United States

Coronavirus Testing

A Grim Coronavirus Milestone: 150,000 American Deaths

A grim warning was issued by the non-profit group that represents America's medical schools and teaching hospitals: if the nation doesn't change its response to the pandemic, "Multiples of hundreds of thousands" of additional deaths may occur.

July 31, 2020 - CNN

Houston Texas

Connecting Traffic, Air Quality, and Coronavirus Spread

Early in the pandemic, bike sales soared and vehicle miles traveled plummeted. As people have been driving more, more people have also been infected with the novel coronavirus.

July 31, 2020 - Rice Kinder Institute for Urban Research

Housing crisis

What Happens if 23 Million Renters Are Evicted?

Shelterforce spoke with researchers, advocates, lawyers, housing economists, and rental housing industry representatives to understand what that crisis would do to evicted families, public health, and the housing market.

July 30, 2020 - Shelterforce Magazine

Coronavirus Social Distancing

Campaign Launched to Halt State Reopenings and Start Over

During March and April, most states shut down all but essential services in order to "flatten the curve," and it largely worked. What happened afterward didn't. U.S. PIRG has organized a campaign to start the process over and do it right.

July 30, 2020 - CNN

A Black woman stands in front of a home holding an umbrella and smiling.

This Moment Calls for Finally Making Homeownership Access Fair

The worsening housing crisis shows that we must develop comprehensive tools and programs to keep families housed and their assets preserved.

July 29, 2020 - Shelterforce Magazine

Epdemiology

Do You Know Your COVID-19 Colors?

Harvard University's Global Health Insititute and Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics have launched a new online tool for planners, policy makers, and the public to determine the severity of the coronavirus outbreak in one's county and state.

July 29, 2020 - Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics

ADA

The ADA Turned 30, but Universal Accessibility Still Far From the Reality

While many cities have shown efforts to implement accessible design since the 1990 adoption of the American Disabilities Act, more must be done.

July 29, 2020 - Smart Cities Dive

HUD Secretary

Trump Finally Follows Through on Threat to Gut Obama-Era Fair Housing Rule

It's not clear if President Trump is aware that his administration has been working to rescind the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule since 2018, but he's recently doubled down on messaging that pit suburbs against the Fair Housing Act.

July 28, 2020 - Los Angeles Times

Washington D.C. Stores

A Tale of Two Real Estate Markets

Hotels, retail, and office properties, along with renters, have been ravaged by the economic downturn of the pandemic. Meanwhile home sales are booming as people with money in the bank take advantage of low interest rates to upgrade.

July 28, 2020 - The Dallas Morning News

Stockton Foreclosure

August Expiration Date for Federal Foreclosure Moratorium Raises Concerns

The housing market has yet to devolve like in 2008, thanks to a federal safety net put in place in March, but a wave of foreclosures is still a possibility as protections begin to expire.

July 28, 2020 - Curbed

pedestrians in a Time of Coronavirus

'We Are Living Right Now Through a Historic Pandemic Outbreak.'

On the day before America reached the grim milestone of four million COVID-19 cases, with one million added in the last 15 days, Anthony Fauci shared views on where the nation is headed in the pandemic.

July 26, 2020 - Newsweek

Cars Traffic

The Future of the Typical, Solo Car Commute

A study finds that a third of workers would prefer to work remotely every day of the workweek, potentially removing nearly 50 million cars from U.S. roadways.

July 24, 2020 - Streetsblog USA

High-Rise Development

A Defense of 'Out of Scale' Buildings

Beauty is often known to break the rules.

July 24, 2020 - Strong Towns

Gas

Survey Finds Growing Support for a Mileage Fee Over the Gas Tax

An annual survey by the Mineta Transportation Institute found new levels of support for a change in the way the federal government raises money from, and for, highway infrastructure.

July 24, 2020 - Streetsblog USA

BABS bikes in a socking station

Bike Share Lessons From the Pandemic

Bike share data from six U.S. cities offer insight into how Americans have changed travel patterns during the pandemic.

July 24, 2020 - Citymetric

Large Lot Vacancies

Neighborhood Homes Investment Act Offers Tax Incentives for Single-Family Rehabs

In struggling communities full of single-family homes, the cost is too high for developers to acquire and renovate blighted properties. The Neighborhood Homes Investment Act would offer an incentive for investment in existing building stock.

July 23, 2020 - Affordable Housing Finance

Highway Sign in North Carolina

As the Pandemic Rages, Carnage on U.S. Roads

Increased stress, increased speeds, more drinking and driving—whatever the reason, traffic fatalities are climbing rapidly even as more Americans leave the car parked at home.

July 23, 2020 - Smart Cities Dive

Rockaway Beach Bus

Three Key Calls to Action to Improve Racial Equity in Transit Policy

Important changes are necessary to promote racial equity in transit policy, governance, and agency recruitment, according to Darnell Grisby, director of policy development at the American Public Transit Association.

July 23, 2020 - Bloomberg CityLab

Coronavirus

Federal Eviction Moratorium Expires This Week

The day that renters relying on public support to pay the bills have been dreading since March arrives tomorrow.

July 23, 2020 - The Washington Post

Hartford Connecticut

Where the Coronavirus Is on Track for Containment in the U.S.

As the virus surges throughout the South and West and heads north into the Midwest, the Northeast is the one region that has weathered the current phase of the pandemic the best. As of July 21, only one state in the U.S. is on track to contain COVID.

July 22, 2020 - Patch

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