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Aaron Deslatte
Florida State University
Urban public policy continues to explore the problems of urban growth and decline in a multi-disciplinary fashion, focusing multiple theoretical lenses on questions of governance and division of authority as well as the practical applications for areas of policy specialization. This paper reviews recent articles on income, housing, and racial/ethnic stratification, which share a common link of mobility-based prescriptions. It also reviews the role sustainability, equity and cultural norms play in scholarship. The field is moving in a direction that integrates classical rational choice and sociological explanations for policies addressing sustainability and equity, the role of cultural identity in urban renewal efforts, and long-standing problems of citizen participation in government decision-making.
urban public policy, urban politics, sustainability, regime theory, pluralism, gender issues, equity
Urban affairs scholars have been battling for relevance on the periphery of the social sciences for most of the field's existence. This article reviews the recent progress of urban public policy researchers in turning the criticism of "balkanization" of research specialization into prescriptive applications for governance. It also examines theoretical advancements in exploring the lifespan of cities, or what Bowen and others call "the changing realities of evolving human settlements" (Bowen, Dunn, & KasDan, 2010). The aim is to assess progress toward developing both policy recommendations and general theory for the patterns of growth and decline within cities. The review covers research published during the previous five years (2010-2014), although some seminal work predates that timeframe. Four inter-related themes emerge from the literature: empirical analysis of the philosophy of mobility in delivering urban goods and services to disparate community groups; increased focus on sustainability and equity; the influence of cultural identity on urban renewal efforts; and problems associated with garnering citizen participation in government decision-making and community support for policy goals. The next section outlines theoretical criticisms and advancements within the field along with research into policy prescriptions of mobility. The second section details future directions for the field of urban studies.
Do city limits still matter for the study of public policy? Cities still charge taxes and pave over potholes. Local governments remain visible in the daily experiences of the citizenry. Yet, central cities were long ago classified as a vestige of the urban system, as the ills of racial/ethnic stratification, job flight to edge cities, exclusionary housing patterns and income inequality metastasized into regional problems. Extant research on urban disinvestment and public participation demonstrate the scope of the problems. Elite civic participation is declining as community ties to center cities strain (Hanson, Wolman, Connolly, Pearson, & McManmon, 2010), and modes of citizen participation often fail to overcome the complex challenges of daily urban life (Carr & Tavares, 2014). At the same time, the field of urban studies has a history of difficulty maintaining more than peripheral attention within the social sciences. "Mainstream" political scientists began to abandon the field in the 1980s. Urbanists who stayed became devotees to rival "schools" clinging to particular urban forms. Members of the "Los Angeles School" of urban studies argued the dominant form of human settlement was an ungovernable, gated-off, calcified pocketing of wealthy and poor communities, an "antidemocratic residential apartheid" (Dear & Dahmann, 2011). Meanwhile, followers of the "Chicago" and "New York" schools focused on the concentric circles and political eccentricities of their own metropolitan regions, while urban scholars sandwiched in all places in-between were seemingly relegated to specialized border skirmishes over the "contested terrain" of urban studies (Judd D. R., 2011). Cities have remained a focus of fascination for scholars, yet urban outcomes appeared mired in mystery. Urban decline has motivated policy entrepreneurs and researchers alike to prescribe mobility as a remedy to educational failures, income and racial stratification and blight. As globalization of production, manufacturing, distribution and employment coupled with transportation, technology and housing changes have all fueled regional migration (Moos & Skaburskis, 2010), some argue the city limits have become an outdated concept, surpassed by an idealized global metropolis in the practice and study of urban service delivery (Martinez-Fernandez, Audirac, Fol, & Cunningham-Sabot, 2012).
Conversely, does urban public policy research matter much to cities? It has been 33 years since Paul Peterson famously lamented that urban studies had retreated from asking big questions relevant to democracy, into a policy-specific "multiplicity of feudal barons" left to "till fields of little concern to the larger world" (1981). Scholars later lamented that urbanists have become "end time profits" (Judd D. , 2005) and because the field had failed to advance beyond Clarence Stone's "Regime Theory," urban scholars were trapped in a "black hole" where "[n]o ideas escape the event horizon surrounding urban politics; furthermore, ideas from outside rarely penetrate the subfield's borders" (Sapotichne, Jones, & Wolfe, 2007). Noting that the orthodox pluralism of Dahl (1961) has receded and been supplanted by economic explanations of urban political decision making (Peterson, 1981), regime theoretic views of capturing governing capacity (Stone, 1993), and polycentric regulation of common-pool resources (Ostrom, 1990), they argue for more attention to forming consensus on broader questions and theories applicable to mainstream political science. In the years since, urban researchers have done a fair amount of introspection on the lost status. Orr and Johnson argue the decline in interest is attributable to the flight of urbanists to other research areas, a decline in funding for federal urban programs and policy research under the Reagan Administration, and the "social danger" of reinforcing stereotypes through research on racial inequalities and prejudice (Orr & Johnson, 2008).
But it seems the city has not fallen. More than half the world's population lives within cities. Urban land cover is projected to triple by 2050 (Angel, Parent, Civco, Blei, & Potere, 2011). The rapid urbanization of the planet presents a multitude of ecological and societal dilemmas over issues such as housing, transportation, energy use, pollution emissions, and income inequality. On many fronts, researchers over the last five years have made inroads in re-energizing research agendas focused on problems of inequalities between groups which are context-rich and externally valid. These emerging trends focus theoretically on blending the economic and social explanations for policy output, in the context of the re-conceptualization of urban revitalization, sustainable development, and social equity. While researchers are still interested in democratic questions about the amalgamation of power and who holds it, researchers are incrementally building and testing theories of urban policy processes through the field's unique multidisciplinary lens. Perhaps for lack of paradigmatic consensus, the broader arena of urban studies – a multidisciplinary field incorporating geography, economics, urban planning, public administration, political science, and sociology – has continued in recent years to buttress itself as a problem-oriented field organized around "urban settlement systems" and the political, economic and regulatory social processes influencing them (Bowen, Dunn, & KasDan, 2010).
Since the federal government began de-emphasizing urban policy interventions in the 1980s, the field has come under greater influence from "a liberal philosophy of mobility," which holds that increasing mobility could be a panacea for addressing urban problems of poverty, unemployment, housing, education and racial imbalance (Bickers, Salucci, & Stein 2006; Imbroscio 2011). This view focuses on the perceived failures of local governments to address the multitudes of service demands from constituents. It is motivated by an expanded public choice envisioning of the Tiebout model which expects that policies encouraging competition between local governments for public goods will lead their more efficient and effective allocation (Howell-Moroney, 2008). Beyond individual benefits, an emerging research agenda focused on "smart decline" is challenging the idea that population decreases are always negative for cities themselves. Driven by the Great Recession, some urbanists have coined the term "shrinkage" to describe policy adaptations to "right size" service-delivery in cities losing population (Oswalt & Rienients, 2006). For instance, Hollander finds through an exploratory analysis some evidence that resident perceptions of quality vary widely among cities shedding population, but that perceptions of high-quality are not the sole purview of growing urban areas (Hollander, 2011).
Research in recent years has focused on the drivers of social fragmentation and NIMBY-ism (Not In My Back Yard), and relationships between population sorting and innovations in the delivery of services, most notably education. School voucher programs have continued to proliferate across the country utilizing mobility to engender incentives for public schools to make learning gains or risk losing funding, although it remains an open question as to whether they affect degrees of socio-economic and racial stratification within communities. Utilizing Monte Carlo simulations and data from Colorado schools, Carlson finds evidence that the state's inter-district school choice program slightly increases socio-economic stratification but has the opposite effect on racial stratification (Carlson, 2014). The results suggest differences between the participants themselves, rather than heterogeneity of options for schools they can choose, explain more of the educational stratification. The simulation trials suggest stratification may be more related to initial conditions of income, racial and education segregation within communities, but that policy design matters: choice programs targeting lower-performing students, or an equal proportion of low- and high-performing students, may reduce stratification witnessed in Colorado's school system. The majority of the scholarship devoted to educational mobility policies have utilized the student as their level of analysis, which a smaller subset look at the impacts on the public school systems. At the same time, an analysis of policy feedback by Fleming suggests that parents in the Milwaukee school system whose children receive school vouchers are more aware of government activities, more politically active, yet less supportive of public schools (Fleming, 2014). While not conclusive, some progress has been made in recent years to help incrementally demystify urban education policies at the center of discourse over the future of the urban poor. In future years, educational segregation should continue to be a focus of work, similar to the effort by McVeigh, et al., to study linkages between education levels, segregation and the prevelance of Tea Party organizations in U.S. counties (McVeigh, Beyerlein, Vann, & Trivedi, 2014). Their work found higher education levels and educational segregation were positively associated with the number of Tea Party organizations active within communities.
Racial and ethnic divides remain a strain on service delivery in modern American cities. Methods for remediating racial inequalities in income, housing and education have been animated by the notion of mobility. U.S. metropolitan areas are becoming more racially and ethnically diverse and integrated. Even though whites continue to live predominately in racially homogenous neighborhoods, they have experienced higher rates of diversification in recent decades (Wagmiller Jr, 2013).
Yet scholarship from multiple perspectives has advanced our understanding of the dynamics of stratification in urban neighborhoods, and how federal, regional and local policies may ameliorate these conditions. In particular, work at the neighborhood level examining the multi-level effects of economic and demographic conditions hold some potential for more precisely depicting the mechanisms contributing to stratification. Jun, for instance, finds municipal-level factors such as racial/ethnic homogeneity in mid-sized cities are positively associated with better neighborhood economic conditions, although the causal implications of the findings are just as disturbing as they are unclear (Jun H.-J., 2013).
Anderson and Sternberg analyze the racial contours of redevelopment policies in Chicago, and find "urban redevelopment governances," or collections of city officials, developers and financial institutions, respond differently to neighborhoods based on their heterogeneous and interactive "racial economies" (Anderson & Sternberg, 2013). Comparing predominantly African-American and Mexican/Latino neighborhoods in Chicago targeted for redevelopment, the authors compare how different racial conceptualizations between the neighborhoods influences their development trajectories. The idea behind racial economies is that the actors and institutions involved in redistributing benefits in a political economy are shaped by racial representations, but also interactively change these perceptions. In both neighborhoods, the authors find the redevelopment interests sensitive to the unique "traditions" of idealized Mexican and African-American heritages which influence development patterns.
