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Jake Blumgart

Senior Staff Writer

Jake Blumgart is a senior writer for Governing and covers transportation and infrastructure. He lives in Philadelphia. Follow him on Twitter at @jblumgart.

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Housing and Urban Issues
The Twin Cities Skyways Face an Uncertain Future
With miles of second-floor walkways, Minneapolis and St. Paul have struggled to make them appealing without hurting retail businesses at the street level. Then the pandemic hit.
April 14, 2022
 · Jake Blumgart
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State and Local Politics and Policy
Mayor Melvin Carter: St. Paul Is on the Cusp of Its Big Moment
Often overshadowed by its neighbor Minneapolis, the other twin city has survived the pandemic and racial tensions and is ready to move on. Governing talked to Mayor Carter, early in his second term, about the city’s new momentum.
April 8, 2022
 · Jake Blumgart
Aerial view of a dense suburban neighborhood in Los Angeles County, Calif.
Housing and Urban Issues
Can Tech Help Turn the Tide on California’s Housing Problem?
The city of Elk Grove uses an app that pushes citizens who participate in citywide housing density discussions to craft their own solutions, not just object to what has been proposed.
March 31, 2022
 · Jake Blumgart
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Housing and Urban Issues
Once Again, Baltimore Hopes to Fight Blight With $1 Homes
In the 1970s, the city created a new generation of homesteaders by practically giving away vacant homes. Now, the idea has been revitalized by a city councilor. But not everyone is convinced it will work.
March 24, 2022
 · Jake Blumgart
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State and Local Politics and Policy
Public Meetings Thwart Housing Reform Where It Is Needed Most
Public engagement can have downsides. Neighborhood participation in the housing permitting process makes existing political inequalities worse, limits housing supply and contributes to the affordability crisis.
March 17, 2022
 · Jake Blumgart
Vacant House in Ford Heights, a suburb south of Chicago.
State and Local Politics and Policy
Foreclosure Crisis Driving Black Flight in Chicago: Study
New econometric analysis brings statistics to bear in support of common-sense conclusions that people can’t stay in neighborhoods if they don’t have homes.
March 16, 2022
 · Jake Blumgart
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Trends
Searching for Ways to Limit Induced Demand in a Car-Loving Society
Reducing congestion and its problems of pollution and carbon emissions won’t be easy or cheap. But transportation experts continue to search for answers.
March 7, 2022
 · Jake Blumgart
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State and Local Politics and Policy
Why the Concept of Induced Demand Is a Hard Sell
Both the public and policymakers have trouble understanding why building more roads and highways does not reduce congestion.
Feb. 28, 2022
 · Jake Blumgart
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State and Local Politics and Policy
Driving on the Right: America’s Polarized Transportation Policies
Highway construction receives bipartisan support, but Republican voters in Sun Belt cities have gained the most from the country’s car-centric transportation system, while transit is almost entirely backed by Democrats.
Feb. 24, 2022
 · Jake Blumgart
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The Future in Context
Pittsburgh’s Transformation from Hard Hats to Scrubs
The city is no longer America’s steeltown. But how did it become a leader in health care? Author Gabriel Winant explains how economic realities allowed this service industry to emerge from the region’s old labor movement.
Feb. 18, 2022
 · Jake Blumgart
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