The White House Office of Urban Affairs and the Domestic Policy Council host a roundtable about the future of America's urban and metropolitan areas. In his remarks, the President addresses some of the challenges facing these communities, and highlights innovative solutions.
Showing posts with label Obama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Obama. Show all posts
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Saturday, February 7, 2009
President Barack Obama Avenue
The city of Opa-locak, Floida will become the first city to honor President Barack Obamam b honoring him with his name. I really, really hope that this street does not turn into the new M.L.K. Boulevard.
From the South Florida Times:
"The street, which runs for about three fourths of a mile north to south from Oriental Boulevard to Ali Baba Avenue, includes a mix of residential and commercial properties. Opa-locka’s city hall, public library and administrative municipal complex are all near the avenue."
“The street has had a new beginning and our president represents a new beginning for our nation. This will give young people the chance to walk down the street named after the first African-American president. This has a special impact for the city of Opa-locka as we undergo a renaissance along with our nation ushering in Barack Obama.”
From the South Florida Times:
"The street, which runs for about three fourths of a mile north to south from Oriental Boulevard to Ali Baba Avenue, includes a mix of residential and commercial properties. Opa-locka’s city hall, public library and administrative municipal complex are all near the avenue."
“The street has had a new beginning and our president represents a new beginning for our nation. This will give young people the chance to walk down the street named after the first African-American president. This has a special impact for the city of Opa-locka as we undergo a renaissance along with our nation ushering in Barack Obama.”
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Secretary of the Arts?
The L.A. Times recently ran a brief article about Quincy Jones lobbying President Obama to create a Secretary of the Arts as a cabinet position. Those familiar with this blog know that I am big proponent of art, which I feel is an essential element to a city's culture.
There is currently a position to create a Secretary of the Arts, I encourage you to sign the petition. From the article:
"Last November, music producer and songwriter Quincy Jones mentioned to John Schaefer during an interview on the New York radio program “Soundcheck” that he thought President-elect Barack Obama should create a Cabinet-level position of secretary of the Arts. “One of the next conversations I have with President Obama is to beg for a secretary of the Arts,” he told the WNYC talk-show host.
Jaime Austria heard about Jones' comments and thought that was a great idea. So Austria launched an online petition. So far, more than 63,000 people have signed, with 'spread the word' e-mails recently making the rounds on the Left Coast."
There is currently a position to create a Secretary of the Arts, I encourage you to sign the petition. From the article:
"Last November, music producer and songwriter Quincy Jones mentioned to John Schaefer during an interview on the New York radio program “Soundcheck” that he thought President-elect Barack Obama should create a Cabinet-level position of secretary of the Arts. “One of the next conversations I have with President Obama is to beg for a secretary of the Arts,” he told the WNYC talk-show host.
Jaime Austria heard about Jones' comments and thought that was a great idea. So Austria launched an online petition. So far, more than 63,000 people have signed, with 'spread the word' e-mails recently making the rounds on the Left Coast."
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Obama calls DC soft
NBC Chicago reports that President Obama is telling DC to toughen up when it comes to dealing with snow.
The article reports:
"So, it's good to see you guys. Can I make a comment that is unrelated to the economy, very quickly? And it has to do with Washington. My children's school was cancelled today because of what? ..... Some -- some ice?
"... As my -- as my children pointed out, in Chicago, school is never cancelled. In fact, my seven-year-old pointed out that you'd go outside for recess in weather like this. You wouldn't even stay indoors. So it's -- I don't know. We're going to have to try to apply some flinty Chicago toughness to this town."
As someone who grew up in the Mid-Atlantic, I have to agree with the Prez. Although I will say that the Mid-Atlantic has not had a bad winter for 6-7 years now, so the first suspicion of snow makes everyone panic now. I remember during bad winters it would take at least 6 inches to close schools down...but that was more due to the fact the school system could not afford to take any more school days off for weak snow storms.
