United States

For the next few days, America's eyes will be on the East Coast, where a historic storm is already making its presence felt. Quartz has posted a list of webcams to provide you with a first-hand experience of the storm, from the safety of your desk.

October 29, 2012 - Quartz

On the eve of landfall of Hurricane Sandy, Matthew Yglesias recalls Mitt Romney's 2011 response to a GOP primary debate question in which he called federal disaster relief spending "immoral."

October 29, 2012 - Slate.com

With the federal government unable to agree on much of anything, state and local taxpayers are bearing the burden for repairing and replacing America's aging infrastructure says a new report from Standard & Poor’s Rating Services.

October 29, 2012 - The Washington Post

An informative infographic produced by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation illustrates the role of walkable, bikeable, and transit-oriented communities in producing healthier populations.

October 28, 2012 - New Public Health

Surging oil and natural gas production has transformed the domestic energy paradigm. With the U.S. on track to replace Saudi Arabia as the world's largest oil producer, will the U.S finally meet President Nixon's 1973 goal of 'energy independence'?

October 28, 2012 - NPR Morning Edition

Economists see America's recovering housing market as a positive indication of the country's economic health. But according to a new study, rising home prices "decrease income mobility and ultimately hurt the U.S. economy," reports Nicole Goodkind.

October 27, 2012 - CNBC

Despite significant investment in transit infrastructure, and renewed interest in downtowns and walkable neighborhoods, new data shows that gains in transit commute mode share have been hard to come by in America’s largest cities, says Kaid Benfield.

October 27, 2012 - Switchboard

This week, NACTO released a preview of its Urban Street Design Guidebook, a document meant to assist local governments in designing their streets on the principle that they're spaces for people and commerce as well as arteries for traffic.

October 25, 2012 - Next American City

"Since the beginning of 2011, 180 bills restricting voting and voter registration have been introduced in 41 states. Over 70% of the electoral votes needed to win the 2012 Presidential election will come from states with new restrictive voting laws."

October 25, 2012 - Shelterforce Magazine

A vast expanse of prairies and grasslands, the Great Plains have long been considered a barren wasteland with little potential for growth. A new report by Joel Kotkin, Praxis Strategy Group, and Kevin Mulligan of Texas Tech claims otherwise.

October 25, 2012 - New Geography

Justin Gillis discusses the controversy over President Obama's and Governor Romney's decision to skirt the topic of climate change during the presidential debates.

October 25, 2012 - The New York Times

National Journal engaged several experts on the state of transportation infrastructure. Both Ken Orski and Rep. Earl Blumenhauer examine different aspects of the 'Infrastructure Deficit". What can we expect to see in the next four years?

October 24, 2012 - National Journal

Chuck Raasch looks at how combining services can help local governments "to capitalize on the economics of scale and offset declining revenue since the Great Recession."

October 23, 2012 - USA Today

Recent studies show that upwards of 77% of Millennials are opting to live in urban areas. The impact on the local economy will be huge, IF urban planners rethink how we build our downtowns.

October 23, 2012 - ICIC Inner City Exchange

Katie Pearce discusses the surprising findings of a new study from the Center for Housing Policy and the Center for Neighborhood Technology that evaluates why it can be more affordable to live in an “expensive” city.

October 21, 2012 - Streetsblog D.C.

Charles Marohn discusses the CNU NextGen initiative "Investment Ready Places" by Street Sense. The new booklet provides strategies for identifying and investing in America’s “new frontier for development.”

October 19, 2012 - Better! Cities & Towns

The Clean Water Act turns 40 this week. For Mark Gold, this calls for a celebratory overview of the many environmental successes it has produced, as well as careful consideration of the steps needed for it to be effective in years to come.

October 19, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

Electric-car-battery manufacturer A123 Systems received $249 million in federal grants. It filed for bankruptcy on Oct. 16, prompting Bloomberg reporter Angela Greiling Keane to look at the progress of President Obama's goal of 1 million EVs by 2015

October 19, 2012 - San Francisco Chronicle

A change made last month in the regulations concerning which buildings the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) judges to be eligible for financing could enable the construction of more mixed-use walkable developments, reports Angie Schmitt.

October 18, 2012 - Streetsblog D.C.

There's been a change at the top of Forbes' annual list of America's most expensive zip codes, writes Morgan Brennan. For the first time ever, a neighborhood in New York City tops the list.

October 17, 2012 - Forbes