Government / Politics

The short answer is yes, according to this NPR report that includes interviews with energy experts. The boom in shale fracking for oil and natural gas and the zeal of small energy companies is to credit. But UC Berkeley's Don Kammen has his doubts.

March 7, 2012 - NPR

A much anticipated cloture vote on the Senate's proposed two-year transportation bill once again failed to win enough votes on Tuesday. Better news may be on the horizon however, reports Ed O'Keefe.

March 7, 2012 - The Washington Post

Mark Bergen, with the help of David Schleicher, argues that zoning policies are to blame for slowing development and escalating rental costs in cities across the country.

March 6, 2012 - Forbes

Comprehensive planning is customary in a great many American cities these days, but it wasn't long ago that the concept was foreign to most planners. Attorney and scholar Charles M. Haar was one of the figures who revolutionized the field.

March 5, 2012 - California Planning & Development Report

Tom DiChristopher reports on a pioneering project in New York City that gives the residents of four City Council districts a direct vote on how to allocate municipal funds.

March 2, 2012 - City Limits

Yonah Freemark reports on the conundrum faced by the 10-county Atlanta region over how to allocate expected revenues from a new sales tax intended to fund transit projects.

March 2, 2012 - the transport politic

In respective reports on this week's awarding of the TED Prize, Anthony Flint and Diana Lind promote different opinions on the potential impact of this year's winner - The City 2.0.

March 2, 2012 - Next American City

Jason Jordan reports on House and Senate subcommittee hearings this week that focused on water infrastructure concerns and a proposed new program to better address funding and financing options.

March 2, 2012 - APA

Stockton, a city of 300,000 in California's ailing Central Valley, may become the largest city in the U.S. to declare bankruptcy. Agreements with public employee unions and major bond creditors may be all that stand in the way of default.

March 1, 2012 - The New York Times - U.S.

The House is working to amend its transportation bill, but what takes its place is far from certain. Burgess Everett reports on speculation that the GOP is aiming to shorten the length to two years, and make a host of other changes.

March 1, 2012 - Politico

Amidst shrinking municipal budgets and a Tea Party led backlash against government spending, Nate Berg reports on one New Jersey town's effort to completely eliminate its Department of Public Works. Is this the beginning of a trend or an aberration?

February 29, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

Writing for Alternet, Sara Robinson reports on the Sightline Institute's efforts to compile a list of what she calls "zombie laws" that prevent people from living sustainably.

February 29, 2012 - AlterNet

In another sign of the coming apocalypse, a bipartisan group of House members have devised an entirely sensible way to cut greenhouse gas emissions, grow employment, and shrink the budget deficit in one fell swoop, by placing a price on carbon.

February 28, 2012 - The Washington Post

February 27, 2012 - Jonathan Nettler

East 69th Street is mobilizing to halt the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's plan to add subway entrances on their tony block - needed to handle displaced crowd flows from adding required ADA elevators at the 68th Street entrances.

February 27, 2012 - The New York Times - N.Y. / Region

Chuck Wolfe traces the comeback of sandwich board signage in cities, explains how associated regulations work, and offers reasons why such signage should be carefully fostered.

February 24, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

In what may turn out to be a landmark ruling, the right of Dryden, a New York township adjacent to Cornell University to use its zoning code to ban the controversial drilling technique known fracking was upheld by the N.Y. State Supreme Court.

February 23, 2012 - Pro Publica

A well-intentioned new bill that could nudge food trucks out of huge swaths of territory now faces backlash, explains Jonathan Kauffman.

February 23, 2012 - SF Weekly

The battle being waged by Toronto's first-term mayor Rob Ford over the future of transit in the city is getting uglier by the day, as the Toronto Transit Commission voted Tuesday to fire chief general manager Gary Webster.

February 23, 2012 - Toronto Star

Reporting in The New York Times, Michael Cooper examines the ways in which severe municipal budget cuts are impacting cities across the country through the lens of San Jose, which has lost more than a fifth of its employees over four years.

February 21, 2012 - The New York Times