Housing and Urban Issues
Stresses on urban communities continue to affect housing, food security, child services, homelessness, business development and crime. Coverage includes stories about new solutions to how cities are run, how they develop as urban centers and about the people who live there.
A survey shows that more than half of manufactured homeowners on rented land have no lease.
By comparing the operating efficiency of 149 of the largest U.S. cities, experts at WalletHub, the personal finance firm, have come up with a score for which ones are managed best.
Taking downtown residential is an attractive idea. But it’s not the ultimate solution to central city decline.
Workplace and financial realities will require city leaders, property owners and lenders to take action to break the cycle and reimagine downtowns.
Public arrest data from 2018 to 2022 revealed that Black people made up 69 percent of arrests for possession of 2 ounces or less of marijuana, but they make up about 24 percent of Dallas’ population.
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.
Operators must request a permit to fly the drone a month before the flights, must be insured and have prior authorization from the FAA. They must also indicate exactly what they intend to record and the NYPD can deny any request.
Digital solutions can modernize construction, increase safety and improve return on investments. But the traditional ways of purchasing and contracting are unsuited to the rapid pace of technological change.
The federal government claims that the state’s Department of Public Health has demonstrated patterns of inaction and neglect surrounding health risks of raw sewage in Lowndes County, a majority-Black county.
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.
Houses of worship are experiencing a great emptying, becoming disconnected from their communities as congregations shrink. Jane Jacobs had some ideas that could help churches and their cities thrive.
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.
It takes hours to drive into the center in many developing nations' cities. Can the problem be solved? Not easily.
So far this year there have been 76 homicides, which is nine more than this time last year. Over the span of 72 hours throughout the Memorial Day weekend, there were seven homicide scenes across the city.
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.
From claims about an "Agenda 21" to attacks on 15-minute cities, a range of conspiracy theories have taken aim at progressive ideas around urban mobility and city design.
Smart Growth America is restarting its annual reports on the best policies to promote safe and accessible streets. Howard County, Md., got a perfect 100.
It’s a trend that started before the pandemic, and it isn’t slowing down, thanks in part to hefty price increases for housing.
The Mississippi city's Mayor Toby Barker recalls the highs and lows of navigating COVID-19's delta and omicron waves.
Seattle, Houston, Atlanta and Tucson, Ariz., are among a small number of cities that lost population in the pandemic but now have more people than a decade ago. Finding those residents housing is a challenge, however.
"Trash Walker" Anna Sacks finds treasure in her neighborhood's refuse and shares the discoveries with her 400,000 online followers. She is part of a growing trend of "zero wasters" who patrol the city's streets.
It’s not easy to get a smaller city that’s been losing population growing again. Every town can’t be a high-tech hub. But an urban scholar has some ideas that might help some of them.
They have been transformed by the COVID-19 pandemic, with new challenges around public safety, homelessness and commercial real estate. A series of reports from the Brookings Institution explores the future of downtowns.
The declaration will allow state and local officials to more quickly distribute allocated funds for the nearly 37,000 immigrants temporarily residing in New York City, including 1,500 arrivals in just the last week.
Pro football represents a peculiar combination of high demand and low frequency that is a highly inefficient use of urban space. What cities need is housing.
The Safe Streets and Roads for All program, which provides direct funding to cities to make street improvements, is accepting applications. Other grants for transportation infrastructure are open or opening soon as well.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Lauren F. Louis said the 2022 map preserved the ethnic composition of the five-seat commission and that a goal of “diversity of representation” would benefit Miami.
Anthony Driver Jr. was one of the 9,000 Chicago residents who were robbed last year. But he’s also the president of the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability and will help elect the city’s next police superintendent.
The County Council has passed legislation that would allow lawmakers to retroactively revoke planned unit developments if they inherit them from a former council member. Previously members could only modify or amend plans.
There’s a secret order to the way traffic moves in African cities — less regulated, more spontaneous.
The state’s Office of Public Advocacy is required to provide guardianship services for vulnerable adults, but recent turnover has increased workloads to approximately 1,600 cases per staff member. The agency wants it down to 60 each.
