I went to a talk last night with Jim Diers, Seattle’s ex Neighborhood Czar. Here are my notes:

• The solution to neighborhood crime isn’t more policing, it’s replacing the crime with legitimate activity
• A natural consequence punishment for graffiti is painting murals (which tend to prevent tagging)
• Economic crises generate non-market economic activity
• If TV is killing community, then community must be boring
• Local activism has more easy victories than global struggles like climate change, therefore it’s easier to get people involved
• Everyone has 3 things to offer: unique knowledge, passions and skills
• Prostitutes, etc came out of our community, so a good community would see helping them as everyone’s responsibility, not just getting rid of them
• It’s often a easier to just do stuff than to get government to do it
• Soup kitchens can have clients cook the food and the benefactors join in eating it