1/3/17 Highlights

More on Affordable Housing and Inequality within Communities

Looks like these will be important, related, topics again this year.

http://www.startribune.com/poverty-series-highlights-importance-of-affordable-housing-community-building-strategies/408862215/?ref=nl&om_rid=AALNYM&om_mid=_BYa6$mB8xYFAck


http://www.citylab.com/housing/2016/12/battling-inequality-seattle-bets-on-transit-oriented-housing/510599/?utm_source=SFFB


What is "middle class?"

An important question in relation to housing--affordable for what part of the population?

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/05/what-does-middle-class-even-mean/392471/?utm_source=atlfb


Catchment ponds and other costs to cities for building

Good discussion related to fees for new construction:

http://www.postbulletin.com/news/local/who-s-watching-the-water/article_f91b6ef1-dab6-5680-99b7-5bf704f8facc.html

Historical heroes and preaching

Two interesting takes on a totoally different topic:

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2017/02/heroes-of-the-faith-true-but-not-accurate/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=BRSS&utm_campaign=Evangelical&utm_content=248

"...the success of the church, often intertwined with the prosperity of the nation or the ruling social group, did not build the kingdom. These are the historical lessons we need to hear. Certainly, we should be inspired by the convictions and selfless action of modern saints. But we must also own up to the fact that those extraordinarily bold figures were just that: extraordinary. Compelling stories of believers standing against injustice and oppression are – unfortunately – the exception rather than the rule in the church’s 20th-century history. An accurate history lesson from the pulpit would remind us that most Christians, and their leaders, have set aside the gospel for the security of the church and the greatness of the nation."

And this, on immigration attitudes over the years:

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2017/02/spreading-faith-lessons-us-history/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=BRSS&utm_campaign=Evangelical&utm_content=248

September 20 Updates

 College Application Changes

Interesting article here on changes to the Yale application forms and what this may say about what they (and other colleges?) are looking for in their applicants. These three questions might be good for all of us to consider:

1. What is a community to which you belong? Reflect on the footprint that you have left.
2. Reflect on a time in the last few years when you felt genuine excitement learning about something.
3. Write about something that you love to do.

http://qz.com/785030/how-to-get-into-an-ivy-league-yales-new-application-questions-show-the-key-things-elite-colleges-want-from-students/

Helping your kids gain independence

Maybe those kids working on their college applications could have used some independence opportunities a little earlier in life than we tend to allow them:

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/10/let-your-kids-roam-free/381303/?utm_source=atlfb


Neighborhoods do benefit from affordable housing  

http://blog.agorafy.com/agorafy-blog/neighborhood-affordable-housing-property-values

...but there is opposition from some who see parking spaces being taken away

Is this unreal or what? Very, very sad.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/18/nyregion/parking-concerns-take-a-back-seat-in-pursuit-of-affordable-housing.html?_r=2

You can do your part...yes, you!

101 ways that individuals or small neighborhood groups can make a difference in their own communities; some great ideas here.

http://www.curbed.com/2016/9/22/13019420/urban-design-community-building-placemaking 

Or how NOT to change your neighborhood

This is a wonderful site for seeing architects and designers tear apart the worst of McMansion building. Not for the faint of heart if you might live in one of these kinds of houses.

http://www.mcmansionhell.com/post/149563260641/mcmansions-101-mansion-vs-mcmansion-part-2?is_related_post=1




 

September 13 Updates

Affordable Housing

This is a topic that will never go away I guess.


http://www.urban.org/urban-wire/preserving-affordable-housing-what-works

Is a Bachelor's Degree Necessary in the 21st Century?
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/10/reverence-bachelors-degree/408346/?utm_source=atlfb  

Church and Coffee 

Pretty fascinating article on church hospitality and the role of coffee in it.


http://www.christianitytoday.com/local-church/dispatches/coffee/coffee-beverage-that-fuels-church.html?share=wk1QMSGZZCOGG8y26ZdX9nnotbIg6QNa

More Economic Disparity

"Economic writers sometimes say that the silver lining of being a young renter rather than a young buyer is that renters have more flexibility. But poor young people who didn’t go to college and are living at home are not hallmarks of a flexible lifestyle. They are products of a poor neighborhood with a centripetal power over its residents, binding them in place when they might be better off moving cities. Indeed, one of the sad ironies of this juxtaposition between the supermobile and the stuck is that the students who'd most benefit from mobility are stuck in place; those needing the biggest boost are on the slowest escalator.

