Midwest

Electric Vehicle Charging

Five Midwest States to Develop EV Charging Network

The governors hope the agreement will create jobs, reduce emissions, and encourage more widespread adoption of electric vehicles in their states.

October 7, 2021 - NPR

Downtown Kansas City Missouri

The 'Zoom Boom' Can't Save the Midwest

Although remote work has opened up new housing possibilities for many Americans, data indicates that migration flows to 'heartland' cities have been relatively modest.

July 6, 2021 - Brookings Institution

Los Angeles, California

Two Demographic Firsts, Both Losses, for California

The nation's most populous state learned from the Census Bureau last month that it would lose a congressional district for the first time in its history. On Friday, it revealed that 2020 was the first year since 1850 to experience a population loss.

May 10, 2021 - CALmatters

Ambulance

Hospitals and Healthcare Workers Brace for Influx of COVID Patients

Coronavirus infections, while at record-high levels, have decreased during the past week, unlike hospitalizations, which are still surging. Public health experts expect it to get a lot worse due to the Thanksgiving holiday travel.

December 3, 2020 - Bloomberg News

Mass Shootings

Corona Crisis in America: The Metropolitan Area to Watch

The battle to control the coronavirus in the U.S is being led by 50 governors and the D.C. mayor, but ultimately it is at the local level where decisions are often the most consequential. Among large counties, the crisis is most severe in El Paso.

November 3, 2020 - The Texas Tribune

COVID-19

The U.S. Might Soon Be Surpassed in Coronavirus Infections

India could be on track to overtake the United States in the number of COVID-19 cases. The surge is explained by a sharp and growing urban-rural divide in the ability and willingness to follow public health measures.

October 13, 2020 - The New York Times

COVID-19 protests

Wisconsin in Crisis

Hospitals in parts of Wisconsin are experiencing a medical crisis reminiscent of New York and Arizona—they are running out of beds due to a surge of COVID-19 patients. The outbreak is statewide, showing no relationship with density.

October 11, 2020 - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Rural Pandemic

Can the Public Be Educated to Wear Masks?

The Midwest has been the epicenter of coronavirus since late August, led by North and South Dakota. Masks have the potential to significantly reduce viral transmission, but neither state mandates their use. Will a public health campaign help?

October 5, 2020 - Grand Forks Herald

Is it a COVID Car or Mask-Optional Car? Rail Commuters Decide

A midwestern commuter rail line found a unique, if controversial way to achieve 100 percent mask compliance on its trains: Set aside one car, though preferably not the bike car, for riders who opt to travel maskless.

September 28, 2020 - Streetsblog Chicago

Coronavirus COVID-19

The Changing Geography of the Pandemic

During the pandemic's first phase in March and April, the Northeast was devastated by COVID-19. After Memorial Day, the surge was in the South and West. As cases decrease nationwide, they are now spiking in the Midwest, particularly North Dakota.

August 27, 2020 - The Washington Post

Helena, Montana

President Trump's Plan to Reopen the Economy Rests with States

After initially saying that he had total authority on how and when to reopen the economy, Trump handed the responsibility to the 50 governors to make their own decisions and offered guidance in the form of a three-phase plan that relies on testing.

April 20, 2020 - The New York Times

U.S. Housing Too Expensive and Too Cheap at the Same Time

Whether or not U.S. housing is affordable comes down not only to cost but also to wages. Both vary dramatically from city to city.

July 1, 2018 - The Brookings Institute

Keeper of the Plains

A Wetter Midwest Challenges Planning and Infrastructure

FiveThirtyEight explores how planners in the Midwest are trying to get ahead of an intensifying climate.

June 1, 2018 - FiveThirtyEight

Houston, Texas

Sun Belt Cities: Booming Populations, Low GDP Growth

Population trends are often used as a shorthand for a city's economic prowess, but Pete Saunders argues they may be a lagging indicator.

March 14, 2018 - Forbes

Satellite Image

Hurricane Effect: Rising Gas Prices

One need not be on the Gulf Coast to experience some of the effects of Hurricane Harvey, a category 4 storm that landed near Corpus Christi on Friday night. Gas prices are expected to rise five to ten cents per gallon in some regions, then recede.

August 28, 2017 - USA Today

Downtown North Little Rock

Hidden Racial Tensions in 'Sundown Towns'

Some use the phrase to refer to Midwest towns where black people "aren't welcome after dark." A legacy of racial persecution has left majority-white places where black people feel their outlier status.

April 26, 2017 - Christian Science Monitor

Population Decline in the Latest Census Estimates

Not only are suburbs growing, many of the larger, older cities that had reversed decades of population decline, are now losing population, again. The biggest losers: counties with the greatest population densities.

March 28, 2017 - Governing

Detroit Street Art

Rust Belt Cities Shouldn't Demolish Their Way to the Future

In a piece for CityLab, Richey Pipparinen argues that trigger-happy city officials need to slow down their push to demolish homes.

March 9, 2017 - CityLab

Detroit - Renaissance Center

Detroit Still a Long Way from Recovery

It's fun to write miracle comeback stories, but the epic of Detroit's resurgence has been exaggerated, according to an article in The Conversation.

March 3, 2017 - The Conversation

Des Moines

Reinventing Des Moines

Fairly or unfairly, Des Moines has a solid reputation as one of the nation's least interesting cities. But unbeknownst to the rest of us, this quiet working town might become the Midwest's answer to Austin, Texas.

February 10, 2016 - Politico

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