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.
Cities and states scrambled to house homeless people in hotels and motels during the emergency phase of the pandemic. Many communities still find it’s a good model.
Twenty miles of Seattle streets that have been closed during the pandemic will be permanently closed to car traffic by the end of May. The closures will provide extra space for alternate transportation methods.
Officials worry that citizenship and the coronavirus concerns may deter Latino participation in the 2020 Census. As the coronavirus increases government distrust, encouraging participation is harder than ever.
As the coronavirus further exposed the state’s connectivity issues, the U.S. Department of Agriculture hopes to expand broadband services to rural New Mexico to help close the digital divide.
While there are still some parts of health appointments that are better done in person, officials are hopeful that telehealth will be offered and become more mainstream as shelter-in-place orders are lifted.
It may be tempting, in coping with revenue losses brought on by the pandemic, for governments to reduce funding for community economic-development organizations, but it would be short-sighted.
The Pontotoc Electric Power Association voted against offering broadband in early April. Now residents are rallying on social media and hoping to get the PEPA to reconsider their vote by the next meeting in early May.
Though many telecommunications companies said they would provide free Internet services to those in need during the coronavirus shutdown, a survey of Los Angeles Schools families finds that getting it done isn’t always so simple.
In a scenic but neglected area of Appalachia, a $100 million bridge built between two states remains unused five years after completion. Revised plans could bring traffic one day, but for now, it remains pristine.
As Washington state enacted stay-at-home orders, rural residents were suddenly cut off from their work and school. While broadband access has been a long-term issue, COVID-19 is finally bringing eastern Washington’s digital divide to the forefront.
Muskegon, Mich., Community College has approved a 4 percent tuition increase for the next year. While the college needs the financial increase, many students suffering from coronavirus impacts might not be able to afford it.
California had planned to spend $187 million on ensuring an accurate Census count. However, much of that money was going to be spent on face-to-face outreach. Now the state must rely on online outreach until things reopen.
Approximately 710,000 Ohio households don’t have any Internet service at home, leaving them unable to connect to work, school, health care or shopping during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Ann Arbor, Mich., company, Voxel51, is using data from street cameras to measure social distancing across the world. The company hopes the data gets put to good use, “even if it's only public awareness.”
We have a loose consensus in America on factors that drive costs and time up and quality down. What we don't have is consensus on how to get those factors under control.
Work to bridge the digital divide has gained momentum in recent years in state and local government, and the case to close the gap may get a further boost by the novel coronavirus reinforcing the importance of having the Internet at home.
Pittsburgh is looking to implement a hyperloop to speed up transportation. But even smaller counties, like Beaver County, are starting to think about their futures and “how they want to propel [themselves] into the mid-21st century.”
The decisions governments are making to cope with the spread of the coronavirus will disproportionately impact low-income communities. These decisions need to be made through an equity lens.
A new book's exploration of how places that have been battered by powerful forces have succeeded or failed has much to teach us about our own communities.
Ridership on buses and light rail has taken a nosedive since the coronavirus outbreak as people are social distancing and remote work has become the norm, at least temporarily. Many wonder if ridership will revive post-coronavirus.
Transportation agencies know that policies prioritizing single-occupancy vehicles are bad for their cities. Yet in too many cases those agencies are the ones standing in the way of needed changes.
Indiana is among the many states that have switched to e-learning during the coronavirus outbreak. While education leaders concede it’s not ideal, “I think once people get more adjusted to it… I think it’ll be really good for the kids.”
Census invitations have been sent out and officials want everyone to participate so they’re making the information clear, accurate, accessible, short and safe. “We highly encourage people to fill out the questionnaire.”
Could the pandemic help end or mute the modern era of cities? Probably not, but it's likely that we will see some permanent changes, both predictable and unexpected.
The Department of Labor will temporarily suspend the in-person requirement to access its services and is working to make other necessary accommodations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The pandemic is creating new burdens and exacerbating existing ones for Americans at the economic margins. Government has the obligation and the opportunity to ease those burdens.
Yesterday's reporting and compliance mechanisms aren't dynamic enough. Today's evolving transportation marketplace calls for nuanced, citizen-centric control driven by actionable real-time data.
Wisconsin’s capital city saw more trips and 64 percent more users in 2019, which they believe to be due to their all-electric fleet. Some are using this as a basis to reimagine what city transportation should be.
Mid-twentieth century modern buildings once flourished in two Southern cities. Thanks to its location in Miami Beach, art deco has prospered in recent decades. But modernism faces a sadder fate in Montgomery, Ala.
A safety testing company recommended that carmakers install ways to ensure drivers stay engaged. “Unfortunately, the more sophisticated and reliable automation becomes, the more difficult it is for drivers to stay focused.”
An Austin neighborhood is designed for formerly homeless and includes some 3-D-printed houses. While it reduces price and time of construction, not all are convinced 3-D-printing is the solution to the housing crisis.
