The Nation

Close-up of white building with orange arch details against blue sky in Palm Springs, California

Architecture Is for Everyone

An architecture critic disavows ‘gatekeeping’ in the field.

April 10, 2023 - The Nation

View of dense high-rise apartment buildings in Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Single-Staircase Buildings: A Design Solution to a Political Problem?

One writer argues that single-staircase buildings solve an architectural problem and make buildings more interesting, but the political problem of the U.S. housing crisis goes much deeper.

April 3, 2023 - The Nation

Bus Stop

How Transit Creates a Two-Tiered Transportation System in America

Transit is not providing what many travelers need, in terms of both location and service. The result is that transit use is a time and financial burden for those who can least afford it.

February 13, 2019 - The Nation

Downtown Phoenix Skyline

Phoenix Joins Growing List of Cities Suing Over Citizenship Question

Phoenix sues Trump over change to census questionnaire which some believe could cost the city $350 million in federal funding.

June 9, 2018 - The Nation

Tenants' Rights

The New Tenants' Rights Movement

Tenants' rights advocacy groups around the country are gaining steam, and supporters, as more and more renters are experiencing the shocks of an over-priced housing market.

February 28, 2018 - The Nation

Tenants Rights

More Cities Supporting Legal Counsel as a Right for All Renters

Cities, headlined by New York, are finding new ways to support renters facing eviction.

September 1, 2017 - The Nation

Denver Cap Park

I-70 Highway Update May Exacerbate Segregation

A piece in The Nation argues a Denver highway plan will further shrink the black community in that city through the use of eminent domain.

August 9, 2017 - The Nation

Baltimore Demolition

When the Dust Settles: Removing Blight, But Spreading Toxins

Data regarding ongoing demolitions of blighted properties in cities across the U.S. has turned up some unexpected consequences: the spread of lead toxins into the surrounding community.

February 25, 2017 - The Nation

Rutland Vermont

Syrian Refugees in Small Town Vermont

Rutland, Vermont is scheduled to become home to 100 Syrian refugees, a prospect that has awoken passionate responses from the town's residents.

December 7, 2016 - The Nation

Climate Change

Taking on Climate Change Without Wrecking Cities for the Poorest and Most Vulnerable

Rebuilding and repairing New York City after Hurricane Sandy shows how climate change can exacerbate existing equity problems and that such disasters must spur efforts to rebuild fairly, not entrench existing problems.

November 28, 2016 - The Nation

Brazil Olympics

Less Than the Olympic Ideal

A long-read in The Nation pokes large holes in the narrative of the Olympics as a beacon of equality and unity. The effect in Brazil, according to the article, has been quite the opposite.

July 27, 2016 - The Nation

C.J. Peete Public Housing, New Orleans

Reintegrating Ex-Convicts Means Giving Them a Place To Live

The New Orleans Housing Authority has approved reforms to policies on public housing for ex-convicts in an attempt to stem homelessness among the newly released and to foster better reintegration.

May 24, 2016 - The Nation

Project Housing

Only Public Housing Can Save the Housing Market Now

An article in The Nation rejects the notion that the market will solve the country's current affordable housing crisis.

May 8, 2016 - The Nation

Bromo Seltzer Tower Baltimore

Visions of Revitalization Compete in Baltimore

A grassroots housing plan in Baltimore would keep control over neighborhood revitalization, and its benefits, in communities.

April 27, 2016 - The Nation

Los Angeles River Restoration Going From Grassroots to Glam

As excitement around the L.A. River revitalization heats up, neighbors of the once-neglected channel wonder who will benefit from the billion-dollar redevelopment.

April 3, 2016 - The Nation

San Francisco's Anti-Displacement Movement: Progressives Against Progress?

The tech industry's push into San Francisco has entailed a fight for political and cultural legitimacy as well as social justice--one that shakes up conventional wisdom about conservatism, progressivism, and progress itself.

August 2, 2014 - The Nation

What Villaraigosa’s Los Angeles Can Teach de Blasio’s New York

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio enters office with strong progressive credentials, similar to those of Los Angeles’ recently-termed-out Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Can New York find lessons from the Los Angeles political experience?

January 14, 2014 - The Nation

Do the Feds Have a Responsibility to Help Detroit?

The federal government has a role to play in the financial crises afflicting cities across America, and most notably of late, in Detroit. Should Washington also play a role in helping them to recover?

July 23, 2013 - The Nation

Are Nefarious Forces Behind the Transformation of Downtown Brooklyn?

Doug Henwood explains how "elite bodies", rather than pure "market forces", guide the growth of New York City. He begins his story with the Regional Plan Association's influential 1929 plan and focuses on the transformation of Downtown Brooklyn.

April 23, 2013 - The Nation

Obituary: Jane Holtz Kay, Architecture Critic for 'The Nation'

"The Nation’s" longtime architecture critic and author of the classic, "Asphalt Nation: How the Automobile Took Over America and How We Can Take it Back" passed away Nov. 5. In her obituary, Preston Shiller contrasts her with another "Jane" - Jacobs.

December 16, 2012 - The Nation

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