THE STATES AND LOCALITIES June 2012 $4.50 Southern Suburban &Black The shifting demographics of African- Americans are reshaping cities across the South. Alicia Newburn recently moved from the Midwest to the Dallas area. GOV06_Cover1.indd 1 5/16/12 9:11 AM 100 Blue Ravine Road Designer Creative Dir. Folsom, CA 95630 916-932-1300 Editorial Prepress $ZBO .BHFOUB :FMMPX #MBDL m PAGE Other OK to go VOL. 25, NO. 9 06.2012 FEATURES 24 THE NEW BLACK SOUTH In Dallas and other cities across the South, African-Americans are reshaping suburban neighborhoods. By Alan Greenblatt 32 PASS/FAIL The greatest public universities in America are at a tipping point. By Peter A. Harkness 40 DOES THE MANDATE MATTER? Can universal health care work without an individual mandate? Ask the states that have been answering that question for 20 years. Dennis Webb is By John Buntin the senior pastor at Bear Creek 46 WELCOME TO WALMART Community Big cities learn to love the big box. Baptist Church By Ryan Holeywell in Irving, Texas, and serves on the Dallas City 52 ON-STREET PARKING Council. Parklets are the next big tiny idea in urban planning. By Zach Patton PHOTO BY DAVID KIDD COVER PHOTO BY DAVID KIDD June 2012 | GOVERNING 1 GOV06_01 new version.indd 1 5/15/12 10:47 AM 100 Blue Ravine Road Designer Creative Dir. Folsom, CA 95630 916-932-1300 Editorial Prepress $ZBO .BHFOUB :FMMPX #MBDL m PAGE Other OK to go DEPARTMENTS 4 Publisher’s Desk 6 Letters OBSERVER 9 A Right to Resist An Indiana law says citizens can use deadly force against a cop. 10 Plastic Fantastic? This year, some tax refunds came via debit card, not a check. 12 The ABCs of iPads Do tablet computers help 22 kids learn? METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY/PATRICK CASHIN AUTHORITY/PATRICK TRANSPORTATION METROPOLITAN POLITICS + POLICY PROBLEM SOLVER 14 Dispatch 56 A New First Aid One legislative group eschews Governments are discovering the importance of partisanship for serious learning. mental health literacy. 16 Potomac Chronicle 58 Smart Management 20th-century problems bedevil Quality measures are transforming everything from today’s revenue sources. billing practices to patient behavior. FLICKR/VINCENT 17 FedWatch 59 Idea Center 59 Whatever happened to REAL ID? Illinois helps fund a new Chicago tech center for startups. 18 Health On-site health centers are worth 60 Tech Talk a pound of cure. CIOs can use a friend in the budget offi ce. 20 Green Government 62 Public Money Philadelphia revamps its sewer If a city pleads poverty in public, it can’t tell the muni and water fees to fi ght runoff . market its bonds are safe. 22 Economic Engines 64 Player Have we lost our capacity to Meet the man behind BigBelly trash cans, a recyclinging think and build big? rewards program and more. 23 Urban Notebook DMV.CA.GOV With fewer cars, what will become of the parking lot? 1717 2 GOVERNING | June 2012 GOV06_02.indd 2 5/14/12 12:58 PM 100 Blue Ravine Road Designer Creative Dir. Folsom, CA 95630 916-932-1300 Editorial Prepress $ZBO .BHFOUB :FMMPX #MBDL m PAGE Other OK to go In this school, employee protection gets straight A’s. “Being able to offer Aflac – at no cost to us – while giving our staff peace of mind and confidence really makes a difference. It’s a no-brainer.” “We are very much a family and providing Aflac to our staff shows they’re valued, appreciated and cared for. It means a lot to us.” Hear the rest of Milton’s story at aflac.com/milton Milton Gonzalez Principal McAllen, Texas Individual coverage underwritten and offered by American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus. In New York, individual coverage underwritten and offered by American Family Life Assurance Company of New York. Some policies may be available as group policies. Group coverage underwritten and offered by Continental American Insurance Company. Policies may not be available in all states. Aflac pays cash benefits directly to the insured, unless assigned. There may be indirect administrative or other costs to the employer. Individual’s travel expenses for securing this testimonial were paid by Aflac. NAD1215 100 Blue Ravine Road Designer Creative Dir. Folsom, CA 95630 916-932-1300 Editorial Prepress $ZBO .BHFOUB :FMMPX #MBDL m PAGE Other OK to go PUBLISHER’S DESK Publisher Fred Kuhn Editor Tod Newcombe Executive Editor Jonathan Walters Editor-at-Large Paul W. Taylor Managing Editor Elizabeth Daigneau Senior Editor Zach Patton Social Government Associate Editor Jessica Mulholland Chief Copy Editor Miriam Jones; Copy Editor Elaine Pittman ou’ve seen his youthful face on magazine covers, on Staff Writers Caroline Cournoyer, Ryan Holeywell, Dylan Scott TV and online. His name is Mark Zuckerberg, and he’s Correspondents John Buntin, Alan Greenblatt the 28-year-old