Government/Politics

Defying U.S., Israel Approves Controversial Housing Development

The Israeli announcement that 1,600 more housing units would be built in occupied East Jerusalem is causing a diplomatic crisis.
14 August 2011 - 9:00am
Globe and Mail

No Increase in Debt Ceiling Could Crash the Housing Market

Financial analysts and members of the real estate industry are worried that, if the U.S. government doesn't resolve the debt ceiling crisis soon, an already fragile housing market will be dealt a serious blow, and with it the entire U.S. economy.
22 July 2011 - 5:00am
NPR

UN Vote Against Israeli Settlements Vetoed by US

While calling Israeli settlement construction "folly" the U.S. has nonetheless vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution that would have condemned Israeli settlement construction as "illegal."
20 February 2011 - 9:00am
Al Jazeera

Will Britain's "Big Society" Version of Localism Work?

The Globe & Mail takes an in-depth look at Prime Minister David Cameron's "Big Society" agenda, which will devolve power to local communities and see an "army" of volunteers responsible for such things as running schools and maintaining parks.
15 February 2011 - 1:00pm
The Globe and Mail

San Francisco Passes Country's First Open Data Requirement

A new law requiring city agencies and departments to make "reasonable efforts" to publish their data received unanimous support from the Board of Supervisors.
11 November 2010 - 10:00am
Fast Company

A Good Mayor is Hard to Find

Steven Malanga looks at how Newark's Cory Booker and Detroit's Dave Bing are reforming their troubled cities.
11 November 2010 - 5:00am
City Journal

Camden's Public Library System to Shut its Doors

One of the nation's poorest cities is about to become the first major city in America to lose its public library owing to the states' financial crisis.
9 August 2010 - 10:00am
Salon.com

Can "Cities of Service" Meet Local Needs?

The Cities of Service coalition, a new initiative funded through Rockefeller Foundation grants, aims to facilitate local volunteer-based efforts to meet community needs.
1 July 2010 - 7:00am
Huffington Post

Cuts to Public Transit Endangering Sustainable City Agenda

In their attempts to deal with their budget deficits, state and local governments are slashing public transit funding, which may leave residents little choice but to return to their cars.
30 June 2010 - 10:00am
Guardian (UK)

Toronto's "Dysfunctional" Planning

With its planning department reporting to a deputy manager several steps removed from the mayor's office, Toronto's planning system is "just insane", writes Christopher Hume.
13 May 2010 - 8:00am
Toronto Star

Binghamton's "War Counter" to Highlight City's Budget Woes

Jo Comerford of the National Priorities Project reports on how one New York state mayor is addressing the interconnections between municipal budget shortfalls and federal spending on warfare.
13 April 2010 - 5:00am
TomDispatch

Cities, States Slashing Public Library Funding

States and cities across the U.S. are cutting public library funding at a time when people are relying on them more than ever, writes Art Brodsky.
12 April 2010 - 11:00am
Huffington Post

"Not Your Father's White House": Obama's Urban Renewal Agenda

With Adolfo Carrion Jr. appointed as a "cities czar" and federal stimulus dollars flowing to urban sustainability projects, the Obama Administration aims to concentrate development to boost "environmentally and economically viable neighborhoods."
7 October 2009 - 2:00pm
Washington Post

How the "Ownership Society" Backfired

The Bush Administration's ideology of homeownership combined with a lack of oversight contributed significantly to the collapse of the housing market and the present economic crisis, according to this New York Times investigation.
22 December 2008 - 2:00pm
New York Times

Subprime North

Two years ago, Canada opened the door to American subprime lenders, leading to a game of one-upmanship with Canada's federal mortgage insurer, CMHC.
16 December 2008 - 8:00am
The Globe and Mail

Public Lands Under an Obama Administration

Environmentalists and resources extracting industries alike are scrutinizing President-Elect Obama's election comments for indications of what his administration's public lands policies will be like.
25 November 2008 - 11:00am
McClatchey Newspapers

Don't Rebuild -- Reinvent America's Infrastructure

The deplorable state of America's infrastructure may represent a one-time opportunity: not to replace what once made sense but does no longer, but to embark on a bold program to create a more environmentally sustainable nation, writes Sara Robinson.
22 August 2008 - 8:00am
Campaign for America's Future

How U.S. Infrastructure Crumbled

With America facing a $1.6 trillion infrastructure deficit, Joanna Guldi of the Commonweal Institute laments for the era the "infrastructure state."
19 August 2008 - 11:00am
AlterNet

'Independence Day' for Housing

Congress is promising to pass before Independence Day a sweeping set of housing legislation that would offer refinancing packages, a trust fund for affordable rental housing and offer tax credits for purchasing unoccupied houses.
27 June 2008 - 10:00am
The New York Times
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