Good middle class suburbs aren't sustainable without a vibrant city, and vice versa, argues a recent article in the Houston Chronicle.
"In a series of in-depth articles by leading experts on cities, the [Houston] Chronicle has engaged the public about choices and directions for the future. Thus far, the debate seems polarized, probably confusing to many citizens, with the "Suburbanists" (Tory Gattis and Joel Kotkin) pitted against the "Urbanists" (generally represented by David Crossley)."
"The future of Houston should not be the result of a clash of ideologies, a slugfest of slogans. The city needs to learn from the suburbs - more planned communities and "town centers." The suburbs, in turn, need more urbanity and walkable traditional neighborhoods like The Heights and Southampton. We need a solid pragmatism, combining our great pro-growth, pro-business approach with a bold and innovative quality-of-life agenda, leading to a coordinated regional vision for the city and its suburbs. This is not an ideological "either-or," but a "both-and" of grass-roots realism."
The urbanist writer Jane Jacobs said it this way, "the purpose of cities is to create the middle class." This is the "New Metropolitanism."
FULL STORY: Houston needs more than slugfest of slogans
Florida Considers Legalizing ADUs
Current state law allows — but doesn’t require — cities to permit accessory dwelling units in single-family residential neighborhoods.
Manufactured Crisis: Losing the Nation’s Largest Source of Unsubsidized Affordable Housing
Manufactured housing communities have long been an affordable housing option for millions of people living in the U.S., but that affordability is disappearing rapidly. How did we get here?
HUD Announces Plan to Build Housing on Public Lands
The agency will identify federally owned parcels appropriate for housing development and streamline the regulatory process to lease or transfer land to housing authorities and nonprofit developers.
EPA Terminates $116 Million in Grants for Reducing Emissions from Construction Materials
C-MORE grants were earmarked for industry trade groups and universities.
BART Closes $35 Million Deficit
Cost control and revenue generation measures prevented service cuts.
The New Parisian Hearse is a Bicycle
Sleek, silent, and sustainable, a green trip to the graveyard has hit the streets of the French capital.
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