Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

Our Place On The Map, Chester Smolski, Anne K. Petry

Smolski Texts

"National Geography Awareness Week (Nov. 11-17) will have special significance for the schools of Rhode Island. The National Geographic Society has just awarded a $1000 planning grant to the two of us, one of such seven awards granted this year, to begin the process by which all of our schools may again bring geography to its full importance in the curriculum."

Land Costs Make For High-Cost Housing Starts, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Here in the Northeast, where housing prices are among the highest in the nation, it is difficult to find measures to reduce the price of housing to make it more affordable. Even with talk of an impending recession, house prices have moderated only slightly, and the real estate business finds itself in a very troubled state."

Charting Migration And Miscalculation, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"There was cause for celebration last March 6 at the Department of Commerce building in Washington, D.C. The achievement was the recording of 250 million on the bureau's "population odometer," a device which records the population of this nation at any moment.

Based upon average births, deaths, immigration and emigration, a number is added every 14 seconds to the odometer, for a daily increase of about 6300. It was expected that the population total of 250 million would be confirmed with the results of the April 1 census. But preliminary figures indicate that the country has not yet reached this …

Voting Districts Can Be A Bone Of Contention, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Size rather than number of voters is the criterion used in establishing district size. The difference in size between the largest and smallest districts from the ideal district, where all districts have the same population, is a source of contention. In 182 when Providence changed from 13 to 15 wards, there was a deviation of 10.6 percent between wards, deemed acceptable by the courts because, the judge ruled, the US Supreme Court has said 1.9 percent is acceptable. In the recent Johnston case, the total deviation came to 52.7 percent--a figure much too high to accept."

A Note To Candidates: Look At Housing, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"The 1980s will be remembered as the time of the federal government's decimation of housing policies and programs that previous administrations had sought so diligently to design and implement. Candidates for federal and state offices need to be aware of current housing problems and possible measures that will improve housing in the state. The following are major concerns and suggested action proposals to help alleviate the housing plight of state residents.

Demographics Will Dictate The Future Of Business, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"If one could predict the future numbers of a population with some accuracy, that projected data would be most valuable, especially to business."

Now We Are Counted, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"There is an unusual clock in the Department of Commerce building in Washington. Looking like an auto's mileage odometer, it records the nation's population. Another single number is added to the total every 14 seconds. On March 6, the population odometer reached 250 million, which should be the number reported from this year's tally by the U.S. Census Bureau, the 21st decennial census in our country's history."

Communities For Elderly As Money-Making Ventures, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Fifteen miles northwest of downtown Phoenix, Ariz., you can see it in the distance: a veritable white walled oasis. A six-to-eight foot tall black fence nearly encloses it, cutting it from the sparsely settled desert and agricultural lands that surround it, providing a haven of community living that makes it one of the best-known residential areas in the nation."