Neal Pierce asks the question, 'Who's Best for Cities, McCain or Obama?' The evidence has been difficult to come by, but Pierce unearths some clues and makes some logical predictions.
"After the speeches, ads, debates, saturation media, are over and the voters have spoken, how will the new president work with the cities and metropolitan areas that a vast majority of us call home?
My short analysis: With Obama, we're likely to get an activist federal government in areas from transit and infrastructure to housing. But it won't be the Democrats' historic center-city "urban policy." Instead, Obama's looking for ways to shift and coordinate federal programs to help boost the fortunes of entire metro regions.
McCain? One has to be a super-detective to discern any city-metro policy at all. We know what he's against, starting with pork-barrel spending, particularly earmarks for politicians' pet local projects. We know he's for less government regulation and lower taxes for individuals, small businesses, corporations."
Read the full story: McCain Versus Obama: Who’s Best for Cities?
And the Oscar Goes To...
Many of the Best Picture nominees are set in cities, and none are focused on suburbia.
Thoughts on the Dynamic Cities Sector
After spending more than a decade in government and real estate development, Brian Swett recently joined Arup in the role of Director of Cities and Sustainable Real Estate in the Americas. We asked for his thoughts on urban expansion and development.
Global Call for Ideas Reveals Promising Resilience Solutions
Superstorm Sandy spurred the New York City Economic Development Corporation to form the RISE:NYC program, a global competition for innovative solutions to post-disaster resiliency. Arup's Sarah Wesseler spoke with them to learn more.
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.
In Texas, data centers are swallowing promised parkland
Residents who moved to Taylor, Texas for a rural community now have to contend with three data centers in their backyard.
How a Chicago-sized wind farm beat the odds and powered on
The project spanned five presidential administrations and a standoff with a U.S. military base.
MTA gives itself 30 days to transform pit into basketball court
The site has been under construction since 2022; the city originally estimated it would finish the court in 2024.
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