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Check out MuniSquare on Substack to find original writing on #LocalGovernment issues, including an intro reel on Matt Candland and his latest piece, Local Government Management in 2025.

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We are trying to come at things from different perspectives. We are working across professions and places around the world to better understand the role of government in the world today. Check out Mike Rowe's latest post in MuniSquare on Substack.

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So many wonderful moments in this film. It shows us how we are incredibly inter-connected and inspires new methods and approaches. For everyone invested in futures that employ "useful not magical" thinking. www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKLe... #cities #futures #innovation #housing #relationships

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🚨 New on Substack. Before and after World War One, Swansea was in the vanguard of housing reform. My updated post on the borough's early council housing: open.substack.com/pub/municipa...

submitted 7 days ago • 2 comments

Janno Lieber, the head of the MTA, had won a hard fought battle to switch on congestion pricing - a plan not only to cut traffic, but to pay for $15B in badly needed transit upgrades. In Trump, he faces his biggest obstacle yet. Free link here www.nytimes.com/2025/02/20/n...

submitted 8 days ago • 6 comments

The Story You’ve Been Told About Recycling Is a Lie www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/o...

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I live near Three Mile Island and people have strong views and mixed feelings about the reopening. Those who lived through the crisis in the 70's understandly have questions. Are local governments prepared? shorturl.at/L3lxD

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Quarter of the way through Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez talks about Right-to-Repair legislation. Something I have thought about for years and never heard articulated so clearly.

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This article deserves a leisurely read which I have not yet given it, but it reminds me of Lewis Mumford's writing on how clocks changed our concept of time and led us to an obsession with measurement and precision and away from crafts and social networks as the center of life. shorturl.at/aH8yM

submitted 10 days ago • 0 comments

After the college withdrew its original congratulatory post, a group of alumni put together a letter outlining their concerns about Vought. “We find Vought’s vision for government, as outlined in Project 2025, to be antithetical to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to the mission of Wheaton College."

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"43% of respondents believe 'we need to be very careful' when engaging with others...45%) believe that being honest does not actually pay off...almost 50% of the population is of the mind that we need to be wary of others’ words and intentions, as honesty itself has no clear benefit unto itself."

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every tap has a past. every flush has a future.

submitted 12 days ago • 6 comments

our annual Presidents’ Day lesson remembering the 3 US presidents who died of a waterborne illness.

submitted 13 days ago • 12 comments

Justice, Wisdom, Concord, Peace, Charity, Faith, Hope, Fortitude, Prudence, Magnanimity, and Temperance... Good government is a harbinger of trust.

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"Parking Subsidies are between 1 and 4% of the GNP which is in the range of what we spend for Medicar or National Defense." -Donald Shoop ((1938-2025) freakonomics.com/podcast/park...

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"Free street parking makes parking and driving worse. The low cost creates a scarcity of spaces that leads people to spend time and fuel circling blocks in misery...this parking conundrum is foundational to many of the ills in modern urban life: congestion, sprawl, pollution and high housing costs."

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Anyone complaining about supermarket overcharging needs to ask "what gives supermarkets the power to overcharge?" An avoidable part of it is zoning restrictions that (often deliberately) restrict competition. As @mbowes.bsky.social discusses.

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One of the amazing things about Donald Shoup is that he readily acknowledged his central argument — free parking is bad, actually — was very unpopular. He began a 2006 paper with this legendary Seinfeld quote comparing paid parking to prostitution. www.latimes.com/homeless-hou...

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Alligator eyes shining in a Florida river, Myakka River State Park. 📸 The Telegraph

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"The UK is a nation of animal lovers and so its people need a national animal to love; it's been my privilege to fill that furry brief for 14 years and counting." #Larryversary

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David Edward Byrd, who designed posters for concerts by Jimi Hendrix, the Who and the Rolling Stones, as well as for hit stage musicals like “Follies” and “Godspell,” died this month at 83.

