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 pair of bills that would encourage construction are moving through the state Senate despite the opposition of key committee chairs.
Ingredients include increased numbers of residents, cultural amenities and tourism. The key is not depending too heavily on office workers.
Even in a work-from-home era, deregulation — fewer restrictions on commercial property development — would lead to more business creation and more jobs with higher wages.
The city’s Housing Authority received the federal grant to help voucher holders relocate to areas of high opportunity. The DHA estimates that more than 3,500 families are living in non-high-opportunity areas.
More than 12,000 state residents who applied or attempted to recertify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps, are still awaiting for their benefits to be processed months later.
Just a few years ago, the California city was winning acclaim as a national model for gun violence prevention. Last year, a regional trauma center treated 502 gunshot victims, compared to just 283 in 2019.
The City Council voted unanimously to equip about 810 sworn police officers with body cameras next year, making a summertime pilot program permanent. However only 297 of the patrol officers will be required to wear them routinely.
The city’s Board of Supervisors voted to terminate the Homelessness and Behavioral Health Select Committee on Tuesday after deeming it had been an experiment that had “run its course.”
For years, a conservation-focused legal foundation and a nonprofit housing financier have partnered with local governments, investors, researchers and developers to lay the foundation for healthy neighborhoods.
There are no easy solutions to America’s growing immigration challenges, but Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and New York Mayor Eric Adams should be recognized for the decisive action they have taken.
One of the hallmarks of effective homeless response is coordinated effort. Mayors met in Los Angeles, the nation's homeless capital, to figure out how they can work together to reduce the entrenched problem.
Los Angeles spends millions on body cameras to help provide transparency and accountability, but most of the footage never gets seen. Now department leaders are wondering if artificial intelligence can help solve the issue.
One scholar thinks we have carried our penchant for urban tree-worship a bit too far, giving nature too much credit for city-dwellers’ mental health.
Interest in leasing new office space was at just 21 percent of pre-pandemic levels for the third quarter of 2023. However, there was a slight increase in tenants looking for mid-sized office space.
States are passing new laws to combat retail theft, though government data doesn’t show that it is actually increasing. None of the new laws are likely to reduce crime and could disproportionately impact marginalized groups.
The City Council approved the network that will cost $12 million over the next five years, will be made up of 500 cameras equipped with license plate reading technology, and could be implemented as soon as January.
Heat and flood warnings mixed with mounting political pressure make life for the city’s unhoused population especially challenging. Earlier this year, a grand jury found the city’s homelessness solutions ineffective.
The pervasive problem has forced several stations to temporarily close due to lack of ladder trucks and other vehicles. The city has approved a multimillion-dollar purchase of goods, but it’s unclear when they will arrive.
An audit from earlier this year found that, across 46 states, state agencies failed to report an estimated 34,000 cases of missing foster kids, including children who ran away multiple times.
On Nov. 19 the city will invite gun owners to the Alamodome to safely dispose of unwanted weapons in its first-ever drive-through event. In exchange for each firearm they turn in, participants will receive a gift card of varying values.
In recent years, the public perception of police culture has been defined by acts of violence against citizens. A group of chiefs and sheriffs are working to change the narrative by emphasizing a mission of service.
The Black Economic Prosperity Dashboard includes data on population, health, education, economic well-being and business ownership that can be used to better address racial wealth gaps in the state.
The program is for residents who struggled to provide documents for federal IDs, including homeless people, immigrants or victims of domestic abuse and was approved in 2016. A committee will discuss the issue on Wednesday.
Police stations have long served as entry points for Chicagoans in need of social services. As the city tries to maneuver the influx of thousands of migrants, some homeless residents are also using the city’s police stations as shelters.
A federal judge excoriated two high-ranking officials within the state’s Department of Homeland Security for their roles in the state’s efforts to intentionally destroy evidence in a class-action lawsuit.
The results of an audit found a “high likelihood” that hundreds of state troopers falsified tens of thousands of traffic tickets and skewed racial profiling data. Now the department is working to restore public trust and legitimacy.
The city’s police reported using force against Black people 502 times from January through June of this year, which is more than against Hispanic (311), white (223) and Asian (80) people. Black people make up 5 percent of the city’s population.
The attorney general’s office is ending its pursuit of criminal prosecution over the Flint water crisis after seven years of no convictions, following the state Supreme Court’s rejection of efforts to revive charges against former Gov. Rick Snyder.
Twenty bank branches closed across the city this year through Oct. 28, which is more than the previous two years combined and the most in a single year since at least 2000. Across the state, 277 bank branches have closed this year.
In September, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill that will make child sex trafficking a serious felony starting on Jan. 1, marking the first time the state has added to the strikable offenses list in more than 20 years.
Pollution-control laws were never intended to block residential and transportation development. But that’s how they’re being misused all over the country.
