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William Fulton

William Fulton

Columnist

William Fulton is the director of the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University and the author of Guide to California Planning and The Reluctant Metropolis. Fulton came to Rice from California where he served as the planning director for the City of San Diego. He formerly served as mayor, deputy mayor and a member of the city council in the City of Ventura, Calif.

There's a calculus for figuring out what a state or locality can do to prime the development pump.
As an economic development strategy, agriculture usually looks like a loser.
Forget about the brightly lit movie complex and pedestrian shopping patterns. The New Economy isn't for everyone.
For states and cities, the trick is to capture the wealth when and where it's created and put it to long-term use locally.
To succeed, airports will have to provide travelers with many business services that are accessible without a car.
Commuters are infringing on resort communities, making it hard to keep cheap housing around for local workers.
The time to do strategic thinking is before you need to.
When the Pentagon targets a base near you, it could translate into serious economic opportunities.
Cities need to attract both the "creative class" and blue-collar manufacturing to survive in the 21st century.
The sale of cars isn't a public cash cow anymore.