Racial and ethnic identification have also been shown to play a role in assessments of the economic future of cities experiencing ethnic turnover in their mayoralty (Filindra & Orr, 2013). Research into the "strength in numbers" thinking about racial politics has also grown more nuanced. For example, Rocha and Matsubayashi find evidence that in Latino communities, the relative presence of Latino noncitizens in negatively associated with equitable policy outcomes, while the number of Latino citizens is positive correlated (Rocha & Matsubayashi, Latino Immigration and Representation in Local Politics, 2013). In an institutional context, this negative relationship between noncitizens and policy outcomes for all Latinos is mediated by the presence of Latino representatives and citizens.
Efforts to combat urban poverty have for decades promoted homeownership as a method for wealth accumulation among the urban poor. Policy prescriptions have often resulted in incentives to move inner-city families into more homogenous suburban neighborhoods as well as redeveloping poverty-laden public housing into mixed-income units. In a special issue of the Journal of Urban Affairs on the present and future directions of urban research, editor Laura Reese conducts a keyword search of article submissions to the journal and finds housing and neighborhood inequality to be among the most frequent over the prior four years (Reese, 2014). Clearly, urban migration is driving research questions into quality-of-life and the social equity implications of mobility. Yet, the evidence is mixed as to whether such policies have been successful.
Mobility plays a role in the organizing logic of programs like Moving to Opportunity (MTO) for Fair Housing Demonstration, a federal program in the 1990s intended to help extremely poor families with children escape dangerous living environments. The program targeted mostly African-American and Latino families living in the nation's worst neighborhoods, assisting them in re-locating to safer locales with access to better schools. While the program produced no evident reduction in adolescent mental health and delinquency problems (drug use, smoking and violent and property crimes) among boys, it showed strong improvements with adolescent girls. While the findings have been controversial, Popkin, et al., argue the noticeable improvement in outcomes for girls could be attributable to reduction in the "female fear" of sexual harassment, coercion and rape (Popkin, Leventhal, & Weismann, 2010).
Racial and ethnic sorting has long been understood to play a clear but non-linear role in the deterioration of central cities, evidenced by deteriorating urban housing stocks and rising vacancy levels in many cities. Black and minority populations initially stepped in to fill vacancies as populations migrated to the suburbs, but were unable to completely fill the gap from out-migration. Older urban centers with disproportionate population and job losses suffer from unique vacancy and abandoned "zombie" property mixes that stymie neighborhood rejuvenation (Silverman, Yin, & Patterson, 2013).
Research on urban homeownership policies has focused on two rationales: that they foster distributive justice for low-income minority communities, and that they produce positive externalities such as Putnam's concept of social capital (2000). Social capital is an umbrella term for the community cohesion from shared relationships and social networks build on trust and reciprocity. Such studies have often found mixed housing efforts have failed to develop social networks (Curley, 2010). Some housing policies subsidize lower-income minority migration to higher-quality housing in the suburbs, although recent research suggests over-emphasis on asset accumulation through property ownership can lock in inequalities among racial and ethnic underrepresented groups when home values fail to appreciate more at the same rate as in predominately white neighborhoods (Anacker, 2010). However, homeownership efforts have also been shown to improve the caliber of post-move neighborhoods encountered by homeownership program beneficiaries, suggesting the programs produce some selective benefits for participants even if they do not by themselves level the social playing field for underrepresented groups (Santiago, et al., 2010).
Conversely, Allen (2013) finds evidence that involuntary mobility following home foreclosures has a disruptive effect on households with children in public schools in Minneapolis, MN. Allen's study found those households staying within the public school district were more likely to move to areas with higher poverty and segregation post-foreclosure. However, the study's inability to control for many potential confounding factors such as household size, employment status, and housing vacancy rates makes it impossible to draw conclusions about the broader policy prescription of homeownership for solving urban inequalities, let alone the effectiveness of policy interventions such as adjustable-rate mortgages and relaxed consumer credit score requirements for loans.
Another study by Fraser, et al., of the federal House Opportunities for People Everywhere Program (HOPEVI) found that efforts at inducing replacing public housing with mixed-income units to induce socioeconomic mixing can produce marginalization of public housing residents by their higher-income neighbors. The positive effects advocates of mixed-income housing espouse – social networking that can lead to better jobs and increased wealth – may remain more illusory than expected (Fraser, Burns, Bazuin, & Oakley, 2013). Analysis in this area finds residents in such HOPEVI neighborhoods are still more likely to associate with those in which they have commonalities (Chaskin & Joseph 2010; 2011; Kleit 2011). Another research effort studying the experiences of residents of Toronto's first mixed-income redevelopment project suggests that problems still persist, particularly power imbalances between low- and middle-income neighbors, as well as conflict over defining public space, and modes of surveillance and exclusion (August, 2014).
Research into the hollowing out of cities also continues to develop along spatial and urban design dimensions. Cities most impacted by loss of population density and white flight – particularly Detroit – have drawn more academic attention. In one study of six neighborhoods within Metro Detroit – four more affluent and two lower income inner-city neighborhoods – Vojnovic et al., capture the relationship between the decline of neighborhood, modes of travel and access to amenities such as grocery stores, coffee shops and restaurants. The research identifies predictable patterns between neighborhoods with greater population density, mixed land-use and connectivity, with shorter distances to amenities and higher travel frequencies (Vojnovic, et al., 2014). Urban disinvestment in Detroit is particularly acute in access to grocery outlets, and Detroit's lack of public transit options plays a role in limiting the ease of access of lower-income neighborhoods to cultural amenities.
The failure of Metro Detroit to collectively resolve its regional transportation problems in the 1960s has given rise to a critique of regionalism which holds that state and federal grants may not be a sufficient condition to foster successful regional governance. Nelles chronicles the 40-year failure of the Detroit metro area to develop a regional transportation system (Nelles, 2013). Despite numerous pledges of funding for metropolitan public transit, the federal government has had to renege in the face of the inability of Detroit city and suburban officials to forge a workable regional plan. Nelles argues collaboration between local governments in order to draw federal funding was insufficient to produce success. Following in the work of Weir, Rongerude and Ansell (2009), Nelles concludes stronger "horizontal" and "vertical" governance capacity is required for Detroit to overcome its past failures, and points to indicators such as federal mentorship and a more activist civic class offering to pay local matching funds as potential factors which could change the city's mass transit course.
While this bundle of "classic" urban problems revolving around location and mobility remain a locus of attention for urban scholars, the failure of federal policies to address national and global problems has widened the spectrum of activities in which localities may engage. This is posing new avenues for research and rekindling interesting in urban studies.
While the federal government's urban interventionist era may have ended, the age of government gridlock at the national level has not. Responsibilities for myriad functions have devolved to local governments sue to the failure of national policies. As local and state governments have filled this void, urban research has been invigorated. For multiple reasons captured by the Bowen et al content analysis, the urban studies research agenda has become more varied in methodologies and policy reach due to the specific interests of the subfields of its scholars (2010). This epistemological retrenchment coincides with greater recognition of the multi-government and multi-sector reforms in urban service delivery (Brown, Potoski, & Van Slyke 2010) and the challenges to traditional public choice and regime theory explanations for how institutional actors coordinate to supply public goods (Frasure & Jones-Correa, 2010).
An example of the increased attention paid to the evolution in local governmental service delivery is the Institutional Collective Action (ICA) framework (Feiock 2013). ICA focuses on the overlapping nature of governmental units and why they may choose to collaborate to provide some public goods and not others. It borrows from the collective action to frame the choice to collaborate by local actors in the face of fragmentation and externalities. The framework provides a typology for matching the "scale and coerciveness" of intervention with the shape of the policy problems, while accounting for the ICA dilemmas of "larger-than-local" problems for fragmented jurisdictions as well as overlapping or redundant hierarchies focused on the same problems. In one empirical treatment of the framework, Gerber, Henry and Lubell find evidence that California localities are more likely to collaborate in regional planning when their constituents share similar political preferences, and thus one way for overcoming such ICA problems may hinge on "political homophily," (2013).
Classic rational assumptions have also been challenged by other institutional approaches. In a study of how localities deal with NIMBY problems associated with day laborers, Frasure and Jones-Correa argue that the partnerships developed between elected officials, bureaucrats and nonprofits to confront immigrant newcomers overcomes traditional rational-choice and regime coalition expectations for decision-making. This "logic of institutional interdependency" challenges traditional rational assumptions that governmental actors will pursue unitary economic development and growth policies. They argue these varied actors in some contexts band together to provide redistributive policies benefiting the under-privileged when costs are divided and credit-claiming opportunities shared.
Scholars in this sense are focusing more attention to the values and principles of policymakers, drawing attention to a wider range of social justice, ethical and moral concerns articulated by decision-makers. Schumaker and Kelly find evidence that city council members establish "floors" for welfare spending and seek to maintain such funding levels even in periods of economic stress, seemingly at odds with the rational-economic arguments about policymaker behavior in cities (Schumaker & Kelly, 2013).
One methodological advance in recent years is the analysis of network structures. Network analysis is rooted in sociological institutionalism, and is finding wider application in urban governance situations. One way network analysis has been employed in urban studies is to differentiate between policy networks in which actors sharing norms and beliefs attempt to influence policy design, and the study of implementation networks made up of organizations delivering public services.
Network analysis also has the potential application for the rational choice underpinnings of classic regime theory. Regime theory has a rich tradition exploring relationships between individuals, and the division of labor between governmental and private sectors which over time allows the development governing capacity (Stone, 1993). Network-based research is the study of structure of relationships, and holds promise for the illumination of patterns of urban decision-making processes (Robins, Lewis, & Wang, 2012). For instance, Henry tests whether ideological similarity or resource dependencies and power relations better explain collaboration between individuals in California transportation and land use planning regions (Henry, 2011). Henry finds stronger evidence that ideological similarity explains collaboration, although resource dependencies may also exist within those networks. Page advances a theoretical differentiation between rational choice and sociological institutionalism explanations for governance with a study of Seattle's Light Rail system (Page, 2013). Within the context a mass transit project, he examines whether public choice and principal-agent theories – which assume actors have divergent interests and information bases – are a better fit for explaining major project developments than the sociological institutions stream, which emphasizes interactions based on shared beliefs and norms. Page's process tracing via interviews, public records and media accounts suggests the theoretical perspectives work better in tandem to explain rational and social variables in policy design and implementation. Each theoretical tradition explained some, but not all, of the major turning points in the project development, he noted.
