The Brookings Institution’s “Hamilton Project” is sponsoring a competition to encourage new and innovating thinking on economic policy which focuses on US job creation and / or enhanced productivity.   $15,000 for the winning proposal, and a split of $10,000 to place and show isn’t a king’s ransom, but the incentive is real, and the prestige of winning the competition is likely the greater payoff.

From the competition site:  “The competition is open to academic, business and policy professionals who can demonstrate an original policy solution for increasing employment and productivity within two years of its implementation.”  This kind of competition has the potential to generate unique ideas from outside of typical policy circles – here’s hoping that some much-needed innovations result from the scrum of ideas.  If I think of something good, maybe I’ll apply.  Anybody want to share an idea, the writing duties, and perhaps some prize money?

Competition Details

Back in September I posted about the Better Block Project in Oak Cliff - the Dallas neighborhood that is shaking up the status quo with a focus on redeveloping a "cool" community in a formerly dilapidated neighborhood.  Since then, BetterBlock.org has come online as a stand-alone home for the project, and the "how-to" pointers are still easily accessible. Better still - the blog on the front page updates news from Better Block projects and experiments around the country.

It's catching on - Houston, New York, Boston projects are all coming up, according to the news feed - and it represents a real potential for demonstrating citizen-sourced redevelopment plans for our cities. Place matters, and these guys are helping to show the way.