#c2c2015

For anyone interested in how Bike and Build moves on the daily - I don’t have the slightest idea yet! Fortunately, people with talent have produced a wonderful video that condenses a ton of bike and build into 4 minutes of runtime. Enjoy!

     I was able to meet with Dr. Paulette Coleman last week and speak with her about affordable housing in Nashville. No pictures, but I wanted to share her group’s website with you, and explain more about what she hopes to accomplish with the help of her fellow Nashville residents.

Dr. Coleman and several others have enlisted the help of various churches, unions, nonprofit groups, and other Nashville organizations to create a sense of urgency for Nashville’s prospective mayors this year. They’ve approached all of the hopefuls in the mayoral race (I think 8 right at the moment?), and asked them to work with NOAH to achieve 3 goals: affordable housing, improved criminal justice, and economic equity/jobs for Nashvillians. One interesting factoid I learned when I spoke with Dr. Coleman was that Nashville was previously designated a blighted area in order to funnel cash downtown for renovations. This designation has made it difficult for areas not directly in the center of the city (Edgehill and Cayce Place among others) to receive the proper funding for repairs and care.

To this end, NOAH has 3 goals for achieving a better future for the AH cause in Nashville:

Preserve and produce affordable housing through recurring funding for the Barnes Housing Trust Fund, inclusionary housing policies, and creative uses of federal, state and local funds. 

Prevent displacement through home repair assistance, property tax relief for longtime residents, homeowner education, and other efforts.

Create a structure of accountability for affordable housing needs, such as an adequately staffed Mayor’s Office of Affordable Housing. 

It’s all well and good to talk about getting everyone into a home, and making houses for people in need, but the economics and politics of making affordable housing realistic are extremely important. Without proper organization and pressure on those in power, none of these goals can be achieved.

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Not much longer to touchdown in New Haven now. I still need to buy a whole bunch of stuff. Maybe the next couple of days are going to be spent on Amazon? I’m getting kind of jittery. Also, coming off of this cold/allergy/coughing bonanza is absolutely the worst, but I’ll be able to ride for the first time in about 10 days tomorrow!

::)