Governing Magazine

A new report says that U.S. cities are lacking in preparation (and in funds) for providing food and shelter for those in need.

Tod Newcombe reports on pedestrian-only malls like Buffalo's, which after 25 years has been so unsuccessful that they want to turn it back into a road. So why are these ped malls failing?

Ryan Holeywell reports that Congress and the Obama Administration are set against gas taxes, even as voters across the country are approving them to fund transportation and transit projects.

Bruce Katz of the Brookings Institution proposes that cities are fueling themselves too heavily through "Starbucks, stadia and stealing businesses," sources he says are just recycling local dollars instead of attracting global income sources.

Quincy, Massachusetts is planning to clear out 50 acres of its city center and build $1.3 billion in retail shops, offices, parking garages and more, plus $300m in new infrastructure. A new financial model is making it possible.

A new system using "microwave motion" sensors can detect when a bicyclist enters an intersection and control traffic to accommodate them.

Lee County, Florida saw a 30% increase in its homeless population. A new shelter system that addresses mental health and addiction problems is helping keep homeless out of jail and on the right track.

Glaeser argues that Jane Jacobs was attempting to preserve affordability with her historic preservation efforts, which he says is wrong-headed.

The only true PRT in the United States, the system serves 15,000 students of West Virginia University each day when school is in session. Some even credit the school's growth to the effectiveness of the PRT.

Bill Fulton writes about the shift from permanent, full-time jobs to "1099 jobs": hourly, contract work that is becoming more and more common. If 1099 jobs take over the economy, how can economic developers do their job?

Governing Magazine identifies a trend: States consolidating their various environmental agencies (parks, wildlife, energy, etc.) to less than stellar effect.

William D. Eggers says the government is giving up the costly infrastructure investments in favor of cloud computing, and the Feds are leading the way.

Part of a new proposal to cut billions from the federal budget includes eliminating the historic preservation programs Save America's Treasures and Preserve America.

In Hartford, Connecticut, a former department store that locals call "butt-ugly" is being demolished. Delays in its destruction had come to symbolize all that is wrong with Hartford politics, says Josh Goodman of Governing.

A new website created by the Center for Neighborhood Technology calculates how much an average household in your neighborhood would spend on transportation, with results for cars and public transit.

Colorado Springs, Colorado has some of the lowest property taxes in the nation, and its heavily right-wing residents like it that way. But with the recession, the lack of tax income is causing some heavy cuts to city services.

Dallas, Texas is building a new park on a deck over the Woodall Rodgers Freeway, a strategy for creating new public spaces that is being tried across the country.

Hawaii is an ideal test case for creating an electric car infrastructure because fuel costs are very high and distances are manageable. Charging stations are going up all over the islands with a goal of making it easy to envision driving an EV.

The Michigan State Fair, the oldest state fair in the nation, won't happen this summer. Gov. Jennifer Granholm nixed the state's usual subsidy due to the serious strain on the state's budget.

The South eats up more resources than the rest of the U.S., says reporter Elizabeth Daigneau. With 36% of the U.S. population, the South uses 44% of the nation's energy consumption.