Government Technology, July 24, 2014 The fight over cities’ rights to own, operate and expand community broadband networks now has a new battleground – the FCC. Wilson, N.C.; and Chattanooga, Tenn.; filed a petition with the Commission on July 24 to remove state laws that prevent them from offering broadband services outside of their established territories. … Read More
Salon, July 12, 2014 A motley group of boomers and millennials recently filed into Scottish Rite Center on the shores of Lake Merritt in Oakland, California, to talk about economics. Dressed casually in denim, lace and cotton and sporting dreadlocks, bobs and buzz cuts, these small-business owners hailed from rural bergs, little towns and long-neglected urban … Read More
Examiner.com, July 8, 2014 The D.C. Council’s second vote on a bill to reduce the amount of city garbage dumped in landfills or sent to incinerators is scheduled for July 14, 2014. But D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray, a proponent of sustainability, has sought to delay the bill. Imagine three different colored garbage cans in front … Read More
Electronic Frontier Foundation, June 20, 2014 This weekend at the U.S. Conference of Mayors annual meeting in Dallas, some mayors will take a strong stand in support of net neutrality. According to an op-ed by Mayors Ed Lee of San Francisco and Ed Murray of Seattle, the city leaders are unveiling a resolution calling on the … Read More
Twin Cities Pioneer Press, June 20, 2014 John Socha once yearned to work from his Spring Grove home, but was crippled by out-of-date technology – notably his excruciatingly pokey rural Minnesota dial-up Internet access. So Socha, a creator of digital-audio content for radio, had to journey nine miles to a Caledonia office for an Internet connection fast enough … Read More
San Francisco Bay Guardian, June 17, 2014 San Franciscans have always been wary of chain stores, more so than residents of any other major US city, none of which have taken on the ever-expanding national corporations and their homogenizing impact on local communities as strongly as San Francisco. In the decade since San Francisco first adopted … Read More
Wall Street Journal, June 11, 2014 It’s the kind of story people hear all the time. Two years ago, Rick Stender found out that a local business he liked—a custom-bike maker—was in big trouble. The shop needed money to import extra bike parts for the holiday rush. And banks wouldn’t extend any credit to such a … Read More
East Bay Express, June 11, 2014 The national campaign to create sustainable local economies is thriving as cities increasingly realize that attracting corporate chain stores is not the answer. For the past half-century, cities throughout the nation, and especially in California, have competed fiercely with each other to attract big-box retailers and chain stores. Politicians, mindful … Read More
Aljazeera America, June 6, 2014 CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Clay Posey is in the middle of developing a 3D printing business out of the premier local startup incubator Co.Lab. He works on his laptop in Co.Lab’s downtown storefront space, where he shares tables, a fridge and a support network with dozens of others who are looking to … Read More
