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The Planetizen News Brief

19 April 2007 - 6:00am

The Planetizen News Brief is a weekly rundown of some of the most interesting and important news and issues of the past week.

The Planetizen News Brief airs every week on the nationally-syndicated radio program "Smart City", which is broadcast in cities across the U.S. Learn more about Smart City and listen to archived shows.

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Full Transcript

For many years, people at public hearings voicing their opposition to new plans and projects have been given the name NIMBY – for Not In My Back Yard. Now, as the nation gives more thought to renewable energy sources, a new opposition movement has emerged. NOMB – or Not On My Beach – is the collective cry of many residents in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, who oppose the pending creation of a massive wind turbine farm about 5 miles off the coast. The Next American City reports that even though polls in 2006 revealed that the vast majority of the state is in favor of the project, a vocal contingent of Cape Cod residents – including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Senator Edward Kennedy -- are taking an active and increasingly effective role in quashing the proposal, which has its final decision date early next year.

Meanwhile, in San Francisco, transit riders received mixed blessings when the opening of the city’s new light rail line caused major delays throughout the entire system. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that mechanical failures, bottlenecked streetcars, and a number of power outages affected the commutes of thousands of passengers when the Municipal Railway system’s newest line debuted for full service last week. Some commuters ended up waiting more than 30 minutes for trains that just days earlier were arriving every five minutes. And as public and transit officials scramble to soothe angry commuters, they expect that it may take almost a month to iron out most of the kinks created by the new line.

And local officials in Richmond, Virginia, are also catching flak from low income residents who are being pushed out of their neighborhoods. An article in Richmond’s Style Weekly outlines how a real estate rehabilitation tax abatement program has given tax breaks to thousands of people who have come in to purchased and refurbish old homes in struggling and blighted neighborhoods. The program has resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in investment, but for the low income residents in these neighborhoods, the program takes away more than it gives. Without the means to make improvements to their homes, theses people receive no tax breaks while their new, higher income neighbors drive up property values and property taxes with their tax-free rehabilitations. The lower income residents see the program as encouraging gentrification, and many housing advocates say the city should be doing more to protect them.

Stories discussed in this week's Planetizen News Brief

Wind Farms Spark NOMB Complaints

San Francisco's New Light Rail Line Runs Into Trouble

City Subsidizes Gentrification In Black Neighborhoods

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