Whether through areas of non-profit implementation or the advocacy role single-issue agents, the Peterson notion of "groupless" policymaking in local governments has come under broader assault by a wide range of research endeavors examining the role of group-based organizations in city politics, particularly in areas of environmental sustainability and development (Berry and Portney 2013; Connolly, et al. 2013; Fisher, Campbell and Svendsen 2012).
How urban policymakers define their clientele is also shifting, concentrated around distinct and dispersed racial or ethnic enclaves, neighborhood associations, community organizations, and employment hubs that cross municipal jurisdictions. There are more decision-points, potential political vetoes, opportunities for agency, and institutional friction in policy outputs thanks to efforts at engaging citizens in decision-making and the "flattening" of hierarchical governmental agencies through outsourcing backroom functions and front-line services and competition. Malatesta and Smith test the extent to which competition in cable franchise agreements with local governments lead to more concessions of in contract terms in New Jersey following a state-level policy change, or exogenous shock. They find evidence that the perception of increased market competition for cable services in influenced by state-level policy (Malatesta & Smith, 2011).
Scholars have continued to coalesce around alternative methods for service delivery that cross municipal borders in the face of urban "shrinkage" where populations are increasingly sorted by race, ethnicity, income, employment and education. They argue development and growth, while still central motivations for actors within cities, are no longer a singular "regime" because cities are also directing more focus to the classical externalities of energy waste and pollution. Pluralism can be re-constituted by emphasizing the greater role that "diverse ethical and political principles in community politics" play rather than an over-simplistic treatment of group power which may be less reflective of the modern metropolis. In many instances, these motivations of policymakers may be considered "groupless issues" where classic pluralistic explanations of "who gets what" have relatively less leverage (Schumaker P. , 2013).
As the focus on intergovernmental collaboration, networks and regionalism has grown in importance to researchers and practitioners (Feiock 2007), urban policy research has increasingly become dichotomized according to the problems faced by rising and falling cities. One common denominator is an increased attention to sustainability initiatives – how well or poorly declining cities utilize new technologies to redevelop deteriorated areas, foster community buy-in, rejuvenate their tax bases and attract new residents, along with whether burgeoning metropolitan areas are compromising their economic growth to confront the environmental and ecological impacts (Bulkeley & Kern 2006; Kousky & Schneider 2003).
Sustainable urban development has come to occupy a bridging position between camps of scholars concerned with issues of equity and service delivery, land use and planning, environmental protection, and economic development (Fiorino, 2010). The term sustainability is usually defined as a measure of the capacity for society to maintain a quality standard of living without degrading the natural systems that support human settlement (Mazmanian & Kraft, 2009). However, that definition is not without its problems. Some scholars have identified a lack of conceptual clarity behind the term as city officials pursue "sustainable polices" which may places greater emphases on questions of urban design, economic development or social equity (Zeemering, 2009). Sustainability presents unique contextual challenges for cities, but also shared dilemmas in meeting the growing demands for water, housing, expanded and improved transportation infrastructure, education, food supply and energy. As such, sustainability is usually conceptualized along three dimensions of social equity, environmental protection, and economic advancement (Paehlke, 2013). These often-conflicting aims can lead to policy trade-offs between public officials, businesses, and environmental groups. The inability to adequately preserve natural spaces and resources poses classical distributional fairness questions of who gets what, as well as problems of inter-generational equity as urban infrastructure degrades and green spaces disappear (Portney, 2013). At the same time, all three dimensions can also present opportunities for more equitable distribution of public goods, from green-jobs incentives to urban infill and "greening" efforts, walkable access to parks and recreation resources, and reduced pollution and solid waste. Improvement of manufactured spaces is an economic objective with implications for redevelopment of blighted neighborhoods. Water quality and supply demands are also a "wicked problem" drawing collaborative partnerships with non-governmental agents in order to address non-point sources of pollution which can impact communities disproportionately across the social spectrum (Morris, Gibson, Leavitt, & Jones, 2014).
Research examining social equity has suggested American cities often neglect or ignore this dimension of sustainability in favor of environmental and economic pursuits. Yet, for the last decade, increased attention has been paid to social injustices and environmental inequities across racial/ethnic, income and temporal dimensions (Vig & Kraft, 2013). Using International City/County Manager Association survey data, Opp and Saunders conduct correlation analysis with indices they develop to capture environmental, economic development, and equity policies (Opp & Saunders, 2013). Their findings suggest local governments with more diversity, particularly higher Hispanic populations, score higher on their sustainability index. Cities located in the West also score higher. But the study does not directly test hypotheses of why cities engaged in serious climate action are also accounting for equity and economic considerations, or not.
Efforts such as Philadelphia's "Greenworks" initiative to lower energy use, cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent, improve air quality, increase walkable access to healthy food, and add "greened acres" to manage storm-water are examples of governance strategies that combine growth needs, equity, and environmental stewardship (Dews & Wu, 2013). Urban sustainability initiatives are being rapidly developed and deployed globally in the face of population growth, the expected urban migration of 3 billion people by 2050 (United Nations Population Fund, 2011), and the beginning of a new era of resource scarcity leading to greater collaboration between the governmental, non-profit and business sectors (WBCSD, 2014).
Sustainability is also a multi-level governance question with state, federal and international institutions, economic and physical forces at work. Some attention has been paid to differences in incentives for regulatory, voluntary and collaborative approaches to land conservation (Tang & Tang, 2014) as well as decentralized and collaborative service-delivery mechanisms (Feiock 2013; Lubell, Feiock, & Ramirez de la Cruz 2009). But with cities as the primary focal point of climate-change policies, scholars are laboring to understand basic processes and how they relate to environmental outcomes (Ramirez de la Cruz, 2009). Here, there is an emerging consensus that sustainability policy tools such as energy efficiency measures, compact development incentives, and greenhouse gas reduction inventories and reduction-targets are not uniform in their social and political costs, and communities' actions are not unitarily constrained by financial needs. Political economy explanations for sustainability policy output are also continuing to develop. Hawkins (2011) analyzes why Massachusetts municipalities apply to earn incentives through "smart growth scorecards" identifying the intergovernmental planning tools and policies they have adopted. The study finds support for resource dependency arguments that cities in better financial condition will be less likely to participate in the program, and those with greater business and neighborhood group presence will adopt fewer smart-growth policies (Hawkins C. V., 2011).
Still, the politics of growth is dimly understood in terms of business influence over environmental policy and public officials' responsiveness to varied community needs (Feiock, Portney, Bae, & Berry 2014; Krause 2011a). The motivators of city sustainability policy action could tilt anywhere between altruism and economic opportunism based on the multi-dimensionality of the types of policy tools considered "sustainable." Cities are generally more willing to adopt "win-win" policies characterized as the "low hanging fruit" of green governance, unless confronted with greater hazards such as sea-level rise (Wang R. , 2013). Another analysis by Sara Hughes of California urban water agencies that join voluntary environmental programs are no more likely to reduce per capita water use than public utilities which do not join (Hughes, 2012). Hughs concludes voluntary programs may not be useful for resource protection without stringent performance measurement and third-party enforcement. Yet, this often reduces the likelihood of local government commitment to such programs. And as prior research suggests, these findings are not uniform. Still, KoskiKoski and Lee find evidence that when local governments increase their commitments to "green buildings," private actors are more likely to follow suit (Koski & Lee, 2014). This so-called "policy by doing" influence is stronger for local government actors than state or federal actions, and suggests even climate-protection actions deemed "symbolic" can have positive externalities within a community.
The political, economic and institutional determinants of local government climate actions arethe subject of tremendous activity even if they remain motivationally enigmatic activities. Sharp, Daley and Lynch find that the fiscal stress positively influences the likelihood of joining climate-change networks such as the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI). The authors speculate this may be explained by city manager-run governments' interest in containing energy costs (Sharp, Daley, & Lynch, 2013). However, Krause finds in a survey of climate action in Indiana cities that adopting GHG goals through network membership is a poor predictor of actual implementation of GHG-reduction goals (Krause 2011b). Many of these studies involve unrepresentative samples of cities from one state. However, some scholars are attempting to develop an integrated nationwide database of city sustainability actions which holds the promise of establishing stronger claims of external validity for local government actions (Feiock, Krause, Hawkins, & Curley, 2014). Lastly, the extensive sustainability work focused on climate change mitigation is not complete without mentioning climate adaptation and resiliency, and the voluminous amount of work being engaged in to prepare communities worldwide for the challenges of climate change expected in coming decades (E. Lisa, Ayers, Reid, Huq, & Rahman, 2014). Adaptation will likely become increasingly transparent in urban research in the coming years as cities begin making larger-scale decisions based on change climates and resource depletion. While the worst of climate-change adaptation is expected to occur in developing regions, these are also communities with the least capacity for adaptation. While much of the climate-change adaptation work is being conducted outside the realm of urban politics and policy, urban capacity-building for sustainability has gained some traction in recent years.
Little, if any, of the extant sustainability research examines the effectiveness of policies adopted. Another stream of recent analysis has looked beyond the basic question of why local governments commit to sustainable policies, and focused on the extent to which cities are developing the fiscal, political, technical and managerial capacity to implement and maintain sustainable practices (Wang, Hawkins, Lebredo, & Berman, 2012). If sustainability is the capacity to preserve biophysical spaces human civilization depends upon without reducing the quality of life, than identifying and measuring types of organizational capacities to reach this state of natural equilibrium is a critical stage of scientific advancement. Organizational capacity can range from the technical expertise required to implement and enforce GHG-reduction targets to curb greenhouse gas emissions. It can include the managerial capacity to oversee grant-awards and apply inclusionary zoning tools or impact fees to curb sprawl. It also encompasses the political ability to build stakeholder and citizen support for smart growth goals. Those "capacity-building" interests extend beyond traditional universe of urban political players – the mayors, business elites, unions and policy entrepreneurs -- to city administrators, community organizers, neighborhood councils, and virtually every concentric circle of urban governance. Recent literature has honed in on the gap between what scholars have long documented in the determinants of urban decay and fiscal stress, and systemic empirical analyses of such capacity-building.
These research efforts viewed cumulatively raise the possibility that a cogent research agenda built around sustainable growth and equitable distribution of public goods could supplant mobility as a new philosophical grounding for urban studies.
