A Look at the "Beauty Premium"

As distasteful as it may seem, there is an economic concept of the "beauty premium" where the better looking a person is, the better their economic prospects may be. The concept has been written about in The Atlantic, The Economist, and the New York Times recently, but CityLab has extended the concept to cities and towns. In an article entitled, "The BeautyPremium: How Urban Beauty Affects Cities’ Economic Growth," Richard Florida notes a study by Gerald A. Carlino (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia) and Albert Saiz (MIT) that looks at the connection between the beauty of a city or town and key indicators of growth.

One important point made is how beauty and aesthetics are not a passively arrived at state a luck of the draw, they note:

"Beautiful places do not just occur naturally: They are the product of public policy and investment. Of course, some places are endowed with more natural beauty, in the form of stunning coastlines or scenic mountain ranges. But cities can and do make themselves more beautiful—and thus more attractive to educated and affluent people—by investing in parks and protecting landmarks and historic spaces."

Thus, we make our own successes with conscious and well-considered public policy to not only protect those assets that make us what we are, but also for ensuring that any growth or development meets a highly exacting standard.

You can read the article here: https://www.citylab.com/life/2019/05/beautiful-cities-economic-growth-data-beauty-premium/589480/

Citylab: ‘Fairbnb’ Wants to Be the Unproblematic Alternative to Airbnb

By Feargus O'Sullivan

Date: May 17, 2019
 

"The vacation rental industry is mired in claims that it harms neighborhoods and housing markets. Can a nonprofit co-op make the tourist trend a community asset?"

Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

ALDI - The Future of Grocery Shopping?

Interesting article in CNN Business about the ALDI grocery chain from Germany. There is an ALDI in Leominster and I'd be interested in the experience of people who have shopped there.

Article:  https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2019/05/business/aldi-walmart-low-food-prices/index.html

Complex Adaptive Coalitions....and Weavers

Complex Adaptive Coalitions

In a New York Times opinion piece written in June of 2018, Thomas Friedman coined the term, complex adaptive coalitions. These coalitions, and their relevancy for working at the municipal level of political activity, seem to have merit in relation to overcoming differences and working collaboratively on seemingly intractable local issues. Friedman describes this phenomenon as,

"...business, labor, educators, philanthropists, social entrepreneurs and mayors are all working together to build more adaptive local citizens and companies, and setting aside traditional party affiliations to do so.

"They are not waiting for Washington or their state governments, but are acting in their own local collective self-interest, nurturing adaptation from the bottom up."

The meme from this article inspired bloggers and an opinion piece from the Cape Cod Times to consider this model of local organizing meritorious. Perhaps Harvard might consider innovative ways to coalesce to tackle certain issues that the community needs to address.

Weavers

In an opinion piece published in February, New York Times columnist David Brooks describes how our social fabric has been torn and unraveled, contributing to our cultural disconnects and the difficulty of finding common ground, speaking the same public language, solving problems, and coming together for any substantive purpose. Brooks began a project at the Aspen Institute called Weave: The Social Fabric Project. Brooks sought out people and organizations at the local level who were building community and solving local problems. He wanted to find common denominators, aspects of this "weaving" that could be transferable and adaptable. His "The Big Story..." piece in today's Times continues shining the light on this "movement" and its practitioners who are, at the most basic, what Brooks calls, "relationship geniouses" and are skilled at bringing people together, emotional sensitivity, and co-regulating situations with others. Brooks' series on Weavers is worth the read.

Leadership

In the Atlanta metropolitan area, leadership programs are sponsored by local chambers of commerce and the regional planning agency sponsors regional leadership training on regional issues.  Harvard might consider such a leadership training program to bring together leaders from disparate and disconnected domains such as education, religion, environmental advocacy, business, government, agriculture, and leisure.  I encourage those interested in beginning a discussion on the merits of local leadership training to leave a comment here.

Planners Web - A Great Resource

For those of you who are serving on a planning or zoning board or have an interest in someday doing so, the Planner Web site is a fantastic resource for you to learn about planning issues, best practices, and of course, process.

