October Must-Reads: Top 10 Articles From Last Month

The rapid growth of Arizona cities and the attendant questions about sustainability and water supplies topped readers’ minds this month. The state, which had put a moratorium on new developments to curtail water use, has now started scaling back that ban to allow the building of tens of thousands of new homes. Plans are in the works to reimagine a Northern California highway being reclaimed by wetlands. Elon Musk’s Boring Company began work on a tunnel in Nashville, using a state-owned route to skirt city approval. In Florida, a popular bus rapid transit line could lose part of its dedicated lane. On the West Coast, USDOT is threatening to suspend California’s authority to issue driver’s licenses to truckers, and a new state law lets two counties seize RVs that unhoused people live in if they are deemed inoperable. 

The full list of October’s most-read stories:

1. Nearly Half a Million New Arizona Homes Halted Due to Water Crisis 

In 2023, the Arizona Department of Water Resources put a moratorium on new water supply certificates, effectively suspending the building of new housing developments. Since then, roughly half a million housing units have been put on hold as the state struggles to meet a growing demand for water. 

2. Arizona is Desperate to Develop Housing in the Desert. This Town Has it Figured Out

An experimental community started in the 1970s in the Arizona desert never grew into the 5,000-resident town envisioned by its builder, but it continues to offer important lessons in sustainable desert living even as new communities in the state struggle to adjust to an increasingly hostile climate.

3. Sinking Into Wetlands, This Northern California Highway Needs a Rescue 

A California state highway in the San Francisco Bay Area will likely be underwater by 2100, prompting the California Department of Transportation to develop a plan to widen and lift the roadway to prevent flooding and allow the area’s natural wetlands to return.

4. Elon Musk’s Company Breaks Ground on Nashville Tunnel — Without City Approval

The Boring Company broke ground on an underground tunnel in Nashville, using a route planned along state roads to avoid needing approval from city authorities, relying on support from the state instead. The project is one of two Boring Company projects underway (the other in Las Vegas), while the company has failed to gain approval for tunnel projects in other cities lis Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.

5. Florida DOT Orders Removal of St. Pete Bus Lane

The Florida Department of Transportation is asking St. Petersburg to remove a dedicated bus lane along a state-owned stretch of roadway after a state analysis found that the segment saw an increase in crashes and congestion in car lanes. The SunRunner bus rapid transit line currently operates in a dedicated lane, and eliminating portions of it could jeopardize federal funding the line has already received.

6. Arizona Overrides Moratorium Imposed due to Water Crisis, Approves up to 60K New Homes 

Shortly after a report highlighted the number of proposed homes halted in Arizona due to water scarcity, the Arizona Department of Water Resources partially lifted its moratorium on new water licenses, allowing water company EPCOR to build up to 60,000 new homes in suburban Phoenix. The company used a new legal process that allows development to move forward if developers pledge to cut their groundwater use by 25 percent.

7. New California Law Lets Counties Seize RVs — Even if Their Owner Lives in Them 

A new California state law creates a pilot program that allows authorities in Alameda and Los Angeles counties to impound RVs deemed abandoned or inoperable, even if the owners live in them. The law permits the removal of certain large vehicles valued at under $4,000. The law is aimed at removing public safety hazards but could negatively impact unhoused people who don’t have the resources to move their vehicles.

8. The Hollowing Out of Rural Georgia 

Rural Georgia is facing a demographic crisis, with nearly 100 of 159 counties reporting more deaths than births. The trend began before the pandemic and rural populations seem poised to keep dropping, while metropolitan Atlanta continues to grow.

9. USDOT Threatens to Bar California From Issuing Trucking Licenses 

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy threatened to pull federal funding and California’s authority to issue commercial driver’s licenses, charging that the state has been illegally issuing licenses to noncitizens. 

10. Two Weeks After Explosion, HUD Lays off Entire Building Inspection Staff 

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) laid off its entire staff of building inspectors weeks after a partial building collapse in the Bronx. Housing advocates worry the move will endanger the residents of subsidized housing, which was already inspected less frequently than legally required.