It’s time to make your hometown a Transition Town. The energy challenge is real and is here to stay.

As an economist, I often enjoy addressing interesting policy challenges from the perspective of market solutions instead of strong regulation. This can be as complex as climate change, or as simple as snow removal. Let’s consider the latter, since people seem to be discounting the reality of global warming right now because of a blizzard or two and well, it’s a problem literally right outside their door.

Up until this week I’ve been car-free, thanks to PhillyCarShare. As the snow fell during the past two blizzards it felt good not having to shovel out my car since it’s taken care of for me as part of the service. Those that did have cars, however, quickly reverted to territorial instincts once their car was dug out, “claiming the space” with trash cans and porch furniture. Mayor Nutter even stated that:

“Look, if you spent two hours digging your car out … ultimately that has to be something respected by the community”

Most cities take the same approach, suspending enforcement of right of way laws until the mounds of snow thaw. Others, such as Northampton, MA, take snow clearing more seriously, forcing every car owner to park their car in central lots (or tow them away, as I learned while living there) and then plowing every street in town. Reading, PA, on the other hand, is taking a different approach, clearing away items and enforcing right-of-way laws. They claim the items also are obstructing street clearing efforts.

Now I’m not criticizing this decision, because I’m not an expert in Public Works, but I wonder if a better solution could be developed. Claiming a parking space you made the effort to clear is a nice example of the importance of property rights, only different in scale of clearing land to plant crops or build a house. When you expend labor effort into something, society generally respects that right by issuing a title to the result. In this case it would be the parking space, and most communities honor this unwritten rule.

So what could be done from a public policy perspective for this challenge? I propose issuing seasonal parking permits for inclement weather. Residents who wish to protect their parking space could apply for a permit in the form of a laminated tag and attach it to approved items. Properties with multiple cars could be charged progressive fees based on the number of vehicles. When the weather gets bad, the city could announce that season permit parking is in effect and enforce the policy for permit holders. When conditions improve, the city would revert to normal right-of-way enforcement and ticket permit-holders still reserving spaces.

Such an approach would have attractive benefits. Blizzards are costly and often unanticipated expenditures in municipal budgets. The parking permits would bring in a significant amount of supplemental revenue to help offset snow removal operations. From the residents’ perspectives, it would offer peace of mind and perhaps cause more private initiative in clearing out most of the curbside spaces, which coincidentally might reduce the need for municipal removal.

Of course there are many more details in attempting to design something like this, but I have no doubt a workable solution could be drawn up. In fact, there’s a lot cities could do to address parking issues year round, but this will have to wait for another day. I have to go use my car right now, and I hope my space will be waiting when I return.

Local food security is an essential objective to regional sustainability initiatives. In Reinventing Reading I discuss the importance of this in the section “Food Supply.”

In a nutshell, local food and other agricultural products offer many benefits to a community, including improving the regional economy,  reducing the environmental impact and shortage risks of importation, and protecting invaluable farm land from sprawl pressures.

The Bountiful Berks initiative appears to be an important first step towards strengthening regional food security in the Reading-Berks area. They will be producing a logo to help identify locally-grown food that can be displayed in markets and working to connect growers and sellers. This effort builds on Pennsylvania’s existing initiatives such as the PA Buy Fresh, Buy Local campaign.

With enough support, this initiative could channel economic growth from the farm to the plate, creating jobs and business opportunities in local food preparation, distribution, and retailing. Developing a “local focus” is a key approach to revitalizing the region, and promoting home-grown food is a great start.

I’ve been meaning to put together something more personalized than available with Facebook, Twitter, and all that. Consider this a sort-of “sounding board” for more detailed thoughts and ideas I’ve been having. This will be useful to me, at least, as I am about to embark on some pretty ambitious goals, including graduate school, starting a business, and transforming my hometown while its in perhaps its worst condition.

As an introduction, I’m a systems thinker type, with a background in economics, technology, and sustainability. I hope to become a World changer one day, and believe that developing my ability to solve problems while expanding my circle of influence can get me there. Along the way, I’ve got some things I hope to achieve, and will attempt to journal important parts of the journey.

Off we go…