Jay Walljasper
Jay Walljasper, editor of OnTheCommons.org and author of All That We Share and The Great Neighborhood Book, writes widely about cities, community, sustainability and travel. On The Commons is a commons movement strategy center.
Articles by this author
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Views Thursday, January 05, 2012 12 Reasons You'll Be Hearing More About the Commons in 2012 1. The Commons is Essential to Our Health, Security & Survival Read more |
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Views Thursday, December 22, 2011 How to Boost Biking and Walking Even Further in Your City After being acclaimed as America’s best city for biking, what can you possibly do for an encore? Well, in the case of Minneapolis, you do even more bicycling—and more walking too. Read more |
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Views Friday, November 04, 2011 Elinor Ostrom Outlines Best Strategies for Managing the Commons A breakthrough for the commons came in 2009 when Elinor Ostrom won the Nobel Prize for Economics. The first woman awarded this honor, the Indiana University political scientist not only made history but also helped debunk widespread notions that the commons inevitably leads to tragedy. Read more |
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Views Friday, October 28, 2011 Why Are Bikes Being Targeted by Congress? How in the the world can biking and walking be controversial? Read more |
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Views Sunday, August 07, 2011 Beyond Hope: Where We Go After the Budget Deal Disaster? I’ve been walking around in state of disbelief since hearing about the 11th hour budget deal reached between the White House and Congressional Republicans. It feels like a transformative moment in our history, the economic equivalent of December 6, 1941 or August 6, 1945. Read more |
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Views Thursday, July 07, 2011 Why Cycling is More Patriotic Than Flag Waving On the 4th of July my wife Julie and I were biking through downtown Minneapolis to see fireworks at the Mississippi River when someone shouted at us: “Take your clothes off.” We weren’t sure whether to be offended or flattered, until realizing we had pedaled into the midst of a naked bicycle ride. Read more |
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Views Wednesday, June 15, 2011 A Simple Idea to Transform the Life of Our Cities I am perplexed by the almost complete lack of pedestrian districts in North America. Why is it that car-free streets—designed for pleasurable strolling, shopping and hanging out—which have become as common as stoplights or McDonalds in European city centers, are almost non-existent here? Read more |
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Views Saturday, May 28, 2011 Expanding Bike Programs Makes Sense in a Time of Shrinking Budgets and Soaring Gas Prices Gas prices have raced toward four bucks for the second time in three years. So it’s more crucial than ever to find quick, enduring ways to free our nation from overdependence on oil. Millions of Americans suffer when prices at the pump rise, because they have no alternative to driving almost everywhere they go. We need to create a transportation system that will not be held hostage by volatile fuel prices. Read more |
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Views Monday, March 28, 2011 How to Design a Neighborhood for Happiness Biology is destiny, declared Sigmund Freud. Read more |
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Views Thursday, February 24, 2011 From Middle East to Madison, Justice Depends on Public Spaces The influence of the new digital commons in democratic uprisings from Tunisia to Egypt to Bahrain has been chronicled at length in news reports from the Middle East, with Facebook, twitter and other social media winning praise as dictatorbusters. Read more |