Local Self-Reliance

For the past several years, the good folks at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance in Washington, D.C. have been working to help urban residents gain greater control over their lives through the use of low-technology, decentralist tools and concepts. We strongly believe that more people (city dwellers and country folk alike) should be exposed to the institute's admirable efforts .. . which is why we've made this "what's happening where" report by the ILSR staffers one of MOTHER's regular features.

It's amazing how much valuable information on local self-reliance exists but fails to reach the people who could best use it. For one reason or another, a book or report may receive so little publicity that even ILSR staffers have a hard time tracking it down! Here, however, are some new and interesting publications that we did manage to locate. One or more of them just might intrigue you, too.

IMPROVING URBAN ENVIRONMENT

Not many people know about it, but a group called The Climate Project—which works out of Dayton, Ohio—has been making cities more livable for several years now. The Project recently published an unusually detailed report on its "grass parking lot" experiment. The 30,000-square-foot area, which is big enough to accommodate some 80 cars, is paved with lattice concrete. . . allowing grass to grow in the spaces between the paving strips. The checkerboard lawn, in turn, helps keep the surrounding area cool, reduces costly water runoff, and improves the appearance of the lot.

In its report, the Project covers the zoning regulations and required permits, site description and design, specifications, the choice of plant materials available to anyone wanting to duplicate these efforts, costs, and the organization's efforts to evaluate the undertaking. (It even has a special section on "lessons learned".)

Single copies of the Project Description (as the report is called) are $2.75 . . . and anyone who wants to keep up with the group's ongoing work can subscribe to its excellent quarterly newsletter, the International Dayton Line, which reports on similar urban projects around the world. Subscriptions—which cost only $4.00 annually—are available from the Dayton Climate Project, City Manager's Office, Dept. TMEN, Box 22, Dayton, Ohio 45401.

NEIGHBORHOOD GOVERNMENT

Neighborhood government was quite a popular subject of discussion ten or so years ago, but you don't hear much about it now. In point of fact, no city or town in America has what can properly be called a functioning neighborhood government . . . that is, one which has the power to tax or to legislate.

There are, however, scores of community councils that have gained the official recognition of local governments and that advise administrators on neighborhood issues. A bi-monthly newsletter (Neighborhood Ideas), about community involvement in local government, is being put out by Howard Hallman of the Civic Action Institute, Dept. TMEN, 1010 16th Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036. Subscrip tions are available for $20 yearly from that address.

We also tracked down a detailed plan for neighborhood government proposed by a municipal judge in Cleveland. In Cities Within a City, Burt W. Griffin describes a two-tier system under which Cleveland City Hall would be responsible for collecting taxes, doing the accounting and central purchasing, and distributing funds to "subcities". The latter organizations would run such municipal services as street repair, snow removal, local park and real property improvements, refuse collection, fire control, and law enforcement. Griffin has an intriguing idea, although he does raise as many questions as he answers. His book is available for $8.45 (postpaid) from Gildenmeister-Herman Booksellers, Dept. TMEN, 13214 Shaker Square, Cleveland, Ohio 44120.