Food banks in urban settings have long served communities in urban areas, now mobile food banks can truck food to the poor in sparsely populated counties.
In Sumter County, the West Alabama Food Bank uses a fleet of refrigerated trucks to bring food to the rural poor. Despite stereotypes, rural poverty rates are worse than urban rates in the United States.
Serving this population means being able to get food to the people who need it, sometimes over long distances. West Alabama Food Pantry will retrofit commercial vehicles to serve its produce to the surrounding area, "Its cargo includes some 5,000 pounds of food — boxes of bread, fruits, vegetables, drinks and pastries that it will deliver to dozens of people in rural Alabama, many of them poor," reports Elaine S. Povich. Delivering to homes has some challenges that working at a commercial scale does not. For instance, for many, to carry the food from the curb they need a wheelbarrow, dolly or, in one case, a wheelchair.
FULL STORY: Mobile Food Banks Roll to Isolated, Rural Poor
Stuck, Part II: Why Do People Move (Or Not Move)?
Yes, Americans are moving a lot less, but why? In this part of my post, I drill down to try to unearth some of the reasons. It turns out they're complicated.
Americans May Be Stuck — But Why?
Americans are moving a lot less than they once did, and that is a problem. While Yoni Applebaum, in his highly-publicized article Stuck, gets the reasons badly wrong, it's still important to ask: why are we moving so much less than before?
Explore US Demographics With the New ACS Atlas Collection
Esri's new ACS Atlas Collection offers interactive applications that visualize the latest U.S. demographic and socio-economic data, enabling users to explore over 175 curated web maps across various thematic areas.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
San Francisco's School District Spent $105M To Build Affordable Housing for Teachers — And That's Just the Beginning
SFUSD joins a growing list of school districts using their land holdings to address housing affordability challenges faced by their own employees.
The Tiny, Adorable $7,000 Car Turning Japan Onto EVs
The single seat Mibot charges from a regular plug as quickly as an iPad, and is about half the price of an average EV.
Vehicle-related Deaths Drop 29% in Richmond, VA
The seventh year of the city's Vision Zero strategy also cut the number of people killed in alcohol-related crashes by half.
Seattle's Plan for Adopting Driverless Cars
Equity, safety, accessibility and affordability are front of mind as the city prepares for robotaxis and other autonomous vehicles.
As Trump Phases Out FEMA, Is It Time to Flee the Floodplains?
With less federal funding available for disaster relief efforts, the need to relocate at-risk communities is more urgent than ever.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Smith Gee Studio
City of Charlotte
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
US High Speed Rail Association
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)