Feather O'Connor Houstoun

Recent Articles

• Persuading an Audience
• Oct 6, 2010
• A good narrative sells any policy decision.

• Technology: Infrastructure's Savior
• Sep 1, 2010
• Technology is helping public officials make more safety-informed decisions that stretch public dollars.

• Proposed Stormwater Plan in Philadelphia Emphasizes Green Infrastructure
• Sep 1, 2010
• A plan in Philadelphia to build a greener, more sustainable stormwater system may well blast green infrastructure into the mainstream.

• New Technology Tells Whether Bridges are "Dead or Alive"
• Sep 1, 2010
• Evolving bridge sensor technology offers tools to far more accurately assess the structural health of existing bridges.
• 1 Comments

• Green City, Clean Water
• Jul 21, 2010
• An unprecedented plan to tackle stormwater runoff hits the streets of Philadelphia.

• From Grey to Green in the Concrete Jungle
• Jul 21, 2010
• A plan in Philadelphia to build a greener, more sustainable stormwater system may well blast green infrastructure into the mainstream.
• 1 Comments

• Broke, Broken or Both
• May 26, 2010
• How to discern clues that a public-sector program is out of money and underperforming.

• Clues to a Broke, Broken Program
• May 26, 2010
• How to discern clues that a public-sector program is out of money and underperforming.

• Three Envelopes and the Challenge of Long-Term Planning
• Mar 3, 2010
• Obvious but rarely used strategies to good governance and future decision-making.
• 1 Comments

• Why Magic Bullets May Miss the Mark
• Jan 6, 2010
• Promising social programs can fail. A simple framework can vet the ones doomed to failure and primed for success.

• Mending Safety Nets with Technology
• Sep 9, 2009
• How a nonprofit start-up turned a process full of vertical hurdles into a client-centric safety net.
• 1 Comments

• The Wrong Kind of Silos for Rural America
• Jun 24, 2009
• When goals are in conflict, it's time look for common interests. A non-governmental initiative offers lessons for public managers.

• The Need for a Stimulus Speed Bump
• Apr 15, 2009
• The rush to spend stimulus money as quickly as possible is fraught with management risks.

• Leaky Roofs and Windows
• Jan 7, 2009
• There's no time like hard times to take a close look at duplicative programs.

• Fighting Fires by Lighting Fires
• Aug 27, 2008
• A paradigm shift provides a valuable lesson for public management.