Aligning private development with community needs for equity and resiliency is one of the most powerful roles of city government.
Michelle WuRead
I think if we're going to be serious as a city, as a country, about addressing climate change, addressing inequality and racial disparities, we have to start taking action at the scale that matches the urgency of the problems.
Interpretation
Acknowledging the urgent need for action on climate change and social inequalities.
Michelle Wu emphasizes the urgency of tackling critical issues such as climate change, inequality, and racial disparities. She argues that in order for cities and countries to be taken seriously, they must take substantial, immediate action that reflects the severity of these problems, rather than merely discussing them or taking half-measures.
In practice
In a keynote speech about urban development, you might use this quote to highlight the importance of immediate environmental policies.
Aligning private development with community needs for equity and resiliency is one of the most powerful roles of city government.
We can build wealth in all our communities, value public education, plan for our neighborhoods, invest in housing we can afford and transportation that serves everyone, truly fund public health for safety and healing, and deliver on a city Green New Deal for clean air and water, healthy homes, and the brightest future for our children.
When I first ran for City Council in 2013, I was told over and over again that I would likely lose, and for reasons beyond my control: I was too young, not born in Boston, Asian American, female.
During natural disasters or emergencies, the most resilient communities - places that suffer the fewest casualties and rebuild more quickly - are not the wealthiest neighborhoods or ones that have spent the most on physical infrastructure, but rather the communities with the strongest social infrastructure.
Free public transportation is the single biggest step we could take toward economic mobility, racial equity, and climate justice.
Growing up, I never ever thought that I would or could or should be involved in politics. I didn't see anyone who looked like me in spaces of power.
If there is anything that is important to America, it is that you are not a prisoner of the past.
It's very, very difficult to reinvent yourself when you're 40 or 50, whether you are a taxi driver who now needs to become a web designer, or anything else. It just becomes more difficult and more scary.
One of the triumphs of the Civil Rights Movement is that when you travel through the South today, you do not feel overwhelmed by a residue of grievance and hate.
We focus so much on how immigrants can change America that we forget that America has always changed immigrants even more.
Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.
You have to know how to evolve with age without trying to hang on to your younger image of yourself from the past.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.