One sign of the emergence of a more holistic theoretical view of urban systems is the recent competition between economic, political and cultural models for explaining policy output. This has produced some encouraging empirical work examining the role of women in the workforce, religious participation, support for the arts, degree of inclusion of gay, lesbian, transgendered and bisexual communities in decision-making, and other cultural contextual variables in studying the policy outputs of urban systems (Rosdil 2010; Scott 1997; Sharp 2007). This can be traced to the arguments of Putnam (1995), Florida (2004) and others emphasizing the influences of trust, social capital, and diversity in spurring economic growth. Although Florida's "creative class" argument has come under attack for lack of empirical support, some studies have nonetheless found cultural variables influence attitudes and urban policy output (Deleon & Naff, 2004).
Urban studies have continued to explore problems through the prism of gender and sexual orientation. Alozie and McNamara find evidence in a survey of Phoenix, AZ, residents of a modest gender gap in willingness to pay for public services, with women slightly more willing to do so along a spectrum of 28 difference services (Alozie & McNamara, 2010). RochaRocha and Wrinkle explore gender and ethnic effects on public policy through an analysis of the democratic representation of disposed subgroups of traditionally disadvantaged electoral groups. Specifically, they test whether the presence of Latina women on Texas school boards is more strongly associated with support for bilingual education policies (Rocha & Wrinkle 2011). They find that contingent support for bilingual policies is stronger when the percentage of Latina board members is higher as opposed to higher percentage of Latino board members, although both subgroups are positively associated with support for the policies.
Economic development justifications have also been extended to urban policies such as child care which also have gender equity and justice benefits (Warner & Prentice, 2013). Rather than narrowing the policy space of social rights, Warner and Prentice argue in an analysis of 90 studies on child-care policies that casting of the programs in terms of beneficial "social infrastructure for economic growth" is an innovative development that broadens opportunities for gender justice.
Urban leaders are also turning to arts-focused strategies for urban development, and predictive models for where cities can focus efforts to foster arts-centered redevelopment policies have emerged from case studies (Ryberg, Salling, & Soltis, 2013). These efforts imply that encouraging artist cohabitation in areas with high vacancy rates could be viable for medium-sized cities often overlooked in the discussion of arts-friendly metropolitan hubs. Evidence is aired showing how internationally, tools for promoting urban cultural spaces or "creative industry clusters" are utilized for both urban growth and governmental revenue generators (Zheng, 2010) . Lastly, Budd, et al., find evidence that both "a moralistic cultural heritage and strong social capital" are correlated with cities' sustainability efforts, adding cultural dimensions to the previously discussed environmental and economic development incentives to pursue green policies (Budd, Lovrich, Pierce, & Chamberlain, 2008).
This sampling of scholarship represents the potential for richer research agendas accounting for a dynamic and complex policy space that empirically captures the changing landscape of cultural norms and nonconventionalism. One new framework developed from this shift in thinking is a "typology of spaces" in urban settings and their relation to the types of tolerances in given cities (Chiodelli & Moroni, 2014). This adaptation of pluralism recognizes tolerance has not just a phenomenon produced by social sorting, but a product of the types of interactions between individuals within social spaces. In other words, the different degrees of interaction required by different, more shared public spaces may influence the levels of tolerance. As such, the sub-categories of public and private spaces within urban areas can be a fruitful way to operationalize the degree to which forced interactions relate to whether tolerance is morally required out of recognition that people are fundamentally due respect, or prudentially desirable to reduce conflict and smooth over societal rifts. In this sense, tolerance can be conceptualized via a spatial dimension.
These studies raise intriguing questions about the potential for diversity and tolerance to affect re-alignments of coalitions for exercising political power. When economic conditions change, the presence of more varied and autonomous social cleavages could mean policymakers are more likely to respond to ideological or lifestyle preferences than purely political-economic business pressures (Rosdil, 2010). In other words, the de-industrialization of cities means re-thinking the classic growth regimes as policymakers become more responsive to quality-of-life and social issues. To what extent does postindustrialism in cities which have seen manufacturing employment sectors decline render older theories of clientelism obsolete? Does it augment or supplant urban political economy? A key question since the 1990s has been whether this so-called "New Political Culture," defined by citizen sensitivity to women's and gay rights, environmentalism, abortion and other issues, is restricted to urban settings that share higher levels of affluence and education (Clark & Hoffmann-Martinot, 1998). Or, can the rise of cultural politics generally augment political-economic explanations for policy decisions in less-affluent cities, too? Some scholars argue the postindustrial trends are leading to the creation of New Political subcultures generally, although the empirical testing of such hypotheses has been limited so far. Others go so far as to consider cultural amenities a new form of development policy which is replacing the "smokestack chasing" economic-development strategies of the 1970s (Horrigmo, 2013). Horrigmo's analysis of Norwegian cities' cultural spending finds evidence that cultural variables including secularism, unmarried households, and tolerance have more power to explain spending on cultural amenities such as libraries, cinema, sports infrastructure and museums, than traditional political and economic variables. In the U.S. context, Owens finds evidence in a statewide survey of Georgia that willingness of people to support regional goals and resource-sharing is influenced by their religious affiliations and salience of religiosity. Specifically, adherents to more liberal religious traditions, such as Black Protestants and Catholics, were more supportive of regional goals such as air, water and green-space protection. Collectively, these "culture explaining culture" findings highlight the need for developing more generalized empirical modeling that incorporates cultural influences into political and economic analyses of urban growth.
Urban studies has found a renewed energy and purpose has scholarship has focused on new service obligations municipalities are confronting. But the future of the field may also be one in which a re-focused effort is placed on the basic functions of successful local governance. Elaine Sharpe argues that areas such as public infrastructure and policing are ripe for a "back to the basics" approach for urban politics (Sharpe, 2014). She makes the case that public infrastructure systems (roads, sewers, bridges, etc. ) remain the vital physical means for delivering public services, they are in subpar condition in the United States due to under-investment, and climate change impacts on cities may require that they be re-engineered in the future. Sharpe continues that urban policing has been ceded to the topically specialized criminal justice field, in which political variables of interest to urban politics scholars may be omitted. From an equity perspective, both topics would benefit from renewed data collection on how infrastructure placement and policing activities relate to communities of racial minorities.
One potential future strategy for tackling this research challenge would be to organize inquiry around the relationship between people and spaces. Scholars are increasingly curious about how diversity and equity may be related to the often limiting or oppressive physical spaces of cities (Frug, 2014). A framework developed by Kim et al., takes into account the sociological influences of "place" and "space" in differentiating the geographical coordinates of neighborhoods from the "people, practices, objects and representations" which become "emplaced" within it (Kim, LaGrange, & Willis, 2013). The Kim et al. framework combines the sociology of place with environmental criminology, improving upon the "broken windows theory" of gang violence and why criminal activities are more likely to remain entrenched in certain neighborhoods. They argue crime committed closer to the offenders' place of residence is more likely to be "expressive" in defense of home turf or perceived ego challenges, and therefore more violent, than "instrumental" criminal activities aimed at material gain. These types of innovative theoretical applications have obvious public service delivery import for deployment of differential crime prevention strategies, from public lighting and cameras for discouraging the materially motivated space-based crime to increased community policing for place-based crimes. But they may also provide an avenue for examining why some citizens choose to engage in the policymaking process and others do not.
Another classic question is the time-honored question of how to engender public participation in governmental decision-making. Community participation has been long viewed as an important component of overcoming poor urban service delivery by more effectively communicating "street level" conditions to elected officeholders and administrators (Berry, Portney, & Thomson, 1993). Civic engagement is also one of the byproducts advocates of "community building" efforts in inner cities have espoused for decades. Yet, community participation mechanisms have also been criticized for being theoretically and empirically naïve. In a study of three Chicago mixed-income housing developments, Chaskin and Joseph argue that arrangements intended to foster resident participation "seem largely to reinforce rather than break down divisions" between renters and owners, and low- and high-income neighbors (Chaskin & Joseph 2010).
Citizen participation organizations, according to critics, represent a "local trap" due to their propensity to over-represent higher socioeconomic status (SES) classes, thus affording higher-income enclaves more avenues to make their preferences heard (Purcell, 2006). Jun and Musso (2013) present evidence that contradicts Purcell's "local trap" thesis, which expects local participation organizations will advantage the property interests of middle-class homeowners. By analyzing 4,000 meeting agenda items from neighborhood councils in Los Angeles, the authors find evidence that neighborhood councils in both high- and low-income neighborhoods confronted undesirable land-uses, even though the membership of LA's neighborhood councils was considerably wealthier, more educated and composed of more Whites than the mean resident of Los Angeles. Although the validity of the findings should be explored in other areas, the insight that disproportionate representation within community organizations by higher socioeconomic classes may not result in diminished agenda-setting ability for lower-SES groups is an important advancement.
Trounstine finds evidence that cities with low-turnout institutions including early voter-registration requirements, different municipal election dates from federal levels of government, and polling-location ambiguity are associated with higher proportions of incumbents running and winning re-election (Trounstine, 2013). These low-turnout environments demonstrate policy outputs that are beneficial to particular community subgroups.
Access to local government information also has an effect on voter turnout. Fila and Johnson study the influence on local news coverage of municipal elections in municipalities within Los Angeles County and find that restrictions in access to news coverage are associated with lower voter turnout (Filla & Johnson, 2010). Specifically, they use a media market filter to examine the dearth of local government news coverage in communities without their own local outlets. Respondents living outside Los Angeles whose communities have daily newspapers are more likely to vote than those who do not. Answering the questions of how to engender public interest and engagement in urban decision-making – as an elector, gadfly, community organizer, protestor or adviser -- will undoubtedly remain a critical yet cumbersome research focus in future years.
Mobility remains a dominant feature of policies aimed at solving the plights of urban settlements. Yet scholarship is moving toward establishing systemic research interests around the concepts of cultural development as urban revitalization, sustainability and equity in service provision. Urban research has found new life as cities have confronted new challenges. It has also returned home to classic questions of who governs and how well cities handle the basics. These research veins are increasingly inter-related as metropolitan regions accelerate collaborative efforts to share services and reduce externalities, steer economic development back toward urban power centers, and as inner cities blend economic growth objectives with the growing demand for sustainable development of energy, food, water and other resources. While urban studies remains "contested terrain" theoretically, research continues to coalesce around prescriptive solutions to problems for both growing and shrinking cities.
Aaron Deslatte is a doctoral candidate in the Askew School of Public Administration and Policy at Florida State University. He will begin work as an assistant professor at Northern Illinois University in Fall 2015.