The article reports:
"So, it's good to see you guys. Can I make a comment that is unrelated to the economy, very quickly? And it has to do with Washington. My children's school was cancelled today because of what? ..... Some -- some ice?
"... As my -- as my children pointed out, in Chicago, school is never cancelled. In fact, my seven-year-old pointed out that you'd go outside for recess in weather like this. You wouldn't even stay indoors. So it's -- I don't know. We're going to have to try to apply some flinty Chicago toughness to this town."
As someone who grew up in the Mid-Atlantic, I have to agree with the Prez. Although I will say that the Mid-Atlantic has not had a bad winter for 6-7 years now, so the first suspicion of snow makes everyone panic now. I remember during bad winters it would take at least 6 inches to close schools down...but that was more due to the fact the school system could not afford to take any more school days off for weak snow storms.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Our First Urban President
With so much discussion about President Obama being our first Black President, the fact that Barack Obama is one of our first urban Presidents slipped right by me. This distinction, which is not as significant as being the first black president, is an important one nonetheless. In a country that is 80% urbanized it is time that our leaders stop catering to the heartland and those in the fringes and start governing to fix the persistent problems of urban core of America, where the general population lives.
A recent Esquire Magazine article had an excellent breakdown of urban, suburban and rural voters over the last twenty years to show who they voted for. The article quotes:
"If Bill Clinton was the first black president, then Barack Obama might be the first urban one. He is the only American president in recent history to seem unembarrassed about claiming a personal residence in a major American city. Instead, presidents have tended to hail from homes called ranches or groves or manors or plantations, in places called Kennebunkport or Santa Barbara or Oyster Bay or Northampton."
The articles continues...
"...In 1992, when Bill Clinton won his first term, 35 percent of American voters were identified as rural according to that year's national exit polls, and 24 percent as urban. This year, however, the percentage of rural voters has dropped to 21 percent, while that of urban voters has climbed to 30. The suburbs, meanwhile, have been booming: 41 percent of America's electorate in 1992, they represent 49 percent now (see chart)."
To read the rest if the article, click here.
According to the article, Urban America now outweighs Rural America in voter turnout. What does this mean? And what implications will this have for the future? Well hopefully, we can now hold politicians accountable for their actions or lack thereof in addressing urban problems such as poverty, crime and equality. Too many times the problems of the city where used as a political football to kick around by both parties to either use to exploit or incite fear but never to actually address the problem.
A recent Esquire Magazine article had an excellent breakdown of urban, suburban and rural voters over the last twenty years to show who they voted for. The article quotes:
"If Bill Clinton was the first black president, then Barack Obama might be the first urban one. He is the only American president in recent history to seem unembarrassed about claiming a personal residence in a major American city. Instead, presidents have tended to hail from homes called ranches or groves or manors or plantations, in places called Kennebunkport or Santa Barbara or Oyster Bay or Northampton."
The articles continues...
"...In 1992, when Bill Clinton won his first term, 35 percent of American voters were identified as rural according to that year's national exit polls, and 24 percent as urban. This year, however, the percentage of rural voters has dropped to 21 percent, while that of urban voters has climbed to 30. The suburbs, meanwhile, have been booming: 41 percent of America's electorate in 1992, they represent 49 percent now (see chart)."
To read the rest if the article, click here.
According to the article, Urban America now outweighs Rural America in voter turnout. What does this mean? And what implications will this have for the future? Well hopefully, we can now hold politicians accountable for their actions or lack thereof in addressing urban problems such as poverty, crime and equality. Too many times the problems of the city where used as a political football to kick around by both parties to either use to exploit or incite fear but never to actually address the problem.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
The Inaugural Tranist Ride
On January 20, 2009, America witnessed a truly history making moment when the first Black President was sworn into office. Bark Obama who inspired people of all races, genders, cultures and backgrounds drew an estimated 2 million people to the The Mall to watch his inauguration as the 44th President of the United States.
