Tim Halbur

&quot;Rules established in another era need to be rethought, &quot; said Xavier de Sousa Briggs, associate director of the White House Office of Management and Budget this weekend in Cambridge. Briggs&#39; job touches almost everything, from the postal service to the Department of Homeland Security, and it was admittedly exciting to see someone with an urban planning background in such a powerful position. Briggs spoke at lightning speed, and I could almost see the multitude of invisible connections going into his brain and back out to the White House. Much of what he&#39;s working on, he explained, is taking &quot;old stovepipes&quot; -- government agencies that have worked in silos for decades -- and making them talk to each other. <br />

Flint, Michigan is another ailing city that is considering demolishing entire neighborhoods and returning them to nature as a way to save the rest of the city from blight.

New census data released Weds. shows that fewer Americans moved this year than in any year since they started keeping track back in 1947.

Last week, with a $4.5 million budget deficit and no development activity, the Petaluma City Council took the drastic step of eliminating its entire planning department.

A brick structure was uncovered outside the city of Wari-Bateshwar, confirming that the site was part of a developed city as early as 400 B.C.