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 fallout from a strike by prison guards continues to paralyze prisons, forcing officials to suspend programs and rely on emergency deployments.
The Steel City's splendid architectural gem of a bridge — one of 400 in Pittsburgh — has its roots in Venice, Italy, yet was designed by America’s foremost architect of the 19th century.
Ellicott City, Md., has been devastated twice by flooding rivers that traverse the city. But one man has built a homemade warning system he hopes will save property and lives the next time the flood waters rise.
The Montana city partnered with a Texas-based company to create an app to identify issues like potholes and broken parking kiosks. The app keeps the city accountable but also gives citizens more control
Our cities' transportation landscape is being dramatically altered. But a focus on small disputes overlooks the larger value questions that need to be addressed.
Between the pending legislation that would enact a $5,000 rebate and the state’s ambitious goals, environmental groups think New Jersey could be a national leader in the industry.
City officials are optimistic that implementing an app for the annual homeless count will yield more accurate results. Drones will be sent out before the volunteers to find encampments to make the process more efficient.
Three winners will get access to Coord’s software, apps and APIs, and collaboration from the company’s experts, to deliver a project by the end of the year to make local streets and sidewalks safer or more efficient.
Ann Arbor, Mich., is using its ongoing partnership with the University of Michigan and private industry to gather and share data from connected vehicle and infrastructure interactions.
The U.S. senator wants GPS apps to make information about road restrictions available so truck drivers can reroute if they won’t fit under a bridge. The update would reduce traffic backups and save the state wasted transportation funding.
E-Bikes have become an extremely common transport option in California’s Bay Area but they might not be suited for all. Cars are cheaper for many and, in some cases, can provide shelter that bikes can’t.
Zeeland Public Schools received a state grant in September for the purchase of electric buses, three of which are already on the road. They’re healthy, quiet, and an opportunity to teach environmental education.
Verizon will establish 5G in Lake Nona, and then Tavistock will create tech-testing programs that use the 5G. The Orlando suburb already has an autonomous shuttle, but officials are excited to be “a real-world testbed.”
Alameda, Calif., officials were debating if the license plate cameras would assure some residents of safety or perpetuate racial profiling. The city decided to use the cameras but wants feedback on effectiveness.
The event was reminiscent of the Wright brothers’ first flight 116 years ago, “But first in flight isn’t just something that we were — it’s something that we are.” Only this aircraft can go 80 mph with 600 pounds of cargo.
The system has been used in elections in six counties so far and will be implemented statewide come February. The voting machines use screens and paper to ensure security and will be used for the spring presidential primary.
The phone equipment company’s Snapdragon Ride platform focuses on driver assist technology and hopes to be foundational for driverless vehicles. Qualcomm hopes to see products with their platform in production by 2023.
The Ray, an 18-mile stretch of Interstate 85 in southern Georgia, functions as a test bed for next-generation transportation technologies, including striping to enable autonomous vehicle use.
From a (reputed) nontraditional location for the penning of one of America's more popular Christmas songs, to a decked-out statue of the founder of Communism, we take a look at some less-than-conventional holiday festivities.
By building on the data they gave away in the HQ2 competition, they can support the real engine of job growth: entrepreneurship
Bay Street’s Innovation Corridor in Jacksonville, Fla., is just a ‘petri dish’ for the state to test out the ‘Internet of Things’ in everyday life. But it’s also a good idea of what the Florida future could look like.
Come Jan. 1, all new, single-family homes in Calif. must be built with solar paneled roofs, or some other solar power system. While big companies have been preparing for years, “It definitely hits the little guy harder.”
The noise is supposed to prevent young, homeless people from loitering in public spaces, but many are concerned about its effects on other small children and dogs. Some think it's counterintuitive to a welcoming downtown.
An entrepreneur from Eugene, Ore., claims that drone imaging and blockchain technology can hold farmers accountable for sustainable farming. Currently, there is no government agency that oversees farm branding.
San Diegans for Open Government is claiming that the Southern California city didn’t disclose data that was collected through the city’s Smart Street Lights Program, which gathers a wide range of data about residents.
The team has just weeks to design a new, user-friendly homepage for the entire state that can be adopted by other departments and agencies. But its larger goal is to help rebuild trust in California state government.
The high-speed transit company is moving forward, planning routes, but the U.S. Senate has yet to approve the $5 million for safety and environmental standards. Cities hope it gets approved so they can push onward.
Electric vehicle batteries requires up to 20 pounds of cobalt. In 2014, some 40,000 children were working in cobalt mines. “Automakers need to work hard with the supply chain to ensure that” it’s free of child labor.
The state is undecided about where it will get its renewable energy: Some want solar panels atop homes and businesses, others want large solar plants away from residents, everyone is concerned about increasing costs.
As New York’s third-largest city finds its industrial giants continuing to downsize, a unique, no-interest loan program based on crowdfunding is stimulating a business revival at the grass-roots level.
Lawyers claim that the app, TIKD, that allows consumers to pay for traffic citations is “unlicensed practice of law,” but the TIKD company defends that it “is not, and has never claimed to be, an attorney.”
