Keith Schneider | ModeShift

Grand Rapids, Other Cities Loving Transit

by Keith SchneiderJune 5, 2007June 7, 20070

Last November, just as they have in previous local and state elections stretching back to the mid-1990s, voters in 13 states considered 32 transit-related ballot measures and approved 70 percent of them, according to the Center for Transportation Excellence, a research group based in Washington, D.C. Spending on those projectsÂ will total $40 billionâ€”bringing both immediate stimulus and long-term economic development tools toÂ local economies. Well, the beat goes on. Last month voters in the Grand Rapids …

Mode Shift Postcards From Around The Nation

by Keith SchneiderJune 4, 2007June 4, 20070

Â Â Though it’s completely understandable why the triple whammy of rising peak oilÂ energy prices, global climate change, and record population growth might get you down, here are a number of promising Mode Shift trends that indicate the end is not nigh. Singles now head the majority of American households and are repopulating America’s great cities. This from Baltimore, according to the May 29, 2007 edition of the Baltimore Sun: “Across Baltimore, single women – old …

The Michigan Crisis: Ideology Not Intelligence

by Keith SchneiderJune 3, 2007June 4, 20072

Â Late on the Friday night before the Memorial Day weekend, Republican and Democratic lawmakers in Michigan reached agreement with Democratic Governor Jennifer M. Granholm on a very temporary fix to close an $800 million state budget deficit. The deficit, for those who might be unfamiliar, is what happens whenÂ what the state earns in tax revenue doesn’t keep up with what itÂ spends on programs.Â Next fall theÂ crisis worsens when lawmakers look down the raw throat of …

Why Cities Are Thriving

by Keith SchneiderJune 2, 2007June 4, 20071

Â Packaged Facts,Â a usefulÂ site for keeping track of demographic and economic trends, just published an analysis of US Census figures that concludes singles now head the largest number of American households.Â For years demographers have documented the declining size of the US household and the rising number of total American households.Â Now we find that the single person is the majority.Â Â Packaged Facts found that “America’s 89.6 million singles head over half of America’s households â€” 50.3%, …

Pangea’s Biodegradable Package; Just Plant and Grow

by Keith SchneiderMay 30, 2007May 31, 20071

Here’s a name worth paying attention to in the space whereÂ sustainable business practices and the non-profit sector cross.Â He is Joshua Scott Onysko, a 30-year-old native of Rhode Island who turned a bonding experience with his mother making organic soap into Pangea Organics, a very successful Boulder-based manufacturer of organic body and skin care products. I first learned of Onysko and Pangea Organics from a friend in Saugatuck who was as enthusastic about the company’s all …

At $5 A Gallon, Gas Prices Will Be The Issue In 2008 Campaign

by Keith SchneiderMay 29, 2007May 30, 20076

Remember in the 2004 presidential campaign when George W. Bush and John Kerry briefly sparred over the price of gas?Â Democrats predictably blamed “Big Oil” and promised Congressional investigations.Â Republicans blamedÂ Democrats and environmentalists for blocking efforts to build more refineries and drill for more oil, especially in Alaska. The tussle failed to attract more than the attention of a couple of political reporters. Why? Gas prices nationally were $1.80 a gallon, and only in California did they …

On Her 100th Birthday: Big Green’s Silent Spring For Rachel Carson

by Keith SchneiderMay 27, 2007May 28, 20073

Across the country this weekend, and especially today, thousands of Americans honored Rachel Carson, the author of “Silent Spring,” who was born 100 years ago on a 65-acre farm in Springdale, Pennsylvania, northeast of Pittsburgh.Â Carson’s legacyÂ was extolled by grassroots activists, lauded by newspaper writers, and commemorated by institutions. She also was villified as a cause of global genocide by conservative free market critics,Â and a Congressional resolution honoring the centennial of her birth was blocked by …

Cities Punch Above Their Weight Economically

by Keith SchneiderMay 23, 2007May 30, 20071

Â Here areÂ two more reasonsÂ why Michigan and the American Midwest are slipping to backwater status in the United States, and whyÂ we can’t give up on the capacity of our governor and state lawmakers toÂ helpÂ work Michigan out of its economic mess.Â Fact one, according to a new analysis by the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution:Â Six of theÂ 80 old industrial cities lagging far behind in economic performance, population growth, job creation, and business development are …

Inc. Magazine Hot Cities: Not One in Upper Midwest

by Keith SchneiderMay 18, 2007June 24, 20073

The annual tally ofÂ AmericanÂ “Boom Towns” in the May issue ofÂ Inc. MagazineÂ includes not one –Â repeat, not a single large, midsize, or small cityÂ in the Great Lakes regionÂ that qualifies amongÂ the nation’s top generators of new jobs. If the entire Midwest is considered, the only two cities that sneak onto the list are Springfield, Missouri (ranked # 20 among midsize cities) and Dubuque, Iowa (#15 among small cities).Â The list does include some of our favorite Mode Shift …

Flip: Take Me To The River

by Keith SchneiderMay 17, 2007May 17, 20072

If you’reÂ plugged into Google Earth then check out how the Jane Goodall Institute blogs.Â Talk about moving people towards a subject. Just click on the “blog entry” link to each post. This is a terrific application of online reporting and experiential graphics.Â We’re looking into how to emulate it here at Mode Shift.