Housing projects: Paris curates its streets, and Navajo homes get addresses
Staff
Navajo Nation residents in Utah received accurate new home addresses to strengthen voting rights
Rural communities often rely on step-by-step, descriptive addresses to access services. But this can lead to logistical snafus, such as emergency vehicles鈥� delayed response.
Using Google鈥檚 open-source Plus Codes, the Rural Utah Project has helped register over 9,000 rural voters, which includes more than 3,100 new addresses for Navajo residents.
Plus Codes are simple combinations of letters and numbers that can be generated for any place on the planet. The United States Postal Service does not recognize Plus Codes, but users have found them beneficial for receiving private parcels and even health care services.
Why We Wrote This
Our progress roundup looks at two places people call home and what is being done to enhance life in each. For some Navajo residents, new, reliable street addresses smooth the path to voting. And in Paris, public housing is a sought-after commodity.
Daylene Redhorse, the project lead in Navajo Nation, fought for the trust of Native Americans, who didn鈥檛 have suffrage in every state until the 1960s. Another group, the Navajo Nation Addressing Authority, is working on getting streets named throughout the reservation.
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A women-run city bus program serves one of the poorest areas of Colombia鈥檚 capital and is turning a profit
Instituted by term-limited former Mayor Claudia L贸pez, the initiative began in 2022 as part of a broader effort to tackle lack of gender equity in Bogot谩. The fleet of 195 vehicles is the second-largest electric fleet outside of China.
Sixty percent of La Rolita鈥檚 500 drivers are women, and the program reports fewer accident-related injuries than private bus operators in Bogot谩 do. General manager Carolina Martinez said that women may feel safer with female drivers in a city where 84.3% of women report experiencing sexual harassment on public transit. Over 100 of the program鈥檚 drivers use flexible work hours to care for their families or pursue higher education.
Some drivers say they鈥檝e encountered sexist attitudes from male passengers. Yet La Rolita garnered a 91% satisfaction rating in a city survey, compared with 29.7% for other bus services听in Bogot谩.
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Under the mixit茅 sociale (diversity) policy, Paris works to keep the city affordable and maintain its character
While property prices have dropped slightly in recent years, the average price for a 1,000-square-foot apartment is 鈧�1.3 million ($1.41 million). Today, one-quarter of Parisians live in government-owned housing, and the demand is increasing, with a waitlist of six years. The city can legally buy most properties for sale for conversion to public housing, and has renovated or built more than 82,000 apartments for families in the past three decades.
From florists to bookstores, the city tries to maintain a mix of small businesses in each neighborhood. Paris is landlord to 19% of its shops, which enjoy below-market-rate rent.
Though mixit茅 sociale is expensive, policymakers on the left and right generally agree on its benefits.
鈥淎 city, if it鈥檚 only made up of poor people, is a disaster,鈥� said Benoist Apparu, a former housing minister in a conservative government. 鈥淎nd if it鈥檚 only made up of rich people, it鈥檚 not much better.鈥�
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A fellowship program in Nigeria trains women journalists in investigative reporting
A 2017 survey of 85 Nigerian newsrooms found that men held the vast majority of editorial leadership positions, with a ratio as high as 10 to 2. The Women Radio Centre鈥檚 annual workshop provides mentorship, coaching, and resources to support investigative stories.
In 2022 the first weeklong residential program was supported by the MacArthur Foundation, after which participants were given laptops and other tools to aid them in their investigations. For the latest class, the three-day session concluded with each fellow receiving a grant to support future reporting.
The program has limited space, selecting only 20 out of 1,552 applicants from around the country in 2023. It is 鈥渁 beautiful place to learn, make friends, and network,鈥� said Angela Nkwo-Akpolu. 鈥淓mbrace it, give it your best, I assure you the benefits will be limitless.鈥�
Sources: , for the Study of Journalism, Solutions Journalism Network
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With more M膩ori designs in the landscape, New Zealand celebrates Indigenous architecture and culture
Making up 17% of the population, the M膩ori are the country鈥檚 largest nonwhite ethnic group.
In the suburbs of Auckland, a new meeting house and education center 鈥� Taumata o Kupe 鈥� soars into the sky. The building鈥檚 sail-shaped form and decoration include the story of the first M膩ori arrival in what is now New Zealand.
Using funds from a settlement with the government, one North Island tribe has built award-winning affordable housing for its members, with features such as shared gardens and playgrounds. Jade Kake, an Indigenous architect whose firm is north of Auckland, designs homes for collective living, where the structures can accommodate changing family patterns.
Auckland鈥檚 city council adopted a series of M膩ori architecture principles in 2016. 鈥淭he principles can be misused,鈥� said Ms. Kake. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 more about the process than the product, ensuring that the consultation and co-design process is meaningful.鈥�
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