Reading: Design for Good: A New Era of Architecture for Everyone by John Cory

Most of my life I’ve believed design, both good & bad, plays a role in our quality of life. An inspiring book beautifully illustrates this idea that good design can make a positive difference.

“That’s what we do really: we do miracles,” said Anne-Marie Nyiranshimiyimana, who learned masonry in helping to build the Butaro Hospital, a project designed for and with the people of Rwanda using local materials. This, and other projects designed with dignity, show the power of good design. Almost nothing influences the quality of our lives more than the design of our homes, our schools, our workplaces, and our public spaces. Yet, design is often taken for granted and people don’t realize that they deserve better, or that better is even possible.

In Design for Good, John Cary offers character-driven, real-world stories about projects around the globe that offer more—buildings that are designed and created with and for the people who will use them. The book reveals a new understanding of the ways that design shapes our lives and gives professionals and interested citizens the tools to seek out and demand designs that dignify.

For too long, design has been seen as a luxury, the province of the rich, not the poor. That can no longer be acceptable to those of us in the design fields, nor to those affected by design that doesn’t consider human aspects.

From the Mulan Primary School in Guangdong, China to Kalamazoo College’s Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership, the examples in the book show what is possible when design is a collaborative, dignified, empathic process. Building on a powerful foreword by philanthropist Melinda Gates, Cary draws from his own experience as well as dozens of interviews to show not only that everyone deserves good design, but how it can be achieved. This isn’t just another book for and about designers. It’s a book about the lives we lead, inextricably shaped by the spaces and places we inhabit. (Island Press)

The contents shows how the book is organized:

Foreword by Melinda Gates
Introduction: The Dignifying Power of Design

Chapter 1: If It Can Happen Here
Chapter 2: Buildings that Heal
Chapter 3: Shelter for the Soul
Chapter 4: For the Love of Learning
Chapter 5: Places for Public Life
Chapter 6: Raising Expectations
Conclusion: A Call to Expect More

At the moment the digital & paperback versions are on sale for only $7.50, the hardback is only $15 — directly from the publisher, Island Press.

— Steve Patterson

Sunday Poll: Should St. Louis County Personal Property Taxes Be The Same Regardless of Location?

We recently received our personal property tax bill in the mail for our 2007 Honda Civic EX, but I know anyone else with the same car registered in the City of St. Louis will owe the same amount. St.Louis County, however, is very different. Yesterday the Post-Dispatch did a story on the variation in rates, citing two women at the start:

Each owns a 2014 Cadillac XTS. And each got her personal property tax bill in the mail from the county this month.

Johnson’s tax bill was $895. O’Neal’s was $436.

Across the St. Louis area, people are writing checks to pay their personal property taxes, which are due by year’s end. Residents of St. Louis all pay the same rate. But St. Louis County residents are not assessed evenly — far from it.

All county residents pay the same real estate and personal property tax rates for certain services, such as county government and community colleges. But the rates for public schools, fire protection and municipalities vary dramatically. The boundaries don’t overlap cleanly, so even next-door neighbors can pay different rates. (Post-Dispatch)

According to the Post-Dispatch it is lower income areas that are paying the most.

The above is the subject of today’s poll:

This poll will close at 8pm tonight, I’ll post my thoughts on Wednesday.

— Steve Patterson

Readers Split On Restriction Of Police Tactics

Following protests earlier this year, the ACLU sued the St. Louis Police over their tactics.  Last week came a ruling:

U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry’s order says that police can’t declare an “unlawful assembly” and enforce it against those “engaged in expressive activity, unless the persons are acting in concert to pose an imminent threat to use force or violence or to violate a criminal law with force or violence.”

Police also can’t use that unlawful assembly order or threaten the use of chemical agents to punish protesters for exercising their rights, she wrote.

Perry barred the use of pepper spray, mace and other chemical agents against “expressive, non-violent activity” without probable cause to make an arrest and without providing “clear and unambiguous warnings” and an opportunity to heed those warnings. (Post-Dispatch)

In the recent non-scientific Sunday Poll readers were split on this decision.

Agree or disagree: St. Louis Police should be able to declare protests as “unlawful assembly”, use pepper spray. etc.

