This story was originally published by Reasons to be Cheerful
3 min read
Welcome back to our weekly behind-the-scenes glimpse at what’s getting our team talking. Tell us what you’ve been reading at info@reasonstobecheerful.world and we just might feature it here.
To the polls
If you’ve been following The Depolarization Project, our big series leading up to the U.S. midterm elections, you know that we’ve got our eye on stories about surprising ways that people are defying division. If you haven’t, spoiler alert: We’ve found a whole lot of folks who are reaching out with curiosity — and listening with care with those who don’t agree with them.
And as the Wall Street Journal found in a recent survey, there are several key areas in which American voters are more aligned than we may think, including affordable health care and immigration. Wondering how your views stack up? RTBC Executive Editor Will Doig shared a quiz the WSJ put together.
Will says:
It’s amazing how much agreement there is on some of the major issues when you strip away the politics and just look at what people actually want.
Branching out
We love a tree story around here: We’ve covered the French city that champions its trees, how Stockholm is sprouting healthy trees from concrete, creating more shade in Tucson, how 111 trees per daughter transformed an Indian village, and more. Now, a new study has quantified the health benefits of trees, as bioGraphic reports in a story shared by Editorial Director Rebecca Worby.
The study found that if 144 U.S. cities reach their tree canopy goals, more than 67,000 premature deaths could be avoided, while another recent study found that just maintaining existing urban trees and green spaces prevents more than 133,000 premature deaths.
As Diane Pataki, an urban ecologist at Arizona State University, tells bioGraphic, making green spaces a public health priority requires a mindset shift. “People don’t have a lot of qualms about paying for their sewage treatment plants,” she notes.
Becca says:
We all know trees are good, but now there’s new data pointing to just what a difference they make in our health.
What else we’re reading
A New Space for Affordable Homes: Above the Library — shared by RTBC Founder David Byrne from Bloomberg CityLab
What a Year of Free Money Meant: Softer Diapers, Clean Laundry, a Visit to Six Flags — shared by Will Doig from the New York Times
Dinosaur Masks, Easels, 1,000 Top Hats: Inside NYC’s Free Store for Teachers — shared by Rebecca Worby from The City Reporter
From our readers…
Reader Ruby wrote to us this week to share this Colorado Sun story about the largest wildlife overpass in North America, which was created to help animals like elk and deer safely cross one of Colorado’s busiest stretches of highway. Since it opened last year, wildlife-vehicle collisions have dropped by over 90 percent.
Thanks, Ruby!
The post What We’re Reading: A Quiz That Reveals Americans’ Surprising Common Ground appeared first on Reasons to be Cheerful.
