Social / Demographics

Projections of water shortages and predicted changes in the climate mean bad news for water users in the American West.

May 18, 2011 - Miller-McCune

In Vancouver, urban density is being attacked as a detriment to the city. But as this column argues, the city's emphasis on density and transit accessibility is what makes the city great.

May 18, 2011 - The Globe and Mail

Faces are appearing in Brooklyn, plastered along the slats of front stoops as part of a participatory public art project by famous French street artist JR.

May 17, 2011 - The Street Spot

Bike lanes have become one of the most controversial topics in all of New York City. For cycling to take hold, the city needs to make sure all groups have equal access to cycling, say a team of Hunter College grad students.

May 17, 2011 - Streetsblog

Race and ethnic groups have seen major shifts from the 1990s to today, according to this report from the Brookings Institution.

May 16, 2011 - Brookings Institution

Rural areas in Germany are seeing major declines in population. Some worry that these declining villages and towns are being left by the wayside as the nation heads towards urban centers.

May 15, 2011 - Der Spiegel

The recovery of New Orleans is happening in many small ways. One of them is the work of community groups to rebuild and re-inhabit damaged homes.

May 15, 2011 - NRDC Switchboard

Family makeup is changing in New York City, where unmarried partners are on the rise and households with children are on the decline.

May 15, 2011 - The New York Times

A number of articles have recently been written criticizing New York City Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan for dramatically changing the city's mobility. This column from Metropolis says that criticism is misdirected.

May 14, 2011 - Metropolis

The Brookings Institution recently analyzed the top 100 metropolitan areas in the U.S. to see how easy it is to use transit. Time presents the best and worst from the list, which includes some surprises.

May 13, 2011 - Time

Community groups in Philadelphia are trying to remake blighted vacant properties into community gardens and neighborhood amenities.

May 13, 2011 - The Philadelphia Inquirer

A new study looking at neighborhood satisfaction finds that people living in the suburbs are less satisfied than urban dwellers.

May 13, 2011 - Men's Health

Access to healthy food is a major issue in public health. But just because there's a grocery store nearby doesn't mean health will improve. One entrepreneur looking at supermarket design says the way stores are laid out negatively affects health.

May 13, 2011 - The Atlantic

Witold Rybczynski writes the epitaph for the McMansion. With the housing market in the toilet, Rybczynski says new homebuyers are going to be seeking something smaller, more affordable and possibly not a single-family home.

May 12, 2011 - Slate

This op-ed from Al Jazeera looks at some of the negative ways preparations for the World Cup and Olympics are affecting the poor in Brazil.

May 12, 2011 - Al Jazeera

An independent group is seeking to "ignite essential discussions about art in Los Angeles" by getting locals to put APPROVE or DISAPPROVE stickers on public art around the city.

May 12, 2011 - MOCA-latte

Edwin Heathcote of the Financial Times says that lists of the "Best Cities" often fail because they select cities that are the most "livable", ignoring what makes cities "lovable".

May 11, 2011 - Financial Times

The 2011 Canadian Census marks a new era in population information: it is now a brief and voluntary household survey, which has led to widespread concern that Canadian public policy will be left fundamentally crippled, writes Sean Kilpatrick.

May 11, 2011 - Globe and Mail

PricewaterhouseCoopers recently published the fourth edition of Cities of Opportunity. The report rates 26 cities in a range of categories (including transportation and infrastructure, for example) and then comes up with a master ranking.

May 10, 2011 - The Infrastructurist

Zillow has created a list of the top ten places in America for single moms to live, based on five metrics including women's earning rates, violent crime rates and walk scores.

May 8, 2011 - Zillow