Photo: Attendees at Vermont League of Cities & Towns discuss small community economic development strategies. When most communities pursue economic development, local leaders often think of creating a burst of economic opportunity from large employers that can quickly increase employment for residents while at the same time increasing revenue into the municipality’s coffers. However, this
On July 1 the City of San Francisco effected a ban on facial recognition technology—the first of its kind in the nation. Aimed at leading with transparency, accountability and equity, the ban passed as part of the city’s Stop Secret Surveillance Ordinance. While the city stopped testing facial recognition technology in 2007 and has not
Having resided in Purcellville, Va. since 2006, my family and I settled here because we have always loved its balance of old and new and its small-town warmth. Subsequently, during my five-year tenure as Purcellville’s mayor, I have made it my priority to engage all members of the community, to build upon our existing assets,
This is a guest post by Rachel Zack, Policy Strategist at Remix. Since Remix was founded, one of the most important questions we’ve asked is: “What problems can we help solve?” Answers to that question have always come from close communication with cities and transit agencies, helping us understand the complex challenges across transportation. We focused on
This is a guest post by Heidi Lorenzen, vice president of marketing for Accela. Cities are laboratories for democracy where residents can directly access their local elected leaders to make their concerns known. While federal regulation and legislation moves at a seemingly glacial pace, cities have to act nimbly and continuously evolve to maintain a
This is guest post by Bill Eller, vice president, business development at HomeServe. Skilled trades are the future of work. A combination of Baby Boomers reaching retirement age and lack of interest by young adults in the skilled trade field has caused an unprecedented labor shortage. It’s estimated that, for each person who enters the
Have you ever had the experience of going through a lengthy process to develop a new plan or project only to have a few vocal community members publicly oppose the project at the last minute, claiming to speak on behalf of the wishes of the larger community? You know the outcome — Facebook and other
This is an excerpt from our newest municipal action guide, Autonomous Vehicle Pilots Across America. The unstoppable forces of automation and artificial intelligence are rapidly changing the way we move through, work in and design cities. Technological advancements are transforming the mobility environment as a wide range of companies continue investing billions of dollars to develop, test and
There is nothing new in the world. In ancient times, when the invading hoard is approaching the city, the wise leader sends an emissary through the front gate to parley. In today’s economy, these same tactics can be employed by cities seeking to quickly gain an understanding of what a startup is proposing, how that proposal
This is an excerpt from a report we released earlier this year, Assessing the Future of Our Work. The rise of new technologies drastically changed the nature of work throughout history, both as a cause of and a response to massive historical shifts. Cities feel these shifts most acutely, serving as the places where these
