Briefs

The momentum behind cycling on New York City streets is building, following a ramp-up in both commuter “races” and availability of two-wheeled vehicles on the streets. Citi Bike, complete with a mobile app for android and iPhone users, offers a bike-sharing co-operative for keen commuters. It features thousands of bicycles for “share” at hundreds of depots throughout the city. The evidence of the surge in popularity is seen through media-sponsored commuter races that have pitted cyclists against traditional drivers and taxi-cabs. The first race, sponsored by Transportation Alternatives (TA) in 2002, started the commuter race tradition; the competition has been held annually ever since. This year, TA collaborated with the broadcasters at NY1 on the Transportation Road Rally, which pitted a subway rider, against a cyclist and a cab driver. The cyclist won. Then, the New York Times sponsored the Bike Share Derby, running reporters on a subway, a taxi, and a bike. The reporters on bikes won three out of five races. Today, there are more than 30,000 members who pay the annual share fee for Citi Bike. Join the conversation on Twitter at #BikeNYC.

Residents of Anfield, a district of North Liverpool, London, will be writing and delivering a plan for their community’s future — as opposed to organizations and agencies doing so. They will seek to build on the strengths of their community, using a methodology called Appreciative Inquiry (AI), which a group of them has recently trained on. The next step is to engage conversations with as many people as possible — children, young people, pensioners, people on the street and business representatives. “What’s great about this community?” is the first question people will be asked. Read More

Thought leaders John McKnight and Peter Block hosted Ross Chapin recently in a discussion about how to counteract the isolation of urban life and suburban sprawl by treating space as a way to build community. Ross is an architect who is the leader in defining and designing pocket neighborhoods. Pocket neighborhoods are about nearby neighbors sharing and caring for common ground, according to Ross. "These communities don’t have to be built from scratch, or take much money at all," he says. More

The Ontario Co-operative Association (On Co-op) is facilitating a call-to-action to support the Ministry of Finance and the Financial Services Commission of Ontario in developing a business case to move some legislative changes forward. For more information visit the On Co-op Government Relations page, On Co-op executive director’s summary and call to action or read the full list of suggested changes here. Submissions are due at On Co-op by June 7th. ·