– Your Bright Brothers Team
David Romako / Josh Yeager /  Brandi Walsh

Can we please take a moment to celebrate twenty years of Complete Streets progress? We’re applauding these newly released, interactive maps that show rapid adoption of Complete Streets policies nationwide. Since 2000, over 1,500 communities across the country have implemented these initiatives. Complete Streets are streets designed and operated to enable safe use and support mobility for all users, including people of all ages and abilities, regardless of whether they are travelling as drivers, pedestrians, bicyclists, or public transportation riders. They may address a wide range of elements, such as sidewalks, bicycle lanes, bus lanes, public transportation stops, crossing opportunities, median islands, accessible pedestrian signals, curb extensions, modified vehicle travel lanes, streetscape, and landscape treatments. One study found that 43% of people reporting a place to walk were significantly more likely to meet current recommendations for regular physical activity than were those reporting no place to walk. Hear, hear for a chicken in every pot, and two sidewalks for everyone!

There’s just so much love out there lately, we decided to highlight two different articles that made our hearts swell. First off, we just couldn’t ignore the inherent beauty of these idled Thai taxis turned green gardens. Since the pandemic hit, taxi travel in Bangkok is down significantly, leaving thousands of cars out of service. Workers from two taxi cooperatives are growing tomatoes, cucumbers and string beans atop the vehicles now instead of picking up paying fares.

The second piece to tug at our heartstrings this week is a huge new mural in Paris showing the role of art in the refugee crisis. Painted on the side of an abandoned factory that plays home to refugees from around the globe, the 40 foot mural was spearheaded by the New York-based public arts program Artolution and the global non-profit organization Serve the City. They’re aiming to bring visibility and hope to the residents of the largest migrant settlement in the Paris region. “We want this amazing, monumental piece of artwork to be able to help catalyze something better to improve their lives,” says Artolution co-founder Max Frieder, according to this moving piece by Next City. Share the best of your community with us!

Photo credit: Sakchai Lalit, Taxis  and Porus Jain, Mural

Employee disengagement is nothing new, and according to a 2020 Gallup poll, just 20% of employees globally felt engaged with their job. And while Millennials shook things up in the office, it’s Gen Z that is poised to make the most radical changes in the workforce by questioning and reimagining what “going to work” means, and how the workplace of the future may have a completely different face to it.

Photo credit: Proxyclick Visitor Management System, Unsplash 

Look no further than your lunch plate to brand your location. This fascinating piece from NPR explores how local and regional cuisines can be the driving force behind tourism, resilience and international relations. So grab your knife and fork and dive into a heaping plateful of gastrodiplomacy. Bon appétit!

Photo credit: Krista Stucchio, Unsplash

We’re fans of food and we’re history buffs here at Bright Brothers Strategy Group, and this definitive guide to the oldest restaurant in every state will have you salivating – and learning in the process. Start your bucket list now and let us know if you’ve been to any of these storied and savory drinking holes, taverns, inns, restaurants and delicious dining rooms!

Photo credit: Theme Photos, Unsplash