This is an account of one man's experience with the DC Metro Transit System during this history making day.
To begin with, everyone who came to DC knew that the transit system could potentially be shut down because there were early estimates that there would be more transit riders then the Metro could actually handle at full capacity. On top of that, transit stops along with streets would be closed in the vicinity of The Mall and the Capital Building. With that, I braced myself for the worst as I headed to The Mall from the DC suburbs in Maryland.
The beginning of the trip was not that bad. As me and my friend headed toward the nearest suburban transit stop we had noticed a long line of cars waiting to park, we thought this was not a good sign but we only waited 15 minutes or so. As we made it on the train, at 5:30 in the morning it was clear that almost everyone on the train was headed to the Inauguration. The train was semi-packed but nothing crazy as we imagined. As the train crossed into city and we got closer to DC, the train started filling up quickly.
Our first transfer. We transferred to the next train and amazingly the train was right on schedule and we had perfect timing. So far so sweat. Then came the 2nd transfer. The transfer this time was leading us directly to the transit stop that our Inauguration ticket to get off. The trains and the platforms were jam packed but we were eventually able to squeeze onto the train and make it to our stop.
Overall, our train ride lasted only 30 minutes surprisingly. For the overall train ride coming into the Inauguration, I would give The Metro a "B"
Unfortunately the ride back was not as smooth,
After watching history being made and standing on my feet in the cold for 5 hours, me and 2 million others decided to leave The Mall and head back to the Metro. Due to the large crowd it took 1.5 hours to leave The Mall...understandable. What was not understandable was the mass of humanity that was standing in front of our Metro stop telling the Metro Stop was closed and on top of that telling us to go back while hundreds of thousands of people are still coming from The Mall.
So...my friend and I snaked through the restless crowd, which took 30 minutes to get through to get to the next Metro station...closed. So we walk to the next Metro station...closed. Then we walked to another Metro station to see the gates locked and a line of people waiting for the gates to re-open at 6:30. It was only 3 pm.
We finally found some cops who told us that they had been sending people back to the first station that we had left because it was closed. The cops were shocked to find out that, that station along with all the others were...closed. As we walk back in a circle to the beginning we saw several sights at various Metro stops. My favorite sights were the National Guard taking over one Metro stop and the 3 block long plus line that surrounded all other transit stations.
Eventually we kept walking...and walking...and walking until we found a Metro stop that was almost 2 miles away from the Inauguration and from most of the Inaugural crowd. In all it took 4 hours to get back to my original destination on The Metro. 4 hours in the cold I might add with no food. But you know what, it was a once an lifetime opportunity. I don't know if I would have done it again but I am sure glad that I did. Not only did I get a chance to see history being made, I have a story to go along with it as well: "The Day the Metro Never Came"
Peace
This is an account of one man's experience with the DC Metro Transit System during this history making day.
To begin with, everyone who came to DC knew that the transit system could potentially be shut down because there were early estimates that there would be more transit riders then the Metro could actually handle at full capacity. On top of that, transit stops along with streets would be closed in the vicinity of The Mall and the Capital Building. With that, I braced myself for the worst as I headed to The Mall from the DC suburbs in Maryland.
The beginning of the trip was not that bad. As me and my friend headed toward the nearest suburban transit stop we had noticed a long line of cars waiting to park, we thought this was not a good sign but we only waited 15 minutes or so. As we made it on the train, at 5:30 in the morning it was clear that almost everyone on the train was headed to the Inauguration. The train was semi-packed but nothing crazy as we imagined. As the train crossed into city and we got closer to DC, the train started filling up quickly.
Our first transfer. We transferred to the next train and amazingly the train was right on schedule and we had perfect timing. So far so sweat. Then came the 2nd transfer. The transfer this time was leading us directly to the transit stop that our Inauguration ticket to get off. The trains and the platforms were jam packed but we were eventually able to squeeze onto the train and make it to our stop.
