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.
The “No Buddy Left Behind” program employs veterans to find and then help house homeless veterans.
The housing tends to be older, is more often rented, making it less likely to be maintained and more vulnerable to serious damage in the wake of a disaster. But there are steps communities can take to help.
The City Council has voted to activate the previously dormant commission in an effort to better protect historic cultural sites. Honolulu is the only county in the state not to have a group of this type.
They’re happening in gentrifying neighborhoods, creating a flashpoint of ethnic and racial conflict. Some cities are trying to deal with the problem, but there are no easy solutions.
In June, a museum housing the world’s largest collection of works by Chicano artists opened in Riverside, Calif. Years of community-based work and a partnership with collector Cheech Marin set the stage for success.
The all-volunteer group is shaping development projects with recommendations and refinements, without blocking timelines. The advice may help developers consider their neighborhood impact.
What was once the town of Madison has become parts of other communities, forcing a small group of residents to change addresses, street names and polling places just a week before Election Day.
The cities were ranked based on their pedestrian fatalities, violent and property crime, number of registered sex offenders and number of law enforcement employees. Gilbert, Ariz., earned the top spot.
Twice-daily service between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala., would boost travel alternatives, help the economy and attract tourism dollars. But finalizing a deal with the freight operators that own the tracks has proven difficult.
They increasingly bear most of the burdens of the disasters that climate change brings. Those that combine strong building codes and zoning that keeps people out of dangerous areas will fare the best and better protect their most vulnerable residents.
The City Council has issued a halt to renewals of existing permits and those in the application pipeline. The moratorium, which could begin as soon as Nov. 3, would phase out nearly all 1,300 residential short-term rentals.
Evictions across the region have increased as California’s state and local pandemic-induced renter protections expired at the end of June. Tenant advocates expect eviction rates to continue rising.
The “Connected Communities” pitch includes a series of provisions to combat segregation and gentrification by encouraging residents to walk, cycle and use public transit as priority transportation methods.
No one disputes that we need more housing. But the YIMBY movement has a broader set of goals that would threaten the tradition of local land use decisions in America.
The ballot proposals include a tax on millionaires in Massachusetts, bus system improvements in the Detroit region and a penny sales tax in Orange County, Fla.
In the 1920s, a Studebaker dealer led the successful national effort to give motorists priority and marginalize walking, blaming pedestrians for their own injuries and deaths. We need a radical revision in our conception of city streets.
The state wants to quickly rebuild the Sanibel Causeway, heavily damaged by Ian, and the only road onto a barrier island. But researchers say the focus should be on building more resilient infrastructure for a changing climate.
Three cities, Compton, San Gabriel and Motebello, were placed in the high risk category, according to the California State Auditor, while Torrance moved to the moderate risk zone. Several other cities ranked in the top 20 most at-risk.
Even though mental illness is just as pervasive in rural communities, crisis response teams have been slow to grow beyond cities partly due to a lack of resources. Unfortunately, there's not a simple solution.
The success of remote work could revitalize the economies of America’s small communities. But there are things they need to do to maximize their economic growth.
Renewed efforts to develop the 20-acre Caltrain site has increased excitement surrounding the transformation of regional transit, but also the potential to develop housing or commercial buildings if Caltrain moves its railyards underground.
While Washington state saw a 16 percent increase in road deaths between 2020 and 2021, Pierce County saw a 34 percent year-to-year jump, alerting officials of the dire need for road safety reform.
The Inflation Reduction Act has funding to help states and localities implement better energy codes. Energy-efficient buildings can save their owners a lot of money while dramatically reducing emissions.
California’s shift away from gas-powered vehicles could mean as many as 80 percent of gas stations would be unprofitable by 2035. The state has some 250,000 station owners and employees.
For 30 days, the city made dozens of changes to its streets and saw bike-share use soar. For Boston’s chief of streets, it was a reminder that “there’s no substitute for trying something and learning from it.”
Policy decisions that seem to make sense at the national or regional levels should not sacrifice the environmental quality and economic future of communities directly impacted by them.
The annual census found that chronic homelessness rose 43 percent since 2020, even as the county and city of Santa Rosa spent an unprecedented $4 million on housing homeless people through the first 15 months of the pandemic.
The decision of the world’s fifth-largest city to shift road space from cars to other uses has produced increasingly vibrant urban neighborhoods.
More than 300,000 DTE and Consumers Energy customers across the state lost power during August as the grid failed to keep up with a growing demand. To prevent future shutdowns, utilities will need to increase their reliability.
As Prince of Wales, Charles had a lot to say about architecture and planning. But there are things that princes can do that monarchs might not be able to.
Residential, commercial and industrial buildings account for significant portions of state and local greenhouse gases, including one-third of Seattle’s and nearly 25 percent of Washington state’s emissions.