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Heading downstairs to grab a coffee when a parcel flops onto the doormat in the front hall. The chipped white paint and the grotty carpet of bedsit land. Never mind, it's Brighton. I'm by the sea and it's a summer Saturday. The soft parcel's label has that logo in the corner. Wohoo! It's my teeshirt!
Tearing open the large paper envelope in the airy back kitchen. There's just enough room for my mug on the countertop in among the jars, pans and pizzas. The kettle sings. A teaspoon of coffee, three sugars and pour on the water. It smells dull and fudgy.
I take a sip. Why do we drink this stuff?
Spread out, the teeshirt isn't much better. That design looked so cool on my computer upstairs. It's sort of flat and uni-dimensional like the coffee. Ah! Soddit. I pull my teeshirt over my head, dive into this new one. Crisp cool of the cotton makes me realize my jeans need a wash.
The coffee sits on my computer desk. Pull on some fresh jeans as I stare across the rooftops where the grey sea is sparkling. Buckle the belt to the seaside sound of seagulls. I love being by the coast, I love Brighton! Take a swig of coffee. Ugh, it's like gruel. I do need coffee. Why not? Dino's. He'll be open for lunch.
In the half lit hallway "MARK!!"
No response.
I bang on his door
"Fuck off"
The sun hits me as the front door slams behind me.
Sitting outside with an expresso. It grabs my tongue and channels itself down my throat. There's that girl! That one who's always got paint on her slacks -but boy, does she move. I give her a whistle. She turns to me, flashes me the sort of look that wipes out entire armies.
"What the fuck is that?" she points to my teeshirt.
"I guess the design didn't quite work this time"
"And you call yourself a designer?"
"Everybody else does, so why not?"
"And they pay you?" her eyes flash.
"Would you like an expresso?"
"I'd kill for a cappucino!"
Now that I can believe.
"What induced you to come up with that pile of spaghetti?"
"It kinda looked good on the screen"
"Oh. I know all about that. Give it to me"
"Give it to me. Now. I can do something with it."
"Like – right now? Like, here"
"Dave" how does she know my name??? Girls … "This is Brighton, not Eastbourne. Take it off" bloody hell, she'd make a good Nazi. The warm air against my skin as I pull it off. She's pulling off her own now. Her bra's white against her still pale skin. Holding hers it's got that faint girly smell mixed with a musky cologne.
"There! Does that look any good?" she demands "You have to see these things out of context."
I have to admit that it doesn't look any better on her. Only her eyes: she really is a vixen.
"Another coffee?" I ask.
"No time. We've got work to do"
"Wake up, Dave" I pay for the coffees and we set off down the back streets. Pansies cascade out of her garden, the house itself is tatty.
Her studio has paintings stacked everywhere. I gasp.
"They're crap" she says before my acclamations even leave my mouth. She's got my teeshirt stretched on an easel with a few clamps. A brush in her hand. Mixing a little black.
"My favourite colour" she says in a way I find menacing. The stiff brush pulls at the soft fabric draws a line into focus. Three more strokes and … it's alive. She's cleaning the brush. Deep crimson, an ochre and some brown. Ten minutes and the celtic knotwork vivid on the scarlet background.
"That's … "
"I know. Want to go to the beach for the afternoon? Grab an ice-cream?"
I mean, am I going to say no to a girl like this?