Overall, our train ride lasted only 30 minutes surprisingly. For the overall train ride coming into the Inauguration, I would give The Metro a "B"
Unfortunately the ride back was not as smooth,
After watching history being made and standing on my feet in the cold for 5 hours, me and 2 million others decided to leave The Mall and head back to the Metro. Due to the large crowd it took 1.5 hours to leave The Mall...understandable. What was not understandable was the mass of humanity that was standing in front of our Metro stop telling the Metro Stop was closed and on top of that telling us to go back while hundreds of thousands of people are still coming from The Mall.
So...my friend and I snaked through the restless crowd, which took 30 minutes to get through to get to the next Metro station...closed. So we walk to the next Metro station...closed. Then we walked to another Metro station to see the gates locked and a line of people waiting for the gates to re-open at 6:30. It was only 3 pm.
We finally found some cops who told us that they had been sending people back to the first station that we had left because it was closed. The cops were shocked to find out that, that station along with all the others were...closed. As we walk back in a circle to the beginning we saw several sights at various Metro stops. My favorite sights were the National Guard taking over one Metro stop and the 3 block long plus line that surrounded all other transit stations.
Eventually we kept walking...and walking...and walking until we found a Metro stop that was almost 2 miles away from the Inauguration and from most of the Inaugural crowd. In all it took 4 hours to get back to my original destination on The Metro. 4 hours in the cold I might add with no food. But you know what, it was a once an lifetime opportunity. I don't know if I would have done it again but I am sure glad that I did. Not only did I get a chance to see history being made, I have a story to go along with it as well: "The Day the Metro Never Came"
Peace
Sunday, April 13, 2008
How the Candidates stack up on Public Transit
Public Transit is one of the most important pieces of infastructure for sustaining a city and it is also one of the most expencies peices of infastrucutre as well. While in the last 40 years, Federal and state governments have spent more money on highway construction than on public tranist, it is important to note that all of American cities were developed and grew from public transit lines. With out public transit today, our best cities such as New York, Chicago and Sna Francisco would not be able to sustain themselves.
With a piece of infreastucture so vital to the daily lives to the city dwellers of this country, coast to coast, what are the Democratic candidates saying about the need to improve public transit. Well, according the the Philly Daily News...not that much.
From the Philadelphia Daily News:
"..."Transportation, which affects virtually everyone in the country, is barely on the radar of any of the candidates," said Samuel I. Schwartz, of Sam Schwartz PLLC, a transportation-planning firm."
Here's how Obama and Clinton plan to address the nation's transportation needs:
Barack Obama
Will create a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank to receive $6 billion annually to finance transportation projects around the country.
LOCAL TRANSIT: Will double the Jobs Access and Reverse Commute program, which provides federal money to help low-income people get to work. Will increase resources for local public transportation, but doesn't provide a dollar amount.
AMTRAK AND HIGH-SPEED RAIL: Will continue to fight for more funding. Supported a bill to provide $11 billion over six years. Supports development of high-speed freight and passenger rail, but does not indicate how much money he would provide.
AIR AND SEA: Wants to modernize air-traffic-control system to reduce delays. Will develop an accurate terrorist watch list to improve safety of air travel.
Hillary Clinton
INFRASTRUCTURE:Will establish a $10 billion emergency fund for repairs to roads, bridges and seaports. Another $250 million will fund "Emergency Assessment Grants" to help states inspect infrastructure.
LOCAL TRANSIT: Will provide $1.5 billion in additional funding annually for public transit.
AMTRAK AND HIGH-SPEED RAIL: Will increase funding for "inter-city" rail systems by $1 billion over five years. Also plans to invest more in Amtrak.
AIR AND SEA: Would devise a national policy to expand port capacity. *
With a piece of infreastucture so vital to the daily lives to the city dwellers of this country, coast to coast, what are the Democratic candidates saying about the need to improve public transit. Well, according the the Philly Daily News...not that much.
