Commemorate Inauguration Day by digging deep into the promises and potential of the Biden Administration.
[Updated 1/22/2021] Today's the day. Joe Biden will soon be sworn in as the 46th president of the United States, with a promise to "Build Back Better" from the unprecedented public health and economic crises facing the nation at the close of President Donald Trump's time in office.
If you're looking for links to reading about what a Biden presidency might accomplish, look no further. In addition to the latest round of news coverage of the transition, culminating today with Biden's inauguration, you'll also find links below to previous news and analysis from throughout the 2020 presidential election as well as the intervening months between Biden's historic election and today's Inauguration Day.
Biden comes into office with big plans for the federal government's coronavirus response, housing policies, infrastructure planning and spending, economic development. In fact, many of the most closely watched themes for the success of the Biden administration of living up to its campaign promises will be measured in terms of direct relevance to the professional and academic planners of the world—metrics like housing affordability, carbon emissions, vehicle miles traveled. Planetizen will be just as vigilant on the proposals and advancement of policies relating to these causes during the Biden Administration as it was for the previous administration.
The Biden administration is also significant for the historic accomplishment of Vice President Kamala Harris, who becomes the highest-ranking elected female in the history of the federal government, and only the second BIPOC to be elected to the Executive Branch, after former President Barack Obama. Harris becomes Vice President at a time of intense racial conflict, at least some of which can be traced to the backlash from the election of President Obama in 2008.
Latest News and Analysis on the Promise of the Biden Administration
- Get Ready for the Biden Stimulus (The Philadelphia Citizen, January 13, 2021)
- Biden Outlines $1.9 Trillion Spending Package to Combat Virus and Downturn (New York Times, January 14, 2021)
- American Cities See Their Luck Turn With a Biden Administration (Bloomberg CityLab, January 15, 2021)
- What Biden’s lack of support for the Green New Deal means for cities (City Monitor, January 17, 2021)
- What Do Housing Advocates Expect from the Biden Administration? (Next City, January 19, 2021)
- Leaders praise local provisions in Biden's recovery plan (Smart Cities Dive, January 19, 2021)
- A city leaders’ guide to Joe Biden’s policy agenda (City Monitor, January 20, 2021)
Previous Planetizen Coverage of Vice President Kamala Harris
- Kamala Harris Reintroduces 'Rent Relief Act' (April 9, 2019)
- Senate Votes 0–57 to Rebuff Green New Deal (March 27, 2019)
- How the Next President Might Take on the Housing Crisis (March 8, 2019)
- Democratic Presidential Contenders May Elevate Housing Policy (January 6, 2019)
- Debating a Renters' Tax Credit at the Federal Level (July 31, 2018)
Previous Planetizen Coverage of the Prospects for the Biden Administration
- What Biden's First 100 Days Will Look Like for Transportation (January 5, 2021)
- An Infrastructure Proposal for Biden's First 100 Days in Office (December 25, 2020)
- Housing Field Reacts to Marcia Fudge HUD Nomination (December 24, 2020)
- Biden Diversifies Cabinet With EPA Administrator, Interior Secretary Picks (December 21, 2020)
- Biden Selects Energy Secretary and New National Climate Advisor (December 18, 2020)
- Mayor Pete Is Biden's Pick for Transportation Secretary (December 16, 2020)
- What Biden's Win Could Mean for Land Use, Transportation, and Climate (November 10, 2020)
Previous Planetizen Coverage of President Joe Biden
- Two Presidential Candidates, Two Approaches to Housing Policy (November 3, 2020)
- What the Presidential Debate Revealed About the Suburbs (October 1, 2020)
- What Could a Joe Biden Presidency Accomplish on Affordable Housing? (April 27, 2020)
- Biden's New Climate Plan Would Spend $2 Trillion in Four Years (July 19, 2020)
- Biden Would Finally Get the Gateway Project Moving, Advocates Say (October 14, 2020)
- Comparing the Housing Agendas of the Remaining Democratic Frontrunners for President (March 9, 2020)
- 2020 Presidential Campaign: Media Coverage of Climate Strategies (June 17, 2019)
Infrastructure and its Discontents
The significance of the Biden administration's expansive view of infrastructure is reflected in the flood of commentary published in the week since the public's first look at the American Jobs Plan.
Focusing Housing Policy on Outcomes to Ensure Economic Recovery
Housing policy can ensure a sustainable economic recovery by focusing on five outcomes.
What Planners Need to Know, and Ask, About the American Jobs Plan
The American Planning Association has a breakdown of the massive $2 trillion jobs plan that would change the course of federal infrastructure policy.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
US buildings threatened, destroyed by fires set to triple by 2060
Researchers found a high fire risk for socioeconomically vulnerable neighborhoods in the American West.
LA residents may be allowed to paint their own crosswalks
Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky put out a motion instructing the Los Angeles Department of Public Transportation to study the feasibility of allowing volunteers to paint crosswalks.
Dallas moves to overhaul its zoning code
The city's zoning reform will allow more multi-family and mixed-use developments.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority