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We are coming together from different places around the globe in MuniSquare. You can find us on Substack but we will be here too...elevating public service, expanding possibilties. Here is a clip from an interview with Dr. Francia Doñe Henry one of our contributors. #leadership #safety #policing

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I sketched the Wykeham Arms in Winchester. Love this pub. #amsketching

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Marketing can be a powerful force in regenerating communities...Regenerative Marketing creates value for customers, employees, and local communities alike, while intrinsically building community wealth. #localgovernment #community #marketing shorturl.at/dcsKY

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John Oliver welcomes the America, the prodigal son, back to the fold. "Don't fight being a monarchy,Jon, embrace it! Kings get shit done!" www.nytimes.com/2025/02/11/a...

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These are the best photos I could find for the comparison. It’s not a 1:1 but the overlap of symbolism is strong The connection between the impact that Black people have in creating the American we know today

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MuniSquare Elevating Public Service, Expanding Possibilities... a collaborative hub for those who lead, manage, teach, research, write, consult, and host conversations about local government. Find us at munisquare.substack.com

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What I have wanted to do, more than anything, for such a long time, is to bring attention to what we can accomplish in our local realm of life, and how local actions, compounded, around the world, can effect change in a big way. munisquare.substack.com/p/the-water-... #local #community #democracy

submitted 19 days ago • 0 comments

As a podcaster, I experience this. People love to talk about difficult things, but not on the record. And that is o.k. Because the more we talk, the more comfortable we become with who we are and what we think. youtube.com/shorts/phsbi...

submitted 22 days ago • 1 comment

Plaza. Piazza. Place. Praça. Platz. Plein. Plads. Whatever you call it, the main square is the heart of a community, a hub where people come together. This is my vision for MuniSquare—a place where we gather and exchange ideas. open.substack.com/pub/munisqua...

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MuniSquare munisquare.substack.com?r=zi8ao&utm_...

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A slice of life. The SS United States, once the world's fastest ocean liner, now long retired, will move to Mobile Alabama to become an artificial reef. www.destinfwb.com/explore/eco-...

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Amazing story of a banded red hawk who flew from Pennsylvania to Nova Scotia has now lived over 20 years. Found injured, now in recovery. www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/n...

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"PFAS chemicals last an especially long time in the environment—hence their nickname, “forever chemicals.” They’re routinely detected in the human body, in food, in farmland, and in drinking water... ” www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/r...

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“When people have their biases and prejudices, yes, I am aware. My head is not in the sand,” she said in a 2001 oral history interview for NASA. “But my thing is, if I can’t work with you, I will work around you.” www.nytimes.com/2025/02/01/o...

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Denver Mayor Mike Johnston: "Things have returned to a state of relative calm. So it’s a bit strange to have a crisis we have resolved be inflamed by the federal government coming back to our door." www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-want...

submitted 27 days ago • 5 comments

My vote for the the Oscar - Best Actress. Fernanda Torres, ‘I’m Still Here’. Also in contention for best picture and best international feature. What does it feel like when a military dictatorship simply informs you that members of your family are gone? Rio de Janeiro 1970 youtu.be/gDunV808Yf4?...

submitted 30 days ago • 1 comment

"I still believe, more strongly than ever, that socially, politically, anc civically, our salvation must come from the local." Listen to the whole thing but don't miss his parting words about the importance of local government and community. youtu.be/KUYzTcoFBe8?...

submitted 39 days ago • 1 comment

"...five different communities that are actively questioning whether expertise matters or whether it even exists...evidence-based practice, heuristics and biases, judgment and decision researchers, social psychologists, and information technology." www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/seei...

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Big Box stores. Thumbs up or down? What have we learned? While the price is nice, do we miss quality? Has it accelerated industrial farming? Hurt local economies and in some places access to affordable food? I have questions.

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The Secret of Life Is Not to Be Frightened www.nytimes.com/2025/01/12/s...

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"Dutch transportation designers strive to create what Wim Bot, an official in the Dutch cyclist’s union, calls “forgiving infrastructure”—systems that allow users to make errors without causing a crash."

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