Social / Demographics

According to Census data and growth projections, Texas appears to be on track to gain between two and four seats in the U.S. House of Representatives when the seats are reallocated in 2010. The rise in population will also increase federal funding.

January 21, 2007 - The Houston Chronicle

Growth, education and jobs/wages/employment are the top concerns identified in public policy survey conducted recently by Boise State University's social science research center.

January 20, 2007 - BSU Social Science Research Center

Residents of Picher, Oklahoma, must leave the town contaminated by lead and zinc mines. Although contaminated since the 1970s, only recent threats of cave-ins have convinced hold-outs to leave.

January 20, 2007 - The Washington Post

After a federal raid cost a chicken processing plant in Stillmore, Georgia, 75 percent of its mostly Hispanic 900-member work force, company officials hired locals -- mostly African-American -- to take their place. Then things got interesting.

January 18, 2007 - The Wall Street Journal

Ever in search of more consumers, advertisers seem intent on covering more places and spaces with marketing messages.

January 16, 2007 - The New York Times

At almost 30 years of age, L.A.'s rent control ordinance is a double-edged sword -- reviled by some and relied upon by others.

January 15, 2007 - The Los Angeles Times

As new developments consume agricultural lands in the fast-growing South, the cooperatives that cater to farmers feel the pinch. While some can 'retool' by selling pet food and lawn fertilizer, others must close as another casualty to sprawl.

January 15, 2007 - AP via Daily Press (Hampton Roads, Virginia)

A new report from the World Watch Institute warns that uncontrolled urbanization in the form of slums is contributing to serious social and environmental consequences.

January 12, 2007 - World Watch

Hawaii's housing boom and other factors like high rents and a shortage of developable land mean that housing is often out of reach for the state's working poor. As a result, Hawaii has one of the nation's largest homeless populations.

January 12, 2007 - The Wall Street Journal

With plush furniture, coffee shops, rock concerts and meeting spaces, public libraries are reinventing themselves as the city's primary public place.

January 10, 2007 - The Globe & Mail

In Europe, vehicular emissions are increasing while emissions from industry and the population growth rate decline. More people throughout the world are driving, especially in those countries where the "newly rich" enjoy their new mobility.

January 10