From the Philadelphia Daily News:
"..."Transportation, which affects virtually everyone in the country, is barely on the radar of any of the candidates," said Samuel I. Schwartz, of Sam Schwartz PLLC, a transportation-planning firm."
Here's how Obama and Clinton plan to address the nation's transportation needs:
Barack Obama
Will create a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank to receive $6 billion annually to finance transportation projects around the country.
LOCAL TRANSIT: Will double the Jobs Access and Reverse Commute program, which provides federal money to help low-income people get to work. Will increase resources for local public transportation, but doesn't provide a dollar amount.
AMTRAK AND HIGH-SPEED RAIL: Will continue to fight for more funding. Supported a bill to provide $11 billion over six years. Supports development of high-speed freight and passenger rail, but does not indicate how much money he would provide.
AIR AND SEA: Wants to modernize air-traffic-control system to reduce delays. Will develop an accurate terrorist watch list to improve safety of air travel.
Hillary Clinton
INFRASTRUCTURE:Will establish a $10 billion emergency fund for repairs to roads, bridges and seaports. Another $250 million will fund "Emergency Assessment Grants" to help states inspect infrastructure.
LOCAL TRANSIT: Will provide $1.5 billion in additional funding annually for public transit.
AMTRAK AND HIGH-SPEED RAIL: Will increase funding for "inter-city" rail systems by $1 billion over five years. Also plans to invest more in Amtrak.
AIR AND SEA: Would devise a national policy to expand port capacity. *
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Presidential Revival
Ok, for all the Baltimoreans, Marylanders, Virginians and Washingtonians reading this blog, make sure you go out and VOTE!
Here below is a fuzzy cell phone pic of the Obama Rally that was held last night in the Baltimore Arena (a post about the Arena is soon coming). This blog is called Urban Revival but last night's rally surely looked and felt like a true Revival.
Here below is a fuzzy cell phone pic of the Obama Rally that was held last night in the Baltimore Arena (a post about the Arena is soon coming). This blog is called Urban Revival but last night's rally surely looked and felt like a true Revival.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Stumping for Obama
Check out this February 4th article in the Baltimore Sun about the Democratic Presidential nomination race which features a nice blurb about Donnell Zeigler, the main author of this blog.
Excerpt:
Carrying a clipboard with printed lists of Democratic voters, Donnell Zeigler, 26, was knocking on doors Saturday in the Hillendale neighborhood in which he grew up, asking voters whether they plan to support Obama. If they said yes, Zeigler asked them to sign the paper. The campaign would contact them later, making sure that they vote in the primary.
"Eighty percent of the people who do sign, they say, come out and vote," said Zeigler, a Temple University graduate who works in the Baltimore County planning office.
Baltimore County has a growing black population, and is considered a bellwether in state elections. The Hillendale neighborhood of brick-faced attached houses built in the 1960s is about 85 percent black, and while many residents were reluctant to answer door-knocks, "once you say Barack Obama, people are kind of energized," Zeigler said.
To read the full article, click here.
Excerpt:
Carrying a clipboard with printed lists of Democratic voters, Donnell Zeigler, 26, was knocking on doors Saturday in the Hillendale neighborhood in which he grew up, asking voters whether they plan to support Obama. If they said yes, Zeigler asked them to sign the paper. The campaign would contact them later, making sure that they vote in the primary.
"Eighty percent of the people who do sign, they say, come out and vote," said Zeigler, a Temple University graduate who works in the Baltimore County planning office.
Baltimore County has a growing black population, and is considered a bellwether in state elections. The Hillendale neighborhood of brick-faced attached houses built in the 1960s is about 85 percent black, and while many residents were reluctant to answer door-knocks, "once you say Barack Obama, people are kind of energized," Zeigler said.
To read the full article, click here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)