founder and boy-wonder CEO of Face- Contributing Editors Penelope Lemov, Steve Towns book, which just went public and made Zuckerberg a Columnists Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene, William Fulton, Peter A. Y Harkness, Donald F. Kettl, Alex Marshall, Girard Miller very rich man. When it opened to everyone in 2006, Facebook Editor, Governing.com Kathy A. Gambrell had barely a million so-called friends. Today, there are 900 million Deputy Editor, Governing.com Tina Trenkner active users around the globe. Data Editor, Governing.com Michael Maciag Of course, the other major social media force is Twitter, the Social Media Specialist, Governing.com Brian Peteritas 140-character news feed that has 140 million users in the U.S. It is Creative Director Kelly Martinelli largely believed that Twitter will soon follow Facebook’s lead and Design Director & Photo Editor David Kidd go public sometime next year. All of this is to say that social media Art Director Michelle Hamm has come a long way. What started with Myspace, YouTube and Senior Designer Crystal Hopson LinkedIn, now includes Pinterest, Google Plus and Foursquare. Illustrator Tom McKeith The biggest users of these platforms are, not surprisingly, those Production Director Stephan Widmaier under the age of 30, with 61 percent of them networking on a typi- Chief Marketing Offi cer Margaret Mohr cal day, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project. Marketing Director Meg Varley-Keller But even baby boomers are networking—their usage surged from 20 to 32 percent last year. Founder & Publisher Emeritus Peter A. Harkness And just as social media has changed how we interact, it’s also reshaped the face of journalism. When Rep. Gabrielle Giff ords Advertising Associate Publisher Erin Waters [email protected] and 18 others were shot on Jan. 8, 2011, in Tucson, Ariz., many Account Directors Jennifer Gladstone 281-888-4125; Erica Kraus 202- media outlets fi rst learned about the tragedy via Twitter. Social 862-1458; Brian Searles 202-862-1441 media has not only increased the speed at which we get our news, VP Strategic Accounts Jon Fyff e jfyff [email protected] it also has changed how we receive it Account Director Strategic Accounts Shelley Ballard [email protected] and, most important, how readers inter- Account Manager Kori Kemble 202-862-1448 act with the stories, the sources and the Offi ce Manager Alina Grant 202-862-1450 writers who put it all together. Digital Media Associate Elisabeth Frerichs 202-862-1468 At Governing, we’ve used Twitter, Media Account Coordinators Kelly Erhard and Hillary Leeb Facebook and LinkedIn, among others, Marketing/Classifi ed [email protected] for some time. We’ve encouraged readers CEO Dennis McKenna to use social networks to launch discus- COO Paul Harney sions around our articles, and they can CAO Lisa Bernard receive daily, even hourly, updates on Executive Editor Steve Towns breaking stories. Our goal is to let the Executive VP Cathilea Robinett Governing community interact and share VP Strategic Initiatives Marina Leight By Fred Kuhn, Publisher experiences and information long after a Reprint Information story has been written. Reprints of all articles in this issue and past issues are available One sign of just how important this trend has become is (500 minimum). Please direct inquiries for reprints and licensing to evident in our hiring of a social media specialist. Brian Peteri- Wright’s Media: 877-652-5295, [email protected] tas, who received his communications degree from Penn State Subscription/Circulation Service University before coming to Governing, will be using the most Eenie Yang [email protected] current social networking platforms and tools to help you http://www.governing.com/subscribe engage with our community in ways not possible in the past. Governing (ISSN 0894-3842) is published monthly by e.Republic Inc., with offi ces It really is a phenomenon. at 1100 Connecticut Ave. N.W., Suite 1300, Washington, D.C. 20036 and at 100 Blue On a personal note, this will actually be my last Publisher’s Ravine Road, Folsom, CA 95630. Telephone: 202-862-8802. Fax: 202-862-0032. Email: [email protected]. Periodical postage paid in Washington, D.C., and at Desk. I am shifting my focus to other projects for Governing additional mailing offi ces. Copyright 2012 e.Republic Inc. All rights reserved. Repro- magazine and our publisher, e.Republic. However, we still need duction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. Governing, Governing.com and City & State are registered trademarks of e.Republic to know how we’re doing. Please continue to send your thoughts Inc.; unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. 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