subset: commoncrawl


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Give Online
Whether you'd like to give a single gift, or schedule ongoing donations, you can do it RIGHT online. With our new, enhanced service, you can give by using your checking acct, debit or credit card (that you pay off each month!), This safe and flexible option is one of the easiest ways to give to Centerpointe. Thank you for your support!
Congregation Access
Giving Options
Centerpointe is pleased to offer several convenient giving methods. Consider taking advantage of one of
these easy giving options as you tithe.
Online Giving
This safe and flexible option is the easiest way to give at Centerpointe! This method allows you to schedule a recurring or one-time gift charged to either your debit or credit card. Please know that the online giving does not make a distinction regarding a debit card or a credit card. We do strongly suggest that no one use a credit card unless it is paid off every month. The Bible speaks in Proverbs 22:7 about "…the borrower [being] servant to the lender." We do not wish our congregation to go into debt by tithing on a credit card.
Weekend Service
Just place your check or cash in the offering during any weekend worship experience. For your convenience, offering envelopes are available for tithes and offerings. You can place cash or checks (payable to Centerpointe Community Church) in one of these envelopes and put it in the offering during any weekend service.
By Mail
Mail your donation to Centerpointe Community Church at 56 Burlington Ave, Depew, NY 14043 Be sure to include name and address on check or envelope so that donation credit may be provided for tax purposes; and designate the ministry to which you would like the offering applied.
Giving FAQs
Why Do We Give To The Local Church?"The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it…"—Psalm 24:1 As Christ Followers, we believe that we are stewards of God's resources because He is the owner of all that we have. Throughout scripture, we are reminded of the importance of giving back a portion of what God has so generously provided. His Word tells us that giving is an act of worship that should be done with a spirit of thanksgiving. God gives all of us the great privilege of partnering with Him in what He wants to do in the world. Centerpointe is committed to reaching those who are far from God, unleashing unprecedented levels of compassion into a broken world, and turning us into increasingly devoted followers of Christ. We do this with a full commitment to bring the message of hope and love that comes through Jesus Christ. "But just as you excel in everything –- in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us – see that you also excel in this grace of giving" 2 Corinthians 8:7 (NIV)
What is a tithe?
As Christ Followers, we believe that we are to follow God's command regarding tithing. "Tithe" means "tenth" or 10 percent. Leviticus 27:30 says, "A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD." In Malachi 3:8-10 God speaks to His people, "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it."
Why is giving so important?
We also recognize that Jesus talked more about giving than the subjects of heaven, hell, or prayer. In Matthew 6:21 and 24 Jesus says, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also…No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." In Luke 6:38 He says, "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
How do I excel in giving?
The apostle Paul spoke to the new churches about giving. In 1 Corinthians 16:1-2, Paul admonishes the Corinthian church, "Now about the collection for God's people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made." He prompted the believers to be generous. 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 says, "Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." And in 2 Corinthians 8:7 he encourages, "But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this grace of giving."
What is an offering?
Centerpointe believes that we are mere stewards of what God has given us. Therefore, we see tithing as giving back what is God's to God (and He lets us keep the other 90% to use appropriately). Any amount above 10% is considered an offering to God. This type of giving is over and above and should also be done with cheerfulness.
Why do we give?
Giving is a privilege. The storehouse spoken of in Malachi is what we consider the local church. By partnering our monies together, God's work is done more effectively. Even Paul recognized this in the newly formed churches of the New Testament. He tells the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 8:13-15, "Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, as it is written: "He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little."


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- Long Range Shooting
- >
- Precision Rifle One - August 17th - 20th 2018 Wyoming
Precision Rifle One - August 17th - 20th 2018 Wyoming
Four Day Course
Dates - August 17th - 20th 2018
Location - Lance Creek, Wyoming
Precision Rifle One combines training and tactics you will need to take your weapon out to its maximum effective range. We cover all the fundamentals of marksmanship and scope theory with emphasis on the prone position.
Students will also learn field shooting positions, range estimation, ballistics, stress shooting and wind. This is Long Range Internationals signature course and we often have repeat students. Whether you are a beginner or just want to come shoot with us Precision Rifle One is the course you are looking for.
What you will learn-
Rifle manipulation
Optic work
Fundamentals of marksmanship
Basic internal ballistics
External ballistics
Estimate and read wind
Range acquisition, estimation, angular units of measure
Known and unknown distance shooting
Shooting positions
Introduction to stress shooting
Rifle and magnified optic
400 rounds of match ammo
Rifle sling
Bag/backpack to carry your range equipment
Note taking material
Appropriate clothing
Plenty of water
Lunch for each day
During this course you can expect to spend most of your time in a static position within close proximity to your vehicle. The course is not physically demanding but the weather conditions can be so please come prepared.
Range Fees are not included - $25 per day payable on site.


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Falsettos Tickets
eTickets.ca has the best selection of Falsettos tickets. Whether you are looking to buy the standard ticket or a vip ticket for Falsettos upcoming events we have it all. If you are a fan of Falsettos we have the right Falsettos tickets for you. You can check a list of all Falsettos upcoming concerts and Falsettos entire schedule here. Buy your Falsettos Tickets from eTickets.ca and rest assured that you're getting the cheapest ticket deals on the best seats.


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One Hundred Thirteenth Congress of the United States of America
At the Second Session
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Friday, the third day of January, two thousand and fourteen
To amend the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to include the desecration of cemeteries among the many forms of violations of the right to religious freedom.
Congress finds the following:
Cemeteries are sacred sites that are of great spiritual, cultural, and historical significance to many religious and ethnic groups.
Congress is committed to protecting and preserving the heritage and sacred sites of national, religious, and ethnic groups, which includes cemeteries in the United States and abroad.
Cemeteries around the world have and continue to be defaced or destroyed as a direct result of their affiliation with a particular religious or spiritual group.
Such attacks constitute an assault on the fundamental right to freedom of religion, and are especially egregious when sponsored or tolerated by the local or national governments in the countries in which such offenses occur.
Amendment to International Religious Freedom Act of 1998
Section 2(a)(4) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998
22 U.S.C. 6401(a)(4)
) is amended in the fourth sentence by inserting
desecration of cemeteries, after
confiscations of property,.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and President of the Senate.


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The WPS Community team is a small group working to develop the Linux edition of WPS Office (formerly known as Kingsoft Office).
The more people outside of China that show interest in our work the more resources we get to continue development. We do our
best to anticipate user's needs but we would really like to hear from you what we're doing right, changes you would like to see,
or about any new feature suggestions. Let us know you are behind us. Hearing from users motivates us and lets us know how we
may succeed by helping others.
With a familiar look and feel, anyone familiar with Microsoft Office will feel right at home with WPS Office.
Help us get the word out that Linux users now have a real choice in professional office suites.
Share your feedback with us on the WPS Community forum at http://wps-community.org/forum/ or join our group on Google: wps4linux
If you want to help, or have an idea for how to raise awareness of WPS Office, please let us know.
To everyone that has contributed to this project, we are very grateful.


