(Photo by Hansjörg Keller / Unsplash)
Welcome back to The Weekly Wrap, our Friday roundup of stories that explain the problems oppressing people in cities and elevate the solutions that bring us closer to economic, environmental and social justice.
Have news, resources or events that should be included in this newsletter? Let us know. We’re reachable at wrapped@nextcity.org.
Curated by Roshan Abraham
Workers Demand a Living Wage Ahead of 2028 Olympics
Tourism workers in Los Angeles are demanding a wage increase ahead of the 2028 Olympics in the city, the LA Times reports. More than 100 hotel, airport and for hire vehicle workers, organizing as the Tourism Workers Rising Coalition, rallied at city hall to make the demand for a $25 an hour wage that would increase to $30 an hour by 2028.
While the city has said that the Olympics would be an economic boon to the city, many workers who would handle the influx of spectators said they are working multiple jobs to stay afloat and face ongoing housing precarity. The wage increase was proposed last year by L.A. city councilmembers.
New York State Laws Fighting Deed Theft Go Into Effect
A new law in New York State that establishes deed theft as a crime and grants the attorney general the ability to prosecute it went into effect last week, Times Union reports. The law expands the statute of limitation on deed theft to two years after the homeowner realizes the crime occurred or five years after the crime occurred, whichever is later. Deed theft occurs when speculators convince homeowners, often elderly and frequently Black, to sign over the deed to their house under false pretenses. A separate law that went into effect last year allows courts to restore deeds to their rightful owner. The law came after organized groups of fraudsters have been commit rampant deed theft in Brooklyn in recent years.
El Paso Pauses Guaranteed Income After Legal Challenge
A guaranteed income program in El Paso County, which was intended to give some low-income families $500 a month, is on pause as the state’s supreme court decides whether a similar program in Harris County violates its constitution, El Paso Matters reports.
The Harris County program was paused in June after a lawsuit from Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, who argued that the state constitution does not allow grants of public funds to private individuals. (The Harris County attorney general disagreed, saying that this clause was designed to address political corruption, state programs.) The El Paso program was to set aside $900,000 to pay 135 families $500 a month for a year. $500,000 of those funds were from federal American Rescue Plan funds.
Eric Adams Needs Progressive Friends For Housing Plan
Mayor Eric Adams’ “City of Yes” housing plan, which is intended to streamline housing construction across the city, is being met with opposition from centrist lawmakers who typically align with Adams on other issues, Politico reports. The law would create denser zoning in suburban areas and make it easier to approve additional dwelling units and basement apartments, all changes that housing advocates have been requesting for years.
All but five of the city’s 59 community boards voted against the plan (a de Blasio-era citywide rezoning was similarly widely rejected by community boards, whose votes are advisory). But the council members who are more open to the changes are also progressives that Adams has been antagonistic towards. These include Lincoln Restler, whom Adams openly mocked at a press conference last year.
Women’s Sports Bars Are Growing in Popularity
Since the women’s sports bar “The Sports Bra” opened in Portland, Oregon in 2022, the bar has been used by elected officials to pitch bringing the WNBA to Oregon and helped win Portland’s place as the Women’s Final Four in 2030, The 19th reports.
The bar also inspired plans for similar bars in Salem, Oregon, Seattle, Washington, Long Beach, Minneapolis, Austin, New York City, San Francisco, Atlanta Chicago and Denver. Women’s sports have been growing in popularity and are projected to bring in $1 billion in revenue this year.
Curated by Aysha Khan
MORE NEWS
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Michigan court clears way for higher wages, overruling legislature. The New York Times
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Study: We can save pedestrians after dark — if road designers ‘see the light.’ Streetsblog
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Weeks after Hurricane Beryl, Black Houston neighborhoods are still recovering. Prism
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The hidden role of public pensions in raising rents in California. The L.A. Times
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With the Astor Place Starbucks closed, what happens to the union? The New York Groove
RESOURCES & OPPORTUNITIES
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The final round of federal grants to reconnect neighborhoods split by highways and other transportation infrastructure is available. States, local governments, metropolitan planning organizations, tribal governments and nonprofit organizations are eligible to apply by Sept. 30. Access the application here.
EVENTS
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Sponsored: Aug. 14 at 1 p.m. Eastern: ThirdSpace Action Lab and Next City are hosting “Do the Right Thing,” a webinar looking at the past, present and future of the community development sector. Register here.
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Aug. 31 at 4 p.m. Eastern: University of Oregon’s Urbanism Next center will host “The Devil’s in the Details: Shared Mobility and Greenhouse Gas Emissions,” reviewing its new literature review on how bikeshare, e-scooters, microtransit, carsharing, ride-hailing, and autonomous vehicles can increase or decrease GHG emissions. Register here.
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Sept. 12 at 1 p.m. Eastern: The Center for Creative Land Recycling and Groundwork USA are hosting a 90-minute workshop to share how to effectively use their new guide and discover practical steps to embed environmental justice principles in every phase of the land reuse process. Register here.