Government / Politics

California's Governor Jerry Brown unveils his administration's new plan in hopes of finally balancing the state's competing water interests. The cost? $14 billion over a decade.

July 29, 2012 - The New York Times

After years of scandal, New Orleans accepts that the time for change has come.

July 28, 2012 - The New York Times

A mixed bag of land-use changes, including relaxed parking standards and an increased threshold for environmental review, were passed by the Seattle City Council this week. Critics complain the legislation favors developers over residents.

July 26, 2012 - The Seattle Times

Airplanes sink in melted asphalt, trains derail along kinked tracks, highways buckle over dry soil; these aren't scenes from a science fiction film depicting a future plagued by global warming. Climate change is here, and it's taxing our grid.

July 26, 2012 - The New York Times

Under new legislation introduced this week in City Council, naming rights for Pittsburgh's public buildings and advertising on city vehicles and employee uniforms will be sold to the highest bidder in an effort to monetize the city's resources.

July 26, 2012 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The $4.7 billion high speed rail bond appropriation, signed by Gov. Brown on July 18 included $2 billion for transit upgrades in the Bay Area and Southern CA. Max Taves reports that litigation in the Central Valley could target that funding.

July 25, 2012 - The Wall Street Journal - San Francisco Bay Area

The BBC has provided an infographic timeline indicating when scientists and researchers predict valuable resources and ecosystems will disappear, urging planners and officials to address the dangers of current population and consumption levels.

July 25, 2012 - BBC

Whenever a term is overused, it's up for snark attack. Ben Brown seeks to inoculate himself and others against that tendency, by describing why community health is an admirable goal and how it's connected to economic development (and beer).

July 25, 2012 - PlaceShakers

As Virginia drafts new rules to govern the sale of naming rights to its highways, interchanges, and bridges, public officials want to ensure that their new "marketing technology" provides more than just a sign on the road, reports Liz Essley.

July 23, 2012 - The Examiner

Kelly Sinoski and Michael Vinkin Lee detail the strategies identified in Vancouver's new plan to deal with expected increases in the effects of climate change, from street flooding and damaged forests to heat-related illnesses.

July 23, 2012 - The Vancouver Sun

When California planned to close 70 parks this month to save $22 million, donors sprang into action to help keep them open. It turns out they needn't have, as last week it was revealed the CA Dept. of Parks and Recreation stashed away $54 million.

July 23, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

The Bay Area's two regional agencies approved funding a study to pursue a 9-county "vehicle-miles-traveled" fee of as much as 10-cents per mile that could involve GPS technology to fund regional transportation improvements.

July 23, 2012 - San Jose Mercury News

Will a new Chicago ordinance put the kibosh on mobile cupcakes and kabobs?

July 23, 2012 - The Huffington Post

Gone are the days of drab cinderblock housing for America's military families. Taking advantage of an initiative passed by Congress in 1996, today's privatized military housing developments are larger and packed with modern amenities.

July 22, 2012 - The New York Times

As Congress presses to eliminate funding for many of the federal government's sustainable planning initiatives, increased collaboration among agencies around smart growth policies may be irreversible.

July 22, 2012 - Streetsblog

A so-called "eco-friendly" apartment complex complete with solar panels that derives more than 90% of its energy needs from coal? China struggles to take sustainable development seriously.

July 21, 2012 - USA Today

Diverse suburban neighborhoods now outnumber their central city counterparts two to one. How will increasing (or decreasing) diversity change America's suburban stereotype?

July 21, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

In signing ceremonies in both Los Angeles's Union Station and San Francisco's Transbay Terminal (under construction), Gov. Jerry Brown appropriated $4.7 billion in Prop. 1A, 2008 bond funds that will be matched with $3.2 billion in federal HSR funds.

July 20, 2012 - CNN U.S.

Dowell Myers pens an opinion piece for The Sacramento Bee arguing that it's time to reform California's infamous property tax cap - Proposition 13 - in order to solve the challenges facing the state today, and in the future.

July 18, 2012 - The Sacramento Bee

Representing the Global Cities Initiative, Richard M. Daley and Bruce Katz report on the current status of Miami's economy and offer tips they deem necessary to boost the regional economy into true "global" status.

July 18, 2012 - The Miami Herald