Social Impact Across the US: Sourcing Ideas from Other Cities

This week in Social Impact Across the U.S.:

• What could Philly learn from other cities across the nation? Next City looks at how four different cities — Camden, Detroit, Dallas, Memphis — are fighting against blight by using land banks, law clinics to help residents bring down slumlords, utility upgrades and plans to demolish derelict building.

• For more ideas from around the country: see Yes Magazine’s roundup of tactics being used in Seattle and Raleigh to make cities more inclusive, including city ID cards and more open data from city hall.

• A major institution in Brooklyn for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities is shutting down after over 40 years in operation. This is all according to plan, though: New York and other states have pushed for years to “deinstitutionalize” people with mental disabilities, according to the New York Times, due to growing evidence that community living is more humane.”

• A new report finds that transgender youth are able to form strong gender associations at a young age just as easily as cisgender youth can, according to Good Magazine. This has implications for how parents, and really all of society, accommodate transgender youth through their development.

• The Department of Housing and Urban Development unveiled its proposed 2016 budget yesterday, February 2. The budget, totaling $49.3 billion, includes funding for homeless assistance, affordable housing, community development block grants and a slew of other programs which cities depend on. If passed, the budget would be an increase of $4 billion over the 2015 budget.

What do you think about what’s happening in social impact across the U.S.? How might Philly learn from other cities and states? Please leave a comment to help us bring the national and local conversations together.

Photo via Flickr user Chuck Coker