"The decline in Millennial homeownership today is a single simple statistic masking a complex distribution of motivations. Rich, urban, college-educated, and supermobile Millennials have elected to trade their 30s for their 20s when it comes to buying a home. Meanwhile, poorer, less-educated, and stuck minorities have often traded homes and apartments for their childhood bedroom. Only one of these trends is worth cheering."

http://www.citylab.com/housing/2016/08/why-millennials-arent-buying-houses/497432/?utm_source=SFFB


The Importance of Community Involvement to Good Government

"In democracies like ours, trust is a critical currency. In many ways we are paralyzed without it. It is critical to building the necessary public and political support needed to create meaningful change in our communities. And therein lies the opportunity for community engagement practitioners."

http://www.planetizen.com/node/88483/how-community-engagement-can-restore-trust-government

And more on the "problem" of the white working class

This has some interesting comments from J.D. Vance that say more about his own faith than his book Hillbilly Elegy really told us. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/26/opinion/sunday/the-bad-faith-of-the-white-working-class.html?_r=1

Maybe some of these problems are spilling over to the "white collar working class," especially those who are past 45 or so?

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/20/opinion/dignity-and-sadness-in-the-working-class.html?smid=pl-share


The Smugness of Liberalism

This is an important article, that many of my "liberal" friends need to hear, yet I am unsure posting it on Facebook would be good--too much ammunition for some on the right to jump on it unfairly. So, here it is, parked while I think of how to share it.

http://www.vox.com/2016/4/21/11451378/smug-american-liberalism


...and Christianity Today's response:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/september/i-overlooked-rural-poor-then-trump-came-along.html?utm_source=ctweekly-html&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_term=13671525&utm_content=464719318&utm_campaign=email

What's wrong with western missionaries?

One more reference to "smugness" that all of us Christians, not just missionaries, can sometimes convey to those we "serve."

http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-s-wrong-with-western-missionaries?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=feedpress.me&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dg-articles


Teacher Burnout

Here's another perennial problem, in that we just can't seem to find it important enough to address:

http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/09/15/493808213/frustration-burnout-attrition-its-time-to-address-the-national-teacher-shortage?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20160915





 

August 3 Posts to Ponder

The Neglect of Poor Whites' Perspective in Today's Society

Starting off with an interview with the author of a book I still haven't read, Hillbilly Elegy. Interesting perspective on what still is a great mystery, the mystique of Trump among so many:

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/trump-us-politics-poor-whites/

Between the Trump insurgency and this book, there seems to be a renewed interest in "poor whites." Here is another article worth pondering:

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/09/the-original-underclass/492731/

Affordable Housing

A good discussion this morning about "granny flats" at the leadership coffee led to this posting. Looks like there is nimby-ism in Rochester that could create roadblocks here too.

https://seniorcareadvice.com/my-mother-lives-in-the-backyard-the-granny-pod-evolution.htm

Is "affordable housing" an achievable goal for developers? This article says no; it doesn't "pencil out." Some sobering info here.

http://apps.urban.org/features/cost-of-affordable-housing/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=aug_posts&utm_term=housing_development&utm_content=aff_housing_tool

The reference to Black Lives Matter is likely to put many people off, but this is an excellent article about some ways to address inequalities, including efforts to develop inclusionary housing plans.

https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/black-lives-matter-policy-agenda-city-playbook


On Community

I was reminded of this quote from Wendell Berry when a positive response  came through on a review I'd written back in 2007. The quote and my specific comments:

"Andy said, 'You're worried because they've left the membership,' and he smiled...They've gone over from the world of membership to the world of organization. Nathan would say the world of employment.'...One of the attractions of moving away into the world of employment, i think, is being disconnected and free, unbothered by membership.It is a life of beginnings without memories, but it is a life too that ends without being remembered. The life of membership with all its cumbers is traded away for the life of employment that makes itself free by forgetting you clean as a whistle when you are not of any more use. When they get to retirement age, [my children] will be cast out of place and out of mind like worn-out replaceable parts, to be alone at the last maybe and soon forgotten.

"'But the membership,' Andy said, 'keeps the memories even of horses and mules and milk cows and dogs.'"

