Innovation Stories | Community Development Digest

Want to Spur Community Growth? Check Out GROWTH

You’re a planning official working in a sizable community with a sizable population of low-income residents in need of workforce training, job opportunities, and affordable housing. What do you do? You might want to check out the GROWTH Initiative, a reinvestment program created by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC).

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Las Vegas to Soon Meet ‘Ollie’ … The Self-Driving Vehicle

Las Vegas is about to become a long-term test bed for a major demonstration of the real-world driving capabilities of self-driving vehicles.

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Web-based ‘Dashboard’ Useful as Development Tool in Bay Area

Variables in the Dashboard’s algorithms include affordability requirements, density, parking, permit times, fees, and population changes. And if the algorithms are right, San Francisco could double the number of new residential units built if it reduced development barriers across the board.

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Organizations Team to Conduct Survey of ‘Smart Cities’

To gain further insight into the practices, policies, programs and partnerships that U.S. communities undertake under the umbrella of “smart city initiatives,” the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) has partnered with the Smart Cities Council (SCC) to conduct a first-ever national research study of the topic. The survey will be administered to 3,428 communities this month, with results available in August 2016.

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Tool Helps Eliminate Guesswork from Hiring Practices

Using a proprietary assessment and matching engine, this onlijne tool empowers candidates to learn about their unique strengths and ideal work environment, and pairs salespeople with roles that best match their individual skill sets, desired salary and location.

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'Senior Living by Design' Award Winners Selected

The fourth annual competition reinforces the importance of mental and physical health and wellness in creating purposeful places. This year’s winners also exhibited new ways of approaching challenges.

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Foundation Begins 8th Annual Wireless Innovation Competition

The Vodafone Americas Foundation kicks off the eighth annual Wireless Innovation Project (WIP), opening the call for submissions to applicants for their wireless-related technologies with the high potential to solve critical issues facing the world today. Online applications will be accepted from Nov. 2 through Feb. 27, with winners announced in June 2016.

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Initiative Brings STEM Training to Public Housing Residents

The initiative is being piloted in five communities: Cleveland, Denver, San Antonio, Tampa and Washington DC, with the goal to expand to 20 cities by 2018.

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Home Matters Names Design Competition Winners

Home Matters, a national advocacy movement dedicated to raising awareness and fund to make home a reality for all, announces three winners of its “Re-Defining Home: A Design Challenge” contest. Winners were selected based on how well their respective designs went beyond typical housing and how effectively they addressed community life.

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Creative Place Making: A Platform for Bringing People Together

Housing and community development organizations across the country are using art projects and festivals to bring diverse groups together while also helping emerging or underrepresented populations showcase their cultures within the wider community. These projects offer people of different races, cultures, and incomes -- people who otherwise might rarely interact -- the opportunity to combine their talents in service of the whole community.

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