United States

Chuck Wolfe traces the comeback of sandwich board signage in cities, explains how associated regulations work, and offers reasons why such signage should be carefully fostered.

February 24, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

Writing from Austin, Texas, one of the current centers for hipster culture in the U.S., Lauren Modery proposes a list of the next cities she believes are ripe for an explosion of old-timey facial hair, geeky eyewear, and overall hipsterfication.

February 23, 2012 - CultureMap Austin

Cezary Podkul and Emily Stephenson examine the likely economic and social consequences of efforts by the U.S. Postal Service to close thousands of rural post offices this year.

February 22, 2012 - The Washington Post

February 21, 2012 - Thomas Sigler

In an opinion piece for Politico, three Washington insiders propose several principles along which the United States should re-imagine its infrastructure in order to provide the means for future prosperity.

February 21, 2012 - Politico

With current federal transportation policy expiring on March 31, House and Senate recesses this week leave only 16 legislative days to craft some sort of transportation deal.

February 21, 2012 - Streetsblog D.C.

The recession has taken its toll on U.S. population growth - both in babies born and immigration. While the recession officially ended June, 2009, growth rates continue to lag for the second consecutive year at .7%, the lowest since the Depression.

February 21, 2012 - USA Today

Claire Thompson reports on new findings presented in the Alliance for Biking and Walking's 2012 Benchmarking Report demonstrating the rise in biking and walking, and the incongruity with recent attempts to defund bipedal infrastructure.

February 21, 2012 - Grist

As single women buy homes in unprecedented quantities, and much more frequently than men, Kate Bolick asks if female homeownership is liberating or limiting.

February 21, 2012 - The Wall Street Journal

As boomers retire at a rate of 10,000 per day, can they be discouraged from sprawling into suburbs and rural areas, where caring for them as they age can be more challenging?

February 20, 2012 - Salon.com

Apparently the payroll tax agreement reached on Friday in congress did not extend all tax provisions being considered. The deal allowed a number of tax breaks, including those for wind and solar energy producers, to expire, reports Brad Plumer.

February 20, 2012 - The Washington Post

Kaid Benfield brings attention to HUD's new Sustainable Communities Resource Center website, which provides best practices case studies and other information resources.

February 19, 2012 - Switchboard

In response to recent emphasis by President Obama on strengthening the country's manufacturing sector as a key to economic recovery, Richard Florida sees knowledge-based jobs and new skills as the foundation for a new economic blueprint.

February 18, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

Jonathan Massey pens an essay in the journal Places, in which he probes the implications of homeownership as the vehicle by which the microeconomics of household finance and the macroeconomics of a globalized economy are mediated.

February 18, 2012 - Places

In an interview with the San Diego Union-Tribune, Geoffrey Anderson and Bill Fulton reflect on the new normal for development across the country, which astonishingly to anyone looking back twenty years, has absorbed Smart Growth principles.

February 17, 2012 - UT San Diego

In a rousing rebuke to the Museum of Modern Art's new show "Foreclosed: Rehousing the American Dream," Bryan Bell takes aim at the out-of-date thinking represented in top-down architecture by star architects and curators.

February 17, 2012 - Metropolis POV Blog

After moving swiftly through preliminary hearings in the Senate last week, that body's supposedly bipartisan transportation bill has been stopped in its tracks according to its sponsor Sen. Barbara Boxer, reports Keith Laing.

February 16, 2012 - The Hill

As the debate over the size and scope of federal and state governments heats up entering the 2012 election season, The New York Times presents a comprehensive look at how such services are currently dispersed across the country.

February 16, 2012 - The New York Times

As cities across the country compete to see who will win the title of 'Most Bicycle-Friendly', Emily Badger looks at what other titles may be worth pursuing.

February 16, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

Delving into the psychology behind the House transportation bill, Will Doig investigates the reasons why the Tea Party have turned their attention to mass transit as the next culture war battleground.

February 15, 2012 - Salon.com