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Bob Marley was a huge part of bringing reggae music into a wider public consciousness. Whilst some may think that his was a somewhat watered down version that was deliberately aimed at crossing over to a white rock audience, there is no doubt that his music has had a profound affect around the world. And none more so than Redemption Song.
Whilst clearly not a reggae song in itself, Redemption Song is the epitome of all that Marley sought to achieve in his music. The final track on the final album Marley released before his death from cancer in 1980 (Uprising), the song is in many ways Marley's own eulogy, a song of hope despite the pain of the circumstances. But rather than focusing inwards on his own pain, the song turns that feeling into a universal call for the downtrodden, the oppressed, those who have lost so much, urging them to keep on, to keep singing these "songs of freedom". The famous "emancipate yourselves from mental slavery", "none but ourselves can free our mind" lines were in fact inspired by a speech by Marcus Garvey, a proponent of Black nationalism in Jamaica who was considered a religious prophet within Rastafarianism, a religion strongly linked to reggae and Marley.
Whilst the song was recorded and performed as a full band version (you can here it here), it is most famous in its most stripped back form – just Marley and an acoustic guitar. Which I think makes it a great candidate for playing on the uke.
The prompting for putting this song on UkeTunes came from hearing over Christmas a bit of the Radio 4 Soul Music documentary that focused on this song, and the impact it is had on a variety of people. It's an informative and touching listen, and at the time of writing is still on the BBC IPlayer – you can listen to it here.
The song sheet is quite straightforward to play – no tricky chords or strumming patterns. That said, Marley's phrasing is sometimes a little tricky to replicate, but don't worry too much about that – this is a song to take and mould to your own experience. Also this is definitely a less-is-more song, so keeping the strumming sparse helps. I've also included tab for the opening guitar riff as well. Enjoy!


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Investigators discount political motive for GOP train crash
Associated Press
RICHMOND, Va.
An Amtrak train carrying dozens of Republican congressmen to a retreat crashes into a garbage truck in rural Virginia. Within minutes, social media lights up with conspiracy theories.
But the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the crash, said the crash appears to have been an accident. And residents near the crash site said that safety bars appeared to malfunction the day before Wednesday's crash.
"The NTSB does safety investigations, so the fact that we're here is a presumption that it was an accident," said NTSB member Earl Weener.
Two people who live near the crossing told The Associated Press that on Tuesday, the safety arms appeared to be malfunctioning, staying in the lowered position when trains were not approaching. A third person said the arms were known to malfunction frequently and sometimes stayed down for hours.
That did not stop conservative-leaning bloggers and others to speculate on Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms that this was no accident, but instead an elaborate plan by Democrats to "derail" the Republican agenda and perhaps even hurt or kill GOP leaders. Some speculated that the trash truck was somehow planted on the train tracks by Democrats, while others wondered if Hillary Clinton was behind the crash.
Coming the day after Republican President Donald Trump's State of the Union address, the crash seemed particularly suspect, Alex Jones, a well-known conspiracy theorist, said on "Infowars" on Wednesday.
"Did a Democrat dump truck just try to derail the Trump train? Oh, I don't know, the day after the State of the Union, when the train left this morning from D.C. going through Charlottesville – that's Democrat-run – and then, right there, this happens, a dump truck just happens to ram into the front of the train," Jones said.
One man who described himself as an aerospace engineer and rails against the "lying media" on his Twitter page posted a photo of a 2014 train collision with a garbage truck in Memphis, but implied it was a photo of Wednesday's crash of the train carrying Republican leaders.
"A Democrat just ran a dump truck into the train carrying GOP to their Greenbrier retreat. Damn, that SOTU [State of the Union address] by President Trump really got them off their rails," he tweeted.
A woman from Mississippi described herself on her Facebook page as "not much of a conspiracy theorist," then wrote that her initial thoughts were that the train crash was deliberate.
"The symbolism of Republican train crashing into a garbage truck is something like radical liberal Democrats would do," she wrote.
Weener, of the NTSB, said if investigators were to find any evidence that suggests the crash was not an accident, "we would immediately involve the proper authorities."
More like this from vindy.com
- February 5, 2018 midnight
Amtrak crash in SC kills 2, injures 100+
- May 19, 2015 midnight
No video to help Amtrak probe despite NTSB recommendation
- February 5, 2018 midnight
Two killed, more than 100 people were injured in Amtrak crash
- September 28, 2015 midnight
Fifth victim of Duck vehicle crash dies
- May 19, 2013 midnight
Official: Broken rail eyed in train crash
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Address: 150 4th St, Tofino, BC V0R2Z0
We wanted to make a dinner reservation at Wolf in the Fog this past Sunday, but they were already fully booked weeks prior. Luckily, we walked in, and got ourselves a table for late lunch 🙂
You could tell from the clean decor that this is a higher end restaurant. Service wasn't the quickest, even at 2:00 PM.
I noticed their "den" (lunch) menu look rather ambiguous. Everything is typed on a single sheet of paper, and the appetizers and entrees are grouped together. I suppose you could tell them apart by the prices. It didn't really matter because we ordered a bunch of different dishes 😛
Salt & Pepper Squid – $10
We really enjoyed this dish. Imagine calamari but lighter and fluffier. The squid meat was tender and not chewy. The dipping sauce was a mixture of olive oil and herbs. I believe it was called chimmichurri. On the side was a refreshing coleslaw. We didn't feel fat or greasy eating this 🙂
(Side dish) Mac & Cheese – $9
Perfect comfort food for a foggy/chilly day! We loved the choice of white cheddar. We also liked how they deviated from using the traditional elbow macaroni (different texture!).
Albacore Tuna Melt – $12
For some reason I imagined tuna steak (like an ahi tuna)… but this was good too! Overall it was a non-boring version of a tuna (salad) sandwich; much more moist. Hidden between the layers was a slab of aged cheddar that gave the sandwich a depth of flavour.
Molang Scores & Verdict
Food: 4/5
Value: 4/5
Service: 3.5/5
Ambiance: 4.5/5
Total: 16/20
High quality food at lower-than-expected prices. If we visit Tofino again, we would definitely come here for dinner.
#Tofino #Food #LFFFMolangs #Molang #RestaurantReview #VancouverIsland #Lunch #chimmichurri