• Strongly agree 11 [34.38%]
• Agree 3 [9.38%]
• Somewhat agree 1 [3.13%]
• Neither agree or disagree 1 [3.13%]
• Somewhat disagree 0 [0%]
• Disagree 4 [12.5%]
• Strongly disagree 12 [37.5%]
• Unsure/No Answer 0 [0%]

This ruling is long overdue.

— Steve Patterson

Reading: The Community Resilience Reader: Essential Resources for an Era of Upheaval

Communities must remain resilient to weather change, a recent book explores this issue:

The sustainability challenges of yesterday have become today’s resilience crises. National and global efforts have failed to stop climate change, transition from fossil fuels, and reduce inequality. We must now confront these and other increasingly complex problems by building resilience at the community level. But what does that mean in practice, and how can it be done in a way that’s effective and equitable?

The Community Resilience Reader offers a new vision for creating resilience, through essays by leaders in such varied fields as science, policy, community building, and urban design. The Community Resilience Reader combines a fresh look at the challenges humanity faces in the 21st century, the essential tools of resilience science, and the wisdom of activists, scholars, and analysts working with community issues on the ground. It shows that resilience is a process, not a goal; how resilience requires learning to adapt but also preparing to transform; and that resilience starts and ends with the people living in a community. Despite the formidable challenges we face, The Community Resilience Reader shows that building strength and resilience at the community level is not only crucial, but possible.

From Post Carbon Institute, the producers of the award-winning The Post Carbon Reader, The Community Resilience Reader is a valuable resource for students, community leaders, and concerned citizens. (Island Press)

A long list of writers have contributed chapters, helping us understand the predicaments, tools, and action to take:

PART I: Understanding Our Predicament

Chapter 1. Six Foundations for Building Community Resilience | Daniel Lerch
Chapter 2. The Environmental Crisis: The Needs of Humanity Versus the Limits of the Planet | Leena I
Chapter 3. The Energy Crisis: From Fossil Fuel Abundance to Renewable Energy Constraints | Richard Heinberg
Chapter 4. The Economic Crisis: The Limits of 20th Century Economics and Growth | Joshua Farley
Chapter 5. The Equity Crisis: The True Costs of Extractive Capitalism | Sarah Byrnes and Chuck Collins
Chapter 6. The Roots of Our Crises: Does Human Nature Drive Us Toward Collapse? | William Rees

PART II: Gathering the Needed Tools

Chapter 7. Systems Literacy: A Toolkit for Purposeful Change | Howard Silverman
Chapter 8. A Crash Course in the Science of Sustainability | Margaret Robertson
Chapter 9. A Crash Course in the Science of Resilience | Brian Walker and David Salt
Chapter 10. Pulling It All Together: Resilience, Wisdom, and Beloved Community | Stephanie Mills

PART III: Community Resilience in Action

Chapter 11. Energy Democracy | Denise Fairchild and Al Weinrub
Chapter 12. Building Community Resilience at the Water’s Edge | Rebecca Wodder
Chapter 13. Food System Lessons from Vermont | Scott Sawyer
Chapter 14. Learning Our Way Toward Resilience | William Throop
Chapter 15. Beyond Waste: Sustainable Consumption for Community Resilience | Rosemary Cooper
Chapter 16. Resilient Streets, Resilient Cities | Mike Lydon
Chapter 17. Community Resilience and the Built Environment | Daniel Lerch
Chapter 18. Conclusion: Where to Start | Asher Miller

Those with their heads buried in the sand with respect to climate change isn’t the target audience, but the rest of us are.

— Steve Patterson

Sunday Poll: Should St. Louis Police Be Able To Declare Protests Are “Unlawful Assembly”?

Last week a judge put limits on the St. Louis {P;oce:

U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry’s order says that police can’t declare an “unlawful assembly” and enforce it against those “engaged in expressive activity, unless the persons are acting in concert to pose an imminent threat to use force or violence or to violate a criminal law with force or violence.”

Police also can’t use that unlawful assembly order or threaten the use of chemical agents to punish protesters for exercising their rights, she wrote. (Post-Dispatch)

Based on reactions on social media, the public seems split on her decision. Today’s poll seeks the view of readers.

This poll will close at 8pm tonight.

— Steve Patterson