This man, on one hand, believes that he knows something, while not knowing [anything]. On the other hand, I – equally ignorant – do not believe [that I know anything]. – Socrates, in Plato’s Apology The more I learn, the less I know. This is the age of “Big Data”, with a priesthood of experts […]
Strong Towns Focus on People, Not Just Their Cars
The financial path our cities are on is fast falling apart, as our Suburban experiment of the last half-century shows its age. Our future prosperity depends on the ability of local leaders to transform their communities. How do we do that? That’s what Charles Marohn came to town to talk about, bringing his Strong Towns […]
The Local Economy Revolution: Economic Ecosystems & the Value of Being Unique
“The Real Question isn’t whether Policy X or Trend Y will happen. Stuff will happen. The real question is, how do we set our communities up to thrive in a world of Macro Uncertainty.” -D.G. Rucker I’m a sucker for those big picture, MegaTrends-that-are-going-to-Rock-Your-World, blog-magazine-TEDx thingys that float all over the interwebs these days. I […]
Uncle Sam Wants You… Farmers to Sign Up for Ag Census
[v=gpjP0OduRKY] Agricultural Leaders Ask Farmers to Sign Up and Be Counted in the 2012 Census of Agriculture Washington, June 7, 2012 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture is preparing to mail the 2012 Census of Agriculture to millions of U.S. farmers and ranchers in late December. The Census of Agriculture is a complete count of U.S. […]
Iowa Dedicates Sales Tax to Flood Mitigation
Alerted to this on The Midwest Planning BLUZ, a land use blog from Iowa State Extension. A new bill in Iowa: …establishes a flood mitigation program and a flood mitigation board to review proposed flood mitigation projects and authorize funding for approved projects. The bill also establishes two funding sources, a Flood Mitigation Fund and […]
Blue Over Red Tape
Quick post. The Economist cover story this week calls out an important inconvenience in American public policy. Over-regulated America The home of laissez-faire is being suffocated by excessive and badly written regulation …But red tape in America is no laughing matter. The problem is not the rules that are self-evidently absurd. It is the ones […]
Of the people, By the people, For the people
On this date in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln spoke for two minutes at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where savage battle had raged for three days, words that would ring true for centuries… Transcription Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that […]
Spoiled Children and Budget Negotiation
[v=ctnRxp4daJk] For six days now I’ve been trying to figure out something (useful, relevant, tactless) to say about the State of Minnesota Shutdown. For those outside the Land of 10,000 Lakes, the Minnesota Legislature and Governor failed to reach a budget agreement by the beginning of the new fiscal year, 1 July. Due to a […]
Into the Arena
Hold onto your wallets, the State Legislature is now in session. “It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred […]
How we've blown up our cities
Fellow Minnesotan Charles Marohn, a recovering professional engineer, blogs today on some of the changing ways that we Americans build places. It is striking how the path of our economic development and the path of our physical development are so similar. In the age of Hamilton, we certainly had planning. Thomas Jefferson not only planned […]