Each week, here at ICMA’s Next Generation Initiative, we do quite a bit of reading…really a monstrous amount of reading. From blog posts to articles to books (well, e-books mostly) we are always reading something about local government to keep us caught up with all the latest trends, theories and news. But keeping what we are reading to ourselves seems…selfish. So starting this week, we will be bringing you some of our favorite reads from ICMA and beyond. And, as an extra added bonus, we will also share with you at least one twitter feed that we get great local government management material from for you to follow each week.

This week, we are reading:

1. This great blog post from Nafia Khan, where she discusses her experience as a local government management fellow in the City of Fort Lauderdale, FL. If you were on the fence about whether or not to apply to the LGMF program, Nafia’s blog should certainly convince you. 
2. Mapping the Paths Most Traveled, an article from CityLabs about a project from Mapbox which mapped the routes of over a million walks and runs in cities across the globe. How would you use their project and data to inform the locations of, for example, bike paths?
3. Speaking of bikes, we read all about a great project for an underground bike parking system in Japan, that we would love to see make an appearance here in DC…
4. Good Managers and Dedicated Streets, an interview with Enrique Penalosa, former mayor of Bogota, Colombia, which focuses on smart urban designs for roadways.
5. The 5 Best and Worst Food Desert Cities, an interesting look at what the data from the website Walk Score says about the availability of real food in urban centers.

This week, we are following:

We spent some time scrolling through the @citylab newsfeed. Follow to get data driven stories and the latest coverage from The Atlantic about the cities of the future.