Sarah Palin's nomination is an anomaly in American politics- no mayor of a major American city has ever become president. Tony Favro argues that this is a reflection of America's anti-city attitude.
"Given that about 80 percent of Americans live in urban areas, why have so few mayors been elected to the top political posts in the United States?
The answer can be found, perhaps, in the ideals of the men who drafted the American constitution 300 years ago and administered the country's earliest federal governments.
"I view great cities as pestilential to the morals, the health and the liberties of man," Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1800 while he was vice-president and one year before being elected president. As president, Jefferson despised his political opponents because, in his words, "They all live in cities."
With few exceptions, Jefferson had little sympathy for the people who lived in cities. "The mobs of great cities add just so much to support of pure government as sores do to the strength of the human body," he wrote."
Read the full story: Very few mayors rise to top positions in US government
Where 2024 Presidential Candidates Stand on 12 Issues Important to Urban Planners
Whether you’re yet undecided or have already cast your early vote, here is a roundup of the key positions of Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump on important urban planning policies.
We Are (Sort of) Less Polarized Than in 2016
After moving toward Democrats for decades, central cities moved toward Republicans in 2020.
What Biden's Win Could Mean for Land Use, Transportation, and Climate
Campaign in poetry and govern in prose, the saying goes. Now that the reality of a Biden presidency is settling in, what does it mean for how the United States plans its future?
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Chicago breaks ground on $3 billion megadevelopment
The new neighborhood, titled Foundry Park, will one day host 3,700 residences.
This MA town is drowning in its own sewage — and residents like it that way
Susan Murcott, a waste water expert, said if Carlisle didn't address their leaking sewage, the problem could turn “deadly.”
Iowa taxpayers are paying thousands to clean manure out of their water
While the Clean Water Act makes states responsible for regulating factory farms that discharge pollutants, Iowa has turned a blind eye to the polluting farms.
Amtrak cuts ribbon on Seattle Airo maintenance facility
The $250 million, nearly 100,000-square-foot building can house an entire Cascades Airo trainset.
To power data centers, Google seeks autonomous control of thousands of homes’ electricity
The tech company has signed a deal to indirectly pay Mid-Atlantic residents to reduce their power demand when the grid is strained.
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
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello