Lamenting the lack of a single big, transformative urban idea during President Obama's first term, Richard Florida urges the president to establish a new cabinet-level Department of Cities to build a "lasting urban legacy."
"President Obama has signaled that he will focus in a second term on immigration, gun control and climate change. All these issues are important, but none is as critical to his long-term legacy as helping chart a more livable, prosperous and creative course for the future of American cities," argues Florida.
"Cities and metros are the engines of our economy. America’s 50 largest metros house two-thirds of our population but produce three-quarters of our economic output. Just 20 of them generate almost two-thirds of our innovations. As dysfunctional Washington has faltered, our cities have become laboratories for pragmatic bipartisan policy innovation, pioneering new approaches on everything from schools, crime and gun control to economic development."
"If the President takes the lead, the products of those urban laboratories can be harnessed, their progress accelerated."
Florida outlines how a Department of Cities could direct federal investments strategically to improve infrastructure, encourage bike lanes, pedestrian zones and mass transit, build more affordable housing, drive job creation, and strengthen our nation abroad.
Read the full story: Obama, build a lasting urban legacy
What Are America's Fastest-Growing Cities?
Views about urban growth and decline often rely on statistics for metropolitan regions rather than cities proper. Here, Richard Florida looks at the fastest- and slowest-growing cities in America, separate from their metro areas.
Study: Good Access to Transit Attracts Startups
Startups are increasingly abandoning the suburban office park to try their luck in denser urban cores. According to this study, good transit is one factor behind that trend. But it's not the only one.
How Some Cities Are Losing People and Staying Prosperous
Population loss doesn't always equate to economic decline. Richard Florida discusses a study examining American metros that are retaining their economic vitality as they shrink.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
‘Going backwards:’ Baltimore mayor, students rally against state's transit funding plan
Maryland's proposed six-year plan provides no funding for Baltimore’s BMORE bus program and reduces its road maintenance funding.
Detroit to transform waterfront with $2.2 billion investment
Developers will convert about 18 acres of unused parking lot space into civic spaces.
Data center developers are using lawsuits, cash offers to ‘overwhelm’ rural America
Newsrooms in five states worked together to uncover the tactics big tech developers use to buy land from reluctant communities.
U.S.-Iran war may have ‘devastating’ impact on cost to warm homes
Vermont and Maine residents may see a 76% increase in the cost of warming their homes this winter.
Senate bill would ‘overhaul’ environmental permitting laws
Under the proposed act, government agencies would also not be able to suspend or rescind permits after granting them.
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.
One Hundred Miles
County of Mendocino
planning NEXT
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
Montrose County
Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA)
The Pocatello Development Authority