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Sunday, August 3, 2008
I Must Choose Self Checkout!
I had to make a quick stop at the grocery store today for a few oddball items. When I had everything I needed, I headed to the check out. I've become a self-checker-outer over the years, so I rarely notice whether real, live, breathing cashiers are even open for business. I don't know that I even look to see, but today as I walked by the human cashiers, I accidentally made eye contact with one of them – shoot – and she was very much, "open for business". I'm telling you, she was begging me with her eyes to let her check me out. I felt terrible walking past her, as I made my way to the self check out. I'm certain she felt rejected – I've just chosen to do business with a computer screen instead of her smiling face. In choosing self check out, I'm essentially saying, "Even though I've never been trained to do this job, I feel confident that I can scan and bag these groceries better and faster than you can. Yes, I know you're being paid to do this job, but I'm choosing the extra work for myself".
What's next? I'm gonna go to my mechanic's garage, ask to use his lift, just so I can change my own oil? Or maybe, I'll use the fancy swivel chair and scissors at the Salon to cut my own hair, while my stylist drinks his tea. Better yet, I'll manipulate my own spine, right there in front of the chiropractor as he experiences a complete freak out – 'cause he will!
In my defense, besides the health food stores, most grocery cashiers simply aren't friendly. If you're lucky enough to get a teenage person, you'll actually get to experience what it's like to feel invisible. At Whole Foods, they're happy to converse with you while bagging your lettuce on top of everything, but back at the old grocery store, they chomp their gum and drop everything you purchased that day, smack dab on top of your five dollar fresh raspberries! Unacceptable!
I feel bad choosing technology over people, but I've experienced too much rejection over the years, and I just can't put my produce at risk anymore. I must choose self-check-out!
Posted by Sheri at Sunday, August 03, 2008
4 comments:
- Kuckie said...
You know I agree with you there!
What are you using the jelly for? Just curious...looks like something interesting could be on the horizon!!!
- August 4, 2008 at 6:11 AM
- jenelle said...
So what you are you making for all of us?
- August 4, 2008 at 12:53 PM
- by Sheri said...
Spicy Cranberry Meatballs...Not a real actual recipe, but a tweaked one - I'll let you know!
- August 4, 2008 at 6:43 PM
- M, J, B, G, Sam & Sadie said...
And when you become a mom...self check outs are like total fun for the kids who get to ring you up!! my daughter thinks tha is the highlight of her day when she gets to run the self-check out! ha ha
- August 11, 2008 at 10:42 PM
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Marvels new contest of champions with almost all the marvel heroes and their special powers and skills.I have spider-man on my team and are all controlled done in a very nice gesture-based happy so the way so if I swipe back on the screen I fly back like that a slight forward well I'll do MARVEL Contest of Champions MOD APK 8.0.2 applying kinda forward attack if I tap the right side of the screen are delighted text if I can get attack in he does a special both firing thing that's about it at the moment I've only completed the first series OHV levels its actually quite nice to play is quite intuitive it's very responsive it's very fast-paced as you can see which is nice. Marvel contest of champions MOD APK 8.0.2 Unlimited everything money coins crystals unlocked characters. Batman Arkham lockdown and the Superman game that came out there or gesture based but they just felt really slow and clunky versus feels very very sharp and fast in the media and I'm playing this on Captain America and see if he hands my out arrow thingy buttocks to me or not we shall see m not sure when this actually goes live worldwide loves to keep you informed when it does but at the moment it is just I could not enough to actually fully upgrade him to the next level but fair enough so I've given him some isolate goodness that's ground and right before we go let's have a look at some shop stuff Peter Parker's wallets as well as using crystals to upgrade like we just did you can also use crystals to get new characters these hero crystals right here you can purchase individually or that you can wait for them to unlock organically three hours and 40 minutes here and the daily crystal appears once every 24 hours so obviously is another way to spend lots of money if you want to progress faster.
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Misys said it was recommending a 350 pence a share cash offer from Vista, a private equity group which has been targeting deals in software and will combine Misys with Turaz, a provider of trade and risk management software.
Misys last month agreed to merge with its rival Temenos, but the Swiss company walked away after the two sides failed to firm up a deal.
Misys was in takeover talks last summer, reportedly pitched at 400 pence a share.
Since then it has suffered tough conditions in its core banking software market, and it said on Monday that revenue in the year to the end of the third quarter fell 3 percent, after a plunge of 12 percent in last three months.
Misys said the holders of about 22 per cent of its shares had already backed the Vista offer.
The group's largest shareholder ValueAct had said it was teaming up with CVC Capital partners to consider a bid, although analysts questioned whether it was a tactic to drive up the price of any Vista offer.


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Man, six-year-old girl threatened with knife during alleged carjacking
A 28-year-old man will face Albury Court after an attempted carjacking in Corowa, in which police allege he threatened a man and his six-year-old daughter with a knife.
Police said about 5.40pm on Saturday, a 42-year-old man and a six-year-old girl were stationary in a vehicle at a drive-through fast-food restaurant on Sanger Street, Corowa, when they were approached by a 28-year-old man, who allegedly produced a knife before threatening the duo and demanding the keys to the car.
As the 42-year-old man got out of the vehicle, the 28-year-old man left the area.
The incident was reported to officers attached to Murray River Police District.
Police said short time later, a 35-year-old man allegedly located the 28-year-old man in his vehicle, which was parked in Riesling Street.
When confronted, the 28-year-old man again left the scene and was located a short distance away on Sanger Street by patrolling police.
He was arrested and taken to Corowa Police Station, where he was charged with aggravated assault with intent to take/drive motor vehicle armed with weapon and enter vehicle without consent of owner.
The man was refused bail to appear at Albury Local Court today.


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Pork producers and packers are bouncing back from recent rough times and low prices. The cutback in production has brought hog prices up from last year's average of $41.25 per hundredweight to the current price over $55. USDA Livestock Economist Shayle Shagam says there is still money to be made in the hog business.
"Currently with the hog prices producers are seeing, returns are positive," Shagam said. "Although there is expectation that these returns will be squeezed as grain prices rise."
Producers are wary of possibly rising feed prices and are indicating they intend to keep farrowings at or below last year for some time to come. Meanwhile Shagam says packers are also currently seeing profitability.
"We do have packer margins set to be favorable at this particular point," Shagam said. "That is being supported by relative high prices on a number of cuts; largely the tight supplies of bellies, which are strongly supporting bacon prices."


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Outdoor Learning
We are extremely fortunate here at Scholar Green to have the outdoor spaces that we do. Our ECO team do a wonderful job looking after our environment and logging species that that find within our perimeter. Not only that, all of the classes also benefit from our extensive grounds and use them across the curriculum to enhance learning.
We currently have plans with Reaseheath College to develop our forest and stream area and also have plans for a new school pond.


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Works is Chetwoods' engine room, where ideas are turned into functional reality.
We use a range of up-to-the-minute methodologies to make sure that our design concepts work seamlessly: from BIM (building information modelling) for carrying out rapid testing and collecting data; to virtual reality and 3D visualisation, to understand the scale and flow of buildings in the early stages.
Our bespoke Charrette process is a means of including stakeholders in our projects by encouraging dialogue, opinion and feedback.


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Even though I was raised in a Christian family, my life was transformed when I became a born-again Christian at age 15. While studying in Cape Town, South Africa at age 24, I realized the Jewish people needed to be "saved" and hear the "good news of Jesus." Find out about a missionary's journey to Judaism in this article.
A Parent's Cry for Help
Our oldest son informed us that he was dating a Christian girl. At the start, we reluctantly accepted the relationship, expecting that it would not last. After all, how could it?
A Spiritual Journey – How I Found Out I Was a Jew
Join Ruth and her guest Shoshana Imhof Maust who share her spiritual journey. She shares her story, and how she returned to authentic Judaism.
David's Story
David was a fine Jewish boy, who excelled in his studies and was well-liked by everyone. However, he attended a Catholic school. His parents had decided that the quality of the education in the public schools was deteriorating, and since there was no Jewish school in their city, they sent him to the local Catholic school
From Christianity to Judaism – David's Story
David's Story - Why he converted from christianity to judaism
Read David's story as to why he moved from Christianity to Judaism, why he felt more connected to Judaism rather than Christianity.
From Islam & Christianity to Judaism – Nissim Black
The Amazing story of Nissim Baruch Black (born Damian Jamohl Black). Originally a non-Jewish secular artist under the name D. Black, he released two successful albums. After a hard life and a long journey of soul searching in Christianity and Islam he retired and started to focus on his conversion to Orthodox Judaism. Nissim, an [Read More]
Hebrew Roots movement often lays roots for Jewish life—conversion or not
Hebrew Roots adherents—not to be confused with Jews for Jesus, whose followers consider themselves Jewish and are known for intense proselytizing—are Torah-observant believers in Jesus, whom they identify by his Hebrew name, Yeshua. On the surface, many of the movement's members look like observant Jews, keeping kosher (at least as outlined in the Bible), Shabbat, and holidays. They are generally pro-Israel and try to visit the Jewish state as often as possible.
Jewish Journal: Make L'chaim, Not War by Rabbi Bentzion Kravitz
This week in the Jewish Journal, our own Rabbi Bentzion Kravitz shares a touching story about an experience he had with share his values for Shabbat and Judaism. Instead of choosing debate and critical disagreement, which so prevalently surrounds the Jewish faith from other who may not live it, Rabbi Kravitz chose friendship and warmth [Read More]
Micah 5, Zechariah 12, & Isaiah 9-6
Audio presentation by Rabbi Michael Skobac on this popular verses used by Christians to try and prove their messiah. Micah 5, Zechariah 12, & Isaiah 9-6
My Parents Brainwashed Me
In this amazing video, Ethan Metzger answers the claim that My Parents Brainwashed Me, in a very poetic way.


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The topic of searching for your mission comes up frequently these days when we visit with people about the vision God has given us. I am sometimes at a loss for words when people tell me they are not sure where God wants them yet…they are still looking and waiting to hear what He has in store for them. I recently ran across a wonderful response on a blog post by CANNOT CONTAIN.
I finally gave up. After twenty years of searching for my mission, I threw in the towel. And today I'm going to ask you to do the same. Stop searching for your mission. I know where it is.
It's not out there. It's not in the books you've been reading. The podcasts you've been listening to. It's not even in the Bible. It's not at church. It's not at the next mission trip that you really are going to go on this time. It's not in this blog. read more
I enjoyed the read. I hope you do too.


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Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland. It hosts five universities and it is popular for Scottish students. It has an important industrial heritage. Now the city is famous for its arts and fashion venues and its nightlife. It was also nominated Unesco City of Music. Glasgow is on the banks of the River Clyde. Clydebank is a town part of Greater Glasgow.
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