Citiwire

Neal Peirce reflects on the happier moments of 2008 -- and a future that seems bent on creating better places and communities.

America's growing regional metropolises can be the guiding light for America's urban revival, according to Manuel Pastor, Jr.

Neal Peirce takes a hopeful look at President-elect Barack Obama's willingness to invest in infrastructure.

Tough economic times spell troubles for city budgets. One way to cut back on costs is to rethink operation of seemingly untouchable public safety services like police and firefighters, according to this column from Neal Peirce.

President-Elect Barack Obama is seen by many urbanists as a great opportunity for improving the built environment of the U.S. Anthony Flint sees big plans brewing but wonders how they'll be funded and if Obama will be able to handle them all.

Democrats are in cities and Republicans are in rural areas, according to the results of recent elections. But with two metropolitan candidates in this year's election and an increasingly urbanized populace, that split may become obsolete.

The next president should take farming seriously and personally, according to Neal Pierce, who writes that rethinking the scale of food production is smart for regions, the environment and the economy.

Despite the $700 billion financial bailout plan, the suburbs will continue to lose population and value, according to Peter Katz. He says it's time for the government to prevent suburban development that is only doomed to fail.

In this piece from Citiwire, Jonathan D. Miller argues that infrastructure and the economy are not islands. Improving the nation's infrastructure, he says, will improve the economy.

If we can bail out the investment industry, we should be able to bail out our failing infrastructure, according to this column from Neal Peirce.

Neal Pierce looks at America's addiction to incarceration and drug prohibition and wonders what -- if anything -- the presidential candidates would do to change the country's course.

The real estate industry has been slow to realize the development world is changing, according to Scott Polikov who writes that "the fundamentals of the 'bedroom community' economy have collapsed."

American cities are increasingly making moves to reclaim their streets. In this column, Neal Peirce looks into the trend.

The suburbs draw on Americans may be dwindling, according to this column from Neal Peirce. But, he argues, this shift doesn't mean the end of suburban living.

In an effort to tackle poverty, 15 states have set up commissions to explore the issues. Neal Peirce says they need to focus foremost on getting more money into the hands of the impoverished and reducing the burden of taxes on them.

This column from Neal Peirce looks at the new megapolitan stronghold of the Intermountain West.

Rising energy prices and falling home values are bringing many exurban dwellers closer to the city core. In this commentary, Keith Schneider argues that central cities and inner-ring suburbs need to work with each other to stay afloat.

With increasing amounts of data collected and held by governments, there's a lot of opportunity to make use of it for the betterment of communities, according to this column from Neal Peirce.