United States

Charles Marohn derides the conflicted approach to creating "Safe Routes to Schools" in the United States. With new data linking transport to school to educational outcomes, is it time to rethink the federal government's popular program?

February 6, 2013 - Strong Towns

The Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) is out with its annual Urban Mobility Report. You'll probably hear a lot in the next day about how awful your city's traffic is. But you likely won't hear much about why that might not be so bad.

February 5, 2013 - Slate

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) would like to create free public 'super' WiFi networks across the nation, reports Cecilia Kang. The $178 billion wireless industry is fighting the initiative.

February 5, 2013 - The Washington Post

Kaid Benfield pens a provocative column in which he suggests that the traditional American Main Street is a thing of the past, and may no longer fit our modern retail economy. Are traditional main streets still worth preserving and emulating?

February 4, 2013 - NRDC Switchboard

Since the Federal Highway Administration relaxed a rule against digital billboards in 2007, communities across the country have struggled with how to balance concerns about distracted drivers and disfigured landscapes with the desires of advertisers.

February 4, 2013 - USA Today

Kelly Anderson's documentary My Brooklyn tells the story of gentrification through the lens of corporate interests in urban planning.

February 4, 2013 - Hyperallergic

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."

February 4, 2013 - New York Daily News

An infographic from the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition compares U.S. development and aid spending to the annual Super Bowl splurge on ads, food, and security.

February 3, 2013 - The Washington Post

With the Super Bowl just around the corner, it's time to reconsider the allegiance of cities to professional sports teams.

February 3, 2013 - Next City

Michael A. Harper, FAICP worked over 32 years as a public sector planning manager. During that time, he used paid and unpaid interns extensively. Harper's article focuses on the many ways to effectively engage interns and use their talents.

February 3, 2013 - The Western Planner

Friday brought word that Energy Secretary Steven Chu will leave the Obama administration once a replacement is in place. With his departure, each of the cabinet's energy and environmental positions remain vacant.

February 2, 2013 - The Hill - E2 Wire

The crack investigative team at the satirical newspaper The Onion has revealed the real reason for outgoing Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's resignation. He's been implicated in the mysterious disappearance of a "beautiful country road."

February 1, 2013 - The Onion

A new report indicates that carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. have fallen by 13% in the past five years. The last time carbon emissions were this low, Ace of Base was topping the charts and "Pulp Fiction" was reviving the career of John Travolta.

February 1, 2013 - The Guardian

While the housing market showed signs of improvement last year, economists are now confident that a recovery is underway. Housing currently adds 13 percent to the nation's economic growth, but is this a good thing?

February 1, 2013 - Urban Land Institute

Experts have disagreed about the net effect of America's increasing clustering of highly skilled and affluent citizens in a relatively small number of metro areas. Richard Florida examines who benefits and who loses from this process.

January 31, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

With Ray LaHood stepping down as Transportation Secretary, is it Antonio Villaraigosa's time? The Los Angeles mayor is termed-out in June and Obama needs a Latino in the Cabinet. And can he move the sustainable communities ball forward for Obama?

January 31, 2013 - California Planning & Development Reort

In the wake of yesterday's surprisingly unsurprising announcement that U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood is stepping down, several reporters who focus on transportation issues have taken stock of his tenure.

January 30, 2013 - Transportation Nation

Kaid Benfield spotlights an innovative federal program that is "not very well known but deserves to be." The "Greening America’s Capitals" program aims to make America's state capitals showpieces for green infrastructure and green building practices.

January 30, 2013 - NRDC Switchboard

Writing in The Atlantic Cities, Chuck Wolfe provides ten illustrated examples of enjoyable environments that reflect an evolving recognition for the qualitative aspects of the urban experience.

January 30, 2013 - The Atlantic Cities

States with Amtrak routes less than 750 miles (excludes lines within Northeast Corridor) will need to subsidize the budget shortfalls - the difference between fares and operating costs, or lose the route. States may cut some lines to prop-up others.

January 30, 2013 - The Wall Street Journal