Don Shoup on “How L.A. can fix our scary sidewalks for the Olympics” This could work in Sacramento too. September 10, 2024, LA Times

By Donald Shoup | September 10, 2024 | LA Times

Los Angeles’ broken sidewalks are like an obstacle course, especially for people with disabilities. They are bad enough to challenge the Olympic athletes who will show up in four years.

In 2016, to settle an Americans With Disabilities Act lawsuit, Los Angeles committed to spending $1.4 billion over 30 years to make its sidewalks accessible. But a 2021 audit by the Los Angeles Controller’s Office revealed that since 2016, the city had repaired less than 1% of sidewalks. During that period, the city paid more than $35 million in settlements related to sidewalk injuries.

Donald Shoup is a distinguished research professor in urban planning at UCLA.

Click here to read the article in full.

Environmentalist of the Year Awards, October 26, 2024

Saturday, October 26, 2024, 5:00pm
Camp Pollock, 1501 Northgate Blvd, Sacramento, CA 95815

Please join us at the Environmentalist of the Year Awards to celebrate and be inspired on Saturday, October 26, 2024 at Camp Pollock. Network, have dinner, and enjoy a walk by the river on a glowing October evening.

ECOS has a decades-long legacy of honoring local environmental leaders. The Environmentalist of the Year Awards allow us to recognize important work done by people in many fields to further sustainability.

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ECOS Mtg + Board: Nature-Based Carbon Solutions & Biodiversity at SMUD, 9/25/2024

Wednesday, September 25, 2024
6:00 pm Featured Presentation by Kathleen Ave of SMUD
7:00 pm ECOS Board Meeting

Kathleen Ave
Sr. Climate & Ecosystem Strategist, Zero Carbon Energy Solutions
Emeritus Chair, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Power in Pollinators Initiative

Kathleen Ave will provide an overview of SMUD’s activities, then launch into a discussion of SMUD’s Carbon and Biodiversity programs. She will share existing and emerging efforts to improve biodiversity at SMUD projects, facilities and along transmission lines, and will discuss a conceptual plan for a Regional Biodiversity Index.

Click here to view the agenda.

Link to join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6656164155
To phone in: 669-900-6833, Meeting ID: 665 616 4155

APA Speaker Series (2024)

Presented by Sacramento Valley Section APA (American Planning Association) and Caltrans

DO THE RIGHT THING

As planning, design, and community development professionals, most of us chose our professions because we want to “Do the Right Thing.” But when you’re working to solve complicated, multi-faceted challenges like climate change, the housing crisis, and structural inequities, with many stakeholders and limited resources and power, determining what that right thing is can be hard to define. And once defined, it can be even harder to implement. By bringing together diverse perspectives from various disciplines, industries, and backgrounds, this Speaker Series will explore this notion of what it means to “do the right thing,” how there isn’t one right answer, and how we can use these ideas to connect to a sense of purpose, challenge the norm, and collectively work towards a common goal.

All sessions will be held from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Please check in prior to 9:30 a.m.
Join us for networking after each session from 11:30 to Noon
West Sacramento Community Center, 1075 West Capitol Avenue, West Sacramento
Free parking at 1271 West Capitol Avenue (behind Walgreens)
A Live Streaming option is available for all sessions at the same price as attending in person.

Click here to view the speaker series flyer.