Even if you just are a policy activist or want to be an informed citizen, this site offers a wealth of articles on a wide range of subjects. You can find it here: http://plannersweb.com/

Systems Thinking and Planning

I'll talk about this topic more in the near future but wanted to share a few websites dedicated to systems modeling and thinking as it relates to sustainability. Hope you enjoy and will engage in the conversation when we bring it up again:

• The Sustainability Laboratory
• System Dynamics Society

Business Breakfast Update

As the Chamber of Commerce and the Town prepare for the May 30th Open for Business Breakfast, a few updates for those considering joining us at Harvard Town Hall.  We already have 33 confirmed attendees and are hoping for at least 50. If you haven't registered for your free ticket to the event and are interested in attending, you can do so now at this link:

• Open 4 Business Event Link:  https://bit.ly/30kMI5C

Second, we will provide attendees with complete parking guide for Harvard town center so please either check back here for updates or if you sign up at Eventbrite, we will send you a pre-event email with a program and other important information.

We still need business success stories for the agenda so if you have a story to tell from over the past year, please get in touch with Chris at cryan@harvard.ma.us or 978-456-4100 x323. We are also welcoming any business that wants to have either a quarter page ad or their logo displayed. We need to finalize these by the 20th so that we can finish the program in time for printing and distribution.

If you have any questions at all about the Open for Business Breakfast or want to know why it can be a benefit to you, please call or email Chris at the above contact options. I personally think that just to have the chance to hear our speakers is enough of a reason to join us. Alternatively, having great pastries from the General Store is another great reason. Hope to see you there!

SLATE: "Oh, No, Not Knotweed!"

This is a pretty ominous article. Regardless. enjoy your introduction to knotweed.

Link: https://slate.com/technology/2019/05/japanese-knotweed-invasive-plants.html

MVP Roundtable Discussion in Leominster

On Tuesday, May 7, Lt. Governor Karyn Polito and newly appointed Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Kathleen (Katie) Theoharides were welcomed by Leominster Mayor Dean Mazzarella to an Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Roundtable discussion in City Hall. Both Mayor Mazarella and the Lt. Governor emphasized the seriousness of climate change and the need for such a program.

After brief comments from the Mayor and Karyn Polito, Secretary Theoharides was pleased to announce that over fifty percent of Massachusetts communities, or 183, are working with the MVP program. She noted that a most recent third round of funding for assessments included the City of Leominster. She also noted that there would be up to $2 million for action grants and that the administration is seeking to create a trust funded with up to $137 million annually to address MVP priorities. Polito noted that action funding could work similarly to the MassWorks grant program where public money would be targeted to public, and in some case private, projects that have a corresponding private component, such as economic development or housing.

Communities represented at the meeting included Leominster, Harvard, Rutland, and Worcester. Much of the discussion centered on public infrastructure such as culverts, catch basins, outfalls, and dams. Both Leominster and Rutland DPW directors highlighted issues in their communities directly resultant from climate change impacts. Polito also noted that every municipal department has some vulnerability related to climate change. Theoharides suggested that communities considering further planning efforts related to MVP and climate change vulnerability consider merging these plans with existing Hazard Mitigation Plans given the clear complementarity.

Harvard was represented by Community and Economic Development Director Christopher Ryan and Agriculture Advisory Commission Chair and MVP Subcommittee member Kerri Green. Both Polito and Theoharides recognized and applauded Harvard for the agricultural component that was unique to Harvard's MVP efforts and were looking forward to the findings.

Other topics discussed included the value of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for tracking assets such as stormwater infrastructure. This seemed to suggest that communities that are interested in further developing their GIS capacity to include such data layers might be eligible for funding from the MVP program. Polito mentioned that the issue of declining property values for lands impacted by climate change was important, which could be a strong incentive for a robust MVP effort.

Harvard has completed its four scheduled workshops related to the MVP program and has scheduled a Listening Session to reveal draft priorities and the plan's findings on Thursday, May 30, 2019 from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm in Town Hall. All citizens and stakeholders interested in the MVP program specifically and the impacts of climate change generally are encouraged to attend. Please contact Christopher Ryan at cryan@harvard.ma.us if you have any questions.