Climate Denial Crock of the Week

The Kids are all right.

One more reason for politicians to wake up on climate change and renewable energy. The demographics of younger voters.

Washington Post Wonk Blog:

PORTLAND — Of all the Very Portland things that exist in Portland, there is a plot of land next to City Hall, right outside the building’s front portico, where the city is growing its own Swiss chard.

“And on a place that used to be a parking lot!” exclaims Mayor Charlie Hales, adding a detail that actually makes this story even more Portland.

When Hales was first elected as a city commissioner in 1993, the ground in front of City Hall that has become a vegetable garden contained a  parking lot with reserved spaces for the mayor and city commissioners. “Those of us on the council then said, ‘that’s not consistent with our values and our rhetoric,'” Hales recalls.

And so they gave up their spaces for a bit more of the city’s famed green space. “That’s not the only place in Portland,” he adds, “where we took out a parking lot and put in a little piece of paradise.”
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By 2012, metro Portland had 34,545 more 25-to-34 year-olds with bachelor’s degrees than it did in 2000, according to American Community Survey data that Cortright just analyzed for the research site City Observatory. That’s an increase, of about 37 percent, that’s outpaced similar gains in New York (25 percent), Los Angeles (30 percent) and even — barely — metropolitan Washington, D.C. (36 percent).

Portland is succeeding in large part because the long-term direction of the city happens to align with what these young people prize today. The college grads decamping for Portland probably don’t say “I’d like to live somewhere with an urban growth boundary!” But that policy is partly responsible for producing the things about Portland that now draw them here: the compact living, the easy access to nature, the possibility that a farm might actually be near your table, the emphasis on communal assets — parks, public transit, tool shares (people kept telling me about the tool shares) — over individual ownership.

“To some extent, bring it on,” Hales says. “We’re happy that that migration is coming here, because that is the future, and we’re happy to have an outsized slice of it coming to Portland.”

Portland Bureau of Transportation:

The Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) recognizes that the installation of bicycle parking racks, especially racks of innovative and aesthetic designs by property owners, improves Portland’s transportation infrastructure and enhances Portland’s image as a livable, innovative city. In particular, the installation of bicycle racks on city streets furthers these goals:

• To provide needed parking for the increasing number of people who choose bicycling as a transportation option
• To enhance Portland’s image as a people- and bicycle-friendly city; a community that regards bicycles as a permanent and important part of the city’s transportation infrastructure
• To encourage more people to choose cycling as a transportation option
• To create a symbol for our city’s livability that will gain positive attention locally, regionally and nationally.

Want to install an art rack?  Find out how, step-by-step, by clicking here. (“Art Rack Approval and Installation 101”  31 kb PDF file)

Inc:

“Business needs to show Millennials it is innovative and in tune with their world-view,” Barry Salzberg, CEO of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, noted in the report.

In the company’s 2014 “Millennial Survey,” which polled more than 7,800 Millennials in 26 countries, 78 percent reported that innovation within an organization has influenced them in their job searches. Seventy percent say they see themselves working independently and digitally at some point in their careers.

The survey also revealed that leadership opportunities matter to this group. Nearly one in four Millennials are asking for a chance to demonstrate their leadership skills, and half of them feel their organizations could do more to develop future leaders.

They also say they’re keen to work for companies that have a social mission. While Millennials tend to believe businesses are successfully generating jobs (46 percent) and increasing prosperity (71 percent), many say they could be doing more. Specifically, Millennials point out opportunities to combat resource scarcity (56 percent), climate change (55 percent) and income equality (49 percent).

The bad news? Most Millennials report that their current employer does not encourage creative thinking. They cite management attitude (63 percent), operational structures and procedures (61 percent) and employee skills, attitudes and diversity (39 percent) as impediments to innovation.

Ultimately, this up-and-coming generation feels businesses should measure their success not only on financial performance, but also by the degree to which they are improving society.