Government / Politics

Former New York City mayor Ed Koch passed away on Friday at the age of 88. For the popular figure who was known for stopping constituents on the street to ask, “How’m I doin’?”, Joseph Berger endeavors to deliver an answer.

February 4, 2013 - The New York Times

As we reported last week, the central question facing the Board of Supervisors was how could they approve a project that appeared to violate a regional sustainability plan - one that they voted for as MPO members? They did - by a 4-1 vote.

February 2, 2013 - The Sacramento Bee - City News

Friday brought word that Energy Secretary Steven Chu will leave the Obama administration once a replacement is in place. With his departure, each of the cabinet's energy and environmental positions remain vacant.

February 2, 2013 - The Hill - E2 Wire

The crack investigative team at the satirical newspaper The Onion has revealed the real reason for outgoing Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's resignation. He's been implicated in the mysterious disappearance of a "beautiful country road."

February 1, 2013 - The Onion

The California High Speed Rail Authority settled its CEQA lawsuit with the City of Chowchilla, the first of three that need to be dealt with in the Merced to Fresno section in the Central Valley where construction of the project will initially begin

February 1, 2013 - The Fresno Bee

Although leaders in the Twin Cities seem to agree on the need to improve the appeal of city streets for those on foot, turning those words into actions seems difficult. Bill Lindeke offers three easy solutions that don't involve touching the street.

February 1, 2013 - Streets MN

With Ray LaHood stepping down as Transportation Secretary, is it Antonio Villaraigosa's time? The Los Angeles mayor is termed-out in June and Obama needs a Latino in the Cabinet. And can he move the sustainable communities ball forward for Obama?

January 31, 2013 - California Planning & Development Reort

Only five months after the city passed the long-overdue update to its 1962 zoning code, City Council members are once again tinkering with the ground rules. Two months after moving to revise parking requirements, they're now focused on outreach.

January 30, 2013 - philly.com

In the wake of yesterday's surprisingly unsurprising announcement that U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood is stepping down, several reporters who focus on transportation issues have taken stock of his tenure.

January 30, 2013 - Transportation Nation

Kaid Benfield spotlights an innovative federal program that is "not very well known but deserves to be." The "Greening America’s Capitals" program aims to make America's state capitals showpieces for green infrastructure and green building practices.

January 30, 2013 - NRDC Switchboard

States with Amtrak routes less than 750 miles (excludes lines within Northeast Corridor) will need to subsidize the budget shortfalls - the difference between fares and operating costs, or lose the route. States may cut some lines to prop-up others.

January 30, 2013 - The Wall Street Journal

During his first State of the City address, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee put reforming MUNI - the city's "notoriously late and overcrowded public transit system" - at the top of his agenda.

January 29, 2013 - San Francisco Chronicle

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced his pending resignation today - he will leave when a replacement has been confirmed, thus reversing an earlier, informal announcement he had made during an inauguration party on Jan. 21.

January 29, 2013 - Politico

CA Gov. Jerry Brown stated he had big plans in his State of the State speech on Jan 24. Thanks to temporary tax increases under Prop 30 and spending cuts, the budget is finally balanced. Yet he also called for 'fiscal constraint' - contradictory?

January 29, 2013 - Calbuzz

Efforts to transform L.A.'s maligned river into a public and economic asset got a boost last week with the establishment of a cross-disciplinary and cross-agency planning effort focused on an eight-mile stretch of the river.

January 29, 2013 - KCET Departures

Does your community allow the perfect to become the enemy of the good? Scott Doyon kicks off an ongoing look at community-unfriendly behaviors.

January 29, 2013 - PlaceShakers

Recalling the structure of ancient trade hubs, the Brookings Institute’s Alan Berube calls for local and national policies to once again place cities at the center of international trading strategies.

January 29, 2013 - Project Syndicate

Isolating poor residents from rich ones is not only bad for those being segregated, it leads to the worst outcomes for a city as a whole. Fighting displacement results in less crime and more stable and healthy communities.

January 28, 2013 - Rooflines

In the wake of the problem-plagued privatization of Chicago's parking meters in 2008, two WSJ reporters assess conversions (or attempts) in Indianapolis (2010), Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Cincinnati and New York, as well as what went wrong in Chicago.

January 28, 2013 - The Wall Street Jounal

Before Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was thrown off his bike by a taxi, shattering his elbow in the process, L.A. was known as "a pathologically unfriendly bike city." Two years later, the city has made incredible strides in building its bike culture.

January 28, 2013 - Los Angeles Times