& not simply feel better about being a gentrifier––join or support a local tennant's union or other housing justice org, or join an org or mutual aid project whose goal is to build people power to challenge the ruling class. https://www.pslweb.org/ would be a great place to start !
Ask HN: As a person, what can I do to improve a city?
251–260 of 346 posts
Re: Ask HN: As a person, what can I do to improve a city?
#252Join your local facebook group and get involved. My facebook group South Silly has done a lot to stitch together South Philly over the last ~5 years. Businesses have launched, friendships and marriages have formed, etc. We also have a webseries highlighting local personalities, businesses, artists, and musicians http://southsillycam.com
Re: Ask HN: As a person, what can I do to improve a city?
#253Would 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.
yeah, I mean, I'm definitely in the minority of what I think. My life is regularly threatened by reckless drivers, and being a strong, tall-ish white dude, I don't get messed with on the street very often.
That said, I think the numbers back up my perspective. Violent crime just isn't what it was back in the seventies, but we're still in the mindset that danger = criminals.
Re: Ask HN: As a person, what can I do to improve a city?
#254Would 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.
A few major urban areas with high cost of ownership and good alternative options aside, a car is a self-compounding step out of poverty to most poor people and their problem with them is one of cost. To tell these people that cars are their problem is tone deaf at best. They have a million bigger problems.
yeah, that's why I asked
Re: Ask HN: As a person, what can I do to improve a city?
#255Hire.
Re: Ask HN: As a person, what can I do to improve a city?
#256Modesto, CA?
Re: Ask HN: As a person, what can I do to improve a city?
#257The 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…
This is great advice but wanted to emphasize if you’re looking to make a huge impact with pretty much no money just grab some trash bags and pick a block in need.
Trash in the street is one of the biggest problems you’ll see in neglected low income neighborhoods and it just feels so much different when the street gets cleaned up.
Re: Ask HN: As a person, what can I do to improve a city?
#258Would 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.
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…
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Re: Ask HN: As a person, what can I do to improve a city?
#259Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 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. I don't think you need a network to begin cleaning up dirty corners. Just pick up garbage you see on the street when you walk around. It has an immediate impact, is easy and doesn't cost anything. Other people may see it and may…
Just put a Buddha statue on the corner! https://www.pri.org/stories/2014-11-19/how-buddhist-shrine-t...
Thank you for this link.
Re: Ask HN: As a person, what can I do to improve a city?
#260> "What is the micro thing I can do today, that can have a chance of a macro change tomorrow?" You could to a small thing, making your home exterior look presentable. By cleaning/improving the outside of your home, you have a positive impact on the rest of the community. After that, you can try helping neighbours improve their homes and the area will slowly improve... This is related to the [1] Broken Window Theory.…
Last time I encountered mentions of [1] was in "Humankind" by Bregman, and there he says it was not really "scientific" experiment, stretched some facts.
https://www.ft.com/content/63803e14-95d9-11ea-af4b-499244625...