EquityBlog

Amazing news for Sustainable Communities!

Yesterday the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced Oakland’s own PolicyLink as one of eight organizations to be awarded funding to continue work on the federal Sustainable Communities Initiative. Here’s more from the official press release on HUD.Gov:

In an historic collaborative effort to assure the success of previous federal investments, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today competitively awarded $5.65 million to eight organizations to help existing federal grantees work together to solve common problems. These organizations will form capacity-building networks among the grantees to exchange ideas on successful strategies, lessons learned, emerging tools, and public engagement plans. This work will strengthen the capacity grantee communities to create more housing choices, make transportation more efficient and reliable, make more efficient investments in water and wastewater infrastructure, and build vibrant, healthy and economically prosperous neighborhoods for American families.

You can also read more about the award in today’s San Francisco Chronicle, which includes a call to action for Oakland residents to volunteer and do their part in helping build a safer, stronger city.

Do you have thoughts and ideas on how to build a better Oakland? Share them with us in the comments!

Can suped-up bikes be part of the solution to the crisis facing boys of color? This video from the folks at “California is a Place” makes the case pretty persuasively:

According to the Scraper Bike King, in order to become a member of the Original Scraper Bike Team, you must:

• Be a resident of Oakland, CA.
• Be at least 7 y/o or older.
• Retain A 3.0 Grade Point Average (GPA)
• Create your own Scraper Bike…(It Has To Be Amazing, Or Else You Can’t Ride.)
• Stick to a single-file line when riding.

After 10 rides The Scraper Bike King and his Captains will decide if your bike is up to standards and if you can follow simple guidelines. After your evaluation we will consider you a member and honor you with an Original Scraper Bike Team Shirt. Only worn when Mobbin’ Stay posted to our website for all upcoming Scraper Bike Rides…”

What is California is a Place? Let them tell you:

California is loaded. From Disneyland to farmland, we’ve got Scientology and superstars, Silicon and silicone, crips and bloods. The border. Krumpin’ Clownin’ Jerkin’. The surf and the turf. The boom and the bust. California is humanity run amuck and then packaged, branded and sold. California Cuisine, California Love, California Casual, California Gold, California Girls, and of course, California Dreams. If it exists in the world, it exists here and it does so with pizzaz.

Obviously, we love this stuff. That’s why we’re doing this project. Simply put, California is sensational. And the closer we look the better it gets: words and images, stories and songs, opinions and ideas. This project is ongoing. We hope you like what you see and say so. We plan to post often. So until that day, when we finally float off into the Pacific, California is a place. Stay tuned.

Check them out for more videos.