Holding city council meetings downtown during weekday business hours makes them inaccessible to too many residents. To open up civic participation, local governments should rethink their scheduling and make the most of electronic tools.
For many, Suza Francina’s struggle for housing and her council seat is a stark example of California’s ever-growing housing crisis. Last month the Ventura County grand jury gave her 30 days to establish new residency or lose her seat.
Mayor Eric Adams works to open expensive migrant shelters in airport warehouses and school gyms despite the fact that there are thousands of unoccupied beds through the city’s public and supportive housing systems.
More than 140 people have been killed by drivers who fled the scene in Sacramento County since 2018 and experts blame aging roadways that were designed without pedestrians or cyclists in mind.
The numbers are still at historical lows. Civic engagement is the most important factor in building trust in our institutions, and our communities need to find better ways to encourage active participation in civic life.
Three years after the Denver Public Schools’ Board of Education voted unanimously to phase out school resource officers, some board members are now ready to reverse the policy as gun violence among teens in the area rises.
The city gave itself a year to disclose its surveillance technologies, compile an impact report and decide which tools should stay in use. With the deadline fast approaching, not a single tool has been approved.
An analysis of zoning laws in Connecticut finds people in single-family areas are likelier to be white and have higher incomes than those in areas that allow more housing. The findings add to a growing recognition of how zoning is linked with segregation and exclusion.
GOP state lawmakers are exerting pressure on local election officials in left-leaning areas.
Small-town advocates argue that some communities that have been written off as dead are really just in the midst of change. Lack of population increase is often not because of dwindling interest, but fewer housing choices.
Does your local government need a stance on generative AI? Boston encourages staff’s “responsible experimentation,” Seattle’s interim policy outlines cautions, and King County considers what responsible generative AI use might be.
Policymakers and scholars have recently made a push to prioritize the hours when cities are supposedly asleep. Smart technology can help municipalities govern the night.
A state can try to compel its cities to build more, but the results are at best modest. As Gov. Jared Polis learned, even getting zoning reforms enacted can be an insurmountable challenge.
Newport News, one of the nation's oldest cities, has one of its youngest mayors.
While some have predicted economic returns of $150 million or more, economists predict that those numbers are inflated. Last time the Democratic National Convention came to Chicago, the city spent $60 million to prep for the event.
City officials are launching the “Heat Relief 4 L.A.” campaign to inform residents of the dangers of extreme heat, install more cooling centers and hydration stations and invest in cool pavement projects and trees.
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