"And that is the magic of Berry's writing; his telling of stories of those who are still *members* of a community helps keep their memories alive and reminds us of our own need to find our own community within our own spaces."

https://www.amazon.com/review/R1SY7IHVRP79XA/ref=cm_cd_notf_message?ie=UTF8&cdForum=Fx2IHQOI1XWVAXH&cdPage=1&cdThread=Tx2TIH22H69Z4MS#Mx10732S9JNWQMC

Indian Reservations, Poverty, Joblessness, and Why Native Americans Don't Leave

Working on some FAQs for our congregation's website related to our ministry among one of the reservations here in the US, and found some good resources to use.

This first one is a very capitalistic view that manages to ignore the history of broken promises, etc. Still, it does present one part of the problem.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoppisch/2011/12/13/why-are-indian-reservations-so-poor-a-look-at-the-bottom-1/#3cd59da6337a

Another site goes into more on-the-ground detail on the very real problems so many people on the reservations face every day.

http://www.nrcprograms.org/site/PageServer?pagename=naa_livingconditions

This site deals with some of the specific problems of life off the reservation:

http://nativenews.jour.umt.edu/2014/?page_id=171


A "Better Way" to Political Correctness

Interesting piece here, calling for civility on all sides.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/july-web-only/wrong-way-to-fight-political-correctness.html?utm_source=ctweekly-html&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_term=13414595&utm_content=453703145&utm_campaign=email

July 18, 2016 Highlights

Guns, guns, guns
What a graphic example of why we MUST start to look at reasonable limits to guns.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/21/opinion/pistols-at-the-pool-machine-guns-on-parade-and-nothing-we-can-do.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share

Here's a site that looks worth going back to often. It is a Christian site concerned with gun violence:

http://www.swordofthespiritministry.org/about/

and John Piper on guns and Christians:

http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/should-christians-be-encouraged-to-arm-themselves

...and then a good summary of the "firestorm" of reactions to the original post:

http://www.challies.com/articles/how-should-christians-use-guns

Finally, for this week at least, a thought-provoking column asking why so many Christians trust the 2nd Amendment more than the Bible:

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/paperbacktheology/2016/07/why-do-american-christians-trust-the-2nd-amendment-more-than-the-sermon-on-the-mount.html 

On writing:

http://network.crcna.org/pastors/writing-writing-writing

Affordable housing:
This site looks at the impact of increasing affordable housing in both low and higher income neighborhoods and comes to some welcome conclusions. Now, how do we help our leaders and reluctant residents of higher income areas know more about this?

http://www.citylab.com/housing/2016/05/which-neighborhoods-win-by-building-affordable-housing/481209/?utm_source=SFFB

VBS and Church Outreach
Interesting take on ways churches might want to re-look at VBS and ways they are reaching out to their community's families and their real needs:

https://thinkchristian.reframemedia.com/rebooting-vbs?utm_campaign=TC_RSS_Campaign&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=31777454&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9-VyVMCRp9FphsgeyX6Uq_mlQT_ORg1H0uRZ1yxs1scdmeXel7OXjfY8AmXY0houlPjJ7si_ffBU4ixwSOsGQ4KBg2zA&_hsmi=31777454

Trump, and the Presidential Election
It is so hard not to share one article after another regarding the disaster that is Trump on FB, but what good, really, does it do? Still, this is an article I'd like to hold on to for some kind of reference:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/01/opinion/campaign-stops/what-wouldnt-jesus-do.html?_r=0

The Gospel Coalition has summarized much of the Republican platform, attempting to stay neutral in their presentation, promising to do the same next week with the Democrat positions. Putting it here as a reference for the coming months.

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/what-you-should-know-about-the-republican-party-platform

Some thoughts that put a positive spin on the possibility of a total Democratic "takeover" of all parts of government:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/13/opinion/the-gop-partys-over.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share&_r=0
 

Child Rearing
This is one I should listen to now, but I am holding it here for later. Jen Wilkins is a person I am hearing a lot about from wise friends.

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/how-to-raise-an-alien-child

Aging
And, on the other end of the spectrum, here is an article I really would like to put on FB, but I hope I don't have to worry about these kinds of attitudes from the kids for another decade or so!

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/03/when-youre-the-aging-parent/472290/?utm_source=atlfb