In Praise of Scott Wiener

William Shutkin — Wed, 28 Feb 2018 15:50:05 +0000

I had the pleasure of meeting Scott Wiener a few times when I lived in San Francisco. He was then on the Board of Supervisors, representing District 8, the other side of the city from my apartment in the Presidio. We were on a panel together in 2015 hosted by Tumml, the urban tech incubator, talking about ways to make city life better, greener and more affordable for all. Wiener’s ideas were fresh, smart and grounded in his own and his constituents’ experiences. No BS, no small talk.

So it’s no wonder that, having been elected to the state senate in 2016, Wiener is making his mark quickly on the matter of affordable housing, not only in his hometown of San Francisco, but across the Golden State, where affordable housing has risen to the top of the state’s policy agenda.

And for good reason: Between 2009 and 2014, the state added 544,000 households but only 467,000 net new housing units, according to the McKinsey Global Institute. It now ranks 49th in housing units per capita. Seven of the 10 most expensive real estate markets in the US are in California. McKinsey estimates that the housing crisis is costing California $140 billion a year in lost economic output. And the list of horribles goes on.

Which is why Wiener has led the charge on two major bills: SB35, which streamlines the approval process for affordable housing projects in communities that lag behind state housing targets, and a new law, SB 827, known as the Transit Zoning Bill, which would require that all areas within a half-mile of a major transit stop, or within a quarter-mile of a bus or transit corridor, allow minimum building heights of 45 or 85 feet (depending on distance from transit, street width and other criteria), superceding local zoning rules. The bill would also waive any minimum parking requirements and prohibit any design standards that would have the effect of lowering the square footage allowed on a lot.

SB 35 is now state law. SB 827 is pending. Their purpose is the same: to use the power of state action to override local inaction. As with other key social policy issues such as civil rights and environmental protection, many, but not all, local communities have proved that they can’t be trusted to do the right thing thanks largely to restrictive zoning laws and the entrenched power of Not In My Back Yard activists concerned about their property values or views or traffic or simply change itself. In some cases, it’s more insidious, like racism or classism.

Senator Wiener put it more eloquently and strategically: “We are moving past the era where every city in California could view itself as an independent kingdom that could refuse to build any housing. Our cities are all interconnected, and housing decisions in one city affect many other cities, and state law needs to reflect that.”

I think Senator Wiener is pushing California to do what it does best, to lead and innovate for the greater good, to rewrite the rules in the name of progress and change.

I also think, in due course, other states will follow. Or fall further behind.

The post In Praise of Scott Wiener appeared first on Innovation Network for Communities.

Smart Cities: Boston Talks No Nonsense and Tells Vendors to Get Real

Melanie Nutter — Thu, 22 Feb 2018 23:36:24 +0000

In the rising wave of optimistic, but pie-in-the sky, smart city initiatives, Boston’s “Smart Cities Playbook” takes a pause for a refreshing examination of what cities actually need to move their projects and initiatives forward. It’s an honest and practical description of where the city is today.

Although the city has ample ambition to be smarter, the playbook unveils the real challenges, concerns and issues that smart city efforts face. Many cities are at the same point; they want to take the leap to invest time and resources into new strategies and innovative projects, but still need to develop trust that the city is well understood by smart-tech vendors and that it and its vendors have a shared vision of serving the best interests of the city’s citizens. This tension, documented by the playbook, is the primary unsaid concern on the minds of city staffers.

In this much needed missive, Boston addresses the uncertainty within the smart cities marketplace between city buyers and private sector sellers. Cities and their staff are in the business of serving their residents. Companies in this market need to understand that the city’s end game is to provide effective products and solutions. If a new technology or data set can help to solve a specific problem for a segment of the population, then city staff are open to learning more. However, if a technology is deployed just for demonstration sake, cities like Boston are not very interested due to the time commitment and resources needed to implement with unclear returns.

The City of Boston challenges many aspects of how they are being sold to, who is doing the selling, and even the assumptions that vendors bring to their interactions with the city. Currently, the private sector has a growing, though still somewhat limited, understanding of cities. City-centric language has been adopted by smart cities sales teams, developing their ability to speak to climate change, sustainability, equity and inclusion, and other key issue areas. However, there is still a skepticism from city staff on whether the private sector actually believes in these outcomes or truly knows what success in these areas would mean.

Companies employing former city practitioners have been successful at conveying this understanding and developing trust with cities, but this still remains a central challenge to smart city strategic development across the nation. Overall, Boston’s “Smart Cities Playbook” is a grounding framework for cities and vendors looking understand and address the real challenges and needed next steps for advancing truly transformative smart city initiatives.

The post Smart Cities: Boston Talks No Nonsense and Tells Vendors to Get Real appeared first on Innovation Network for Communities.

Markets Archives - Innovation Network for Communities

In Praise of Scott Wiener

Smart Cities: Boston Talks No Nonsense and Tells Vendors to Get Real