Video and photos by Vignesh Ramachandran Artist Erin Salazar is determined to identify “ugly beige walls” throughout San Jose, Calif., and transform them into colorful murals. “I want to help be able to give San Jose a visual identity, where you can see a couple of murals and be like, ‘Those are San Jose,’” said […]
Article · December 3, 2015 by Vignesh Ramachandran
Photo above: Swede Hollow Park in St. Paul, Minn. by Teresa Boardman on Flickr. It was a recent winter in St. Paul, Minn., when Jennifer Strahan was trying to find a place to take her then-4-year-old daughter to play. Strahan said it took her a half-hour to navigate websites and dive into PDFs to find […]
Article · November 24, 2015 by Vignesh Ramachandran
Photo credit: 8 80 Cities. America’s 10th largest city – San Jose – is going to breathe a little bit easier this weekend, when six miles of roads are closed to cars and open exclusively to pedestrians, skaters and bicyclists. The inaugural Viva CalleSJ open street event takes place Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 […]
Article · October 9, 2015 by Vignesh Ramachandran
YouTube: Data Docs – Bringing Data Literacy To The Masses With Interactive Videos And Live Data Do you have an idea for how we might make data work for individuals and communities? The Knight News Challenge on Data will open Sept. 8 seeking the best ideas around that question. The challenge, open to anyone from […]
Article · September 3, 2015 by Vignesh Ramachandran
Photo: Jessica Ladd by TEDxMidAtlantic on Flickr. Jessica Ladd believes her whole life has pointed her toward working in sexual health and well-being. Ladd, 29, is founder and CEO of Sexual Health Innovations, a nonprofit focused on using technology to break down barriers for communication around sexual health issues. She grew up on San Francisco’s […]
Article · August 12, 2015 by Vignesh Ramachandran
Above: Chris Rudd (second from left) director of the Juvenile Justice Council at Mikva Challenge, with other Knight Prototype Fund recipients. Photo by Michael Bolden. The stigma of having an unsealed juvenile record can hurt employment opportunity for youth even years later as an adult. And the legal process for expungement – or erasing that […]
Article · August 7, 2015 by Vignesh Ramachandran
Silicon Valley Suburbia (cc) by Travis Wise on Flickr.com The cost of living in Silicon Valley continues to skyrocket: The median sales price has soared above $800,000 while the median rent is almost $2,900 in Santa Clara County, according to Zillow. New membership organization SV@Home is focusing on promoting more affordable housing in a region […]
Article · August 7, 2015 by Vignesh Ramachandran
Photos by WBEZ Chicago. When Chicagoans were curious earlier this year what it might be like to live directly adjacent to the city’s elevated train tracks, public radio station WBEZ answered the question with an in-depth story and podcast. The reporters went through public records to find complaints and interviewed homeowners and renters. Turns out: […]
Article · July 27, 2015 by Vignesh Ramachandran
In a region where technologists at companies such as Uber, Lyft, Tesla and Google are trying to disrupt transportation, a growing community of civic hackers is working on innovating Silicon Valley’s existing public transportation system. On Saturday, as part of National Day of Civic Hacking, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority – known as VTA […]
Article · June 5, 2015 by Vignesh Ramachandran
Shoppers at a downtown farmer’s market in Sacramento, Calif. Photo by Flickr user Robert Couse-Baker. One of the biggest issues facing the more than 8,000 farmers markets across the United States doesn’t concern fruit and vegetables. Instead, it’s the data – or lack thereof. Farmers Market Coalition – a national nonprofit working to improve the […]
Article · May 15, 2015 by Vignesh Ramachandran
Marie-Catherine Beuth. “Being lazy is a sign of intelligence.” That’s what Marie-Catherine Beuth’s grandfather used to tell her. But take one look at what Beuth has accomplished and it’s clear she’s far from lazy. Beuth’s grandfather didn’t mean “lazy” in the literal sense. He was talking about efficiency: Aim for the best possible results with […]
Article · May 11, 2015 by Vignesh Ramachandran