Having everything in common

This CityLab piece explores the long history of the sharing economy, which careful students of the Christian scriptures will remember being mentioned in Acts, when believers were together and had everything in common. Evidently, private property is a fairly new idea. From the CityLab piece: …private ownership may have originated around 11,000 years ago, as humans …

Some beautiful (and empty) buildings await your vision

CityLab shares this, “Pretty Vacants: The Coolest Empty Buildings in America.” Haven’t you ever thought of that? In a drive past an abandoned building, what could be there? The closest on this list to me is in Providence, the Superman Building (where summer tours were heavily attended), but Connecticut — particularly the state’s cities — …

Here’s what happens when you slash public services

You mostly end up targeting the people who can least afford it. That’s social services, but also infrastructure such as bus lines and the link. Read this from The Atlantic Monthly’s CityLab.

The hidden toll of energy insecurity

From Laura Bliss, of The Atlantic Monthly’s CityLab: An estimated 16 million U.S. households face this hardship, unable to afford electricity and stay warm or cool enough. Energy costs are known to have an outsize economic impact on the poor: It’s been estimated that the bottom 20 percent of U.S. earners spend roughly 10 percent …

Check out where homelessness is ending

You can read more here, from CityLab. As the text says: Don’t celebrate yet. And thanks, Kimberley, for the link.

Innovation’s role in inequality

Check this out, from Richard Florida, at The Atlantic’s CityLab.

Where we’re from

Check out some of the origins of immigrants in these American cities, from The Atlantic’s CityLab.

Where is America failing its youth?

You can read more here, at The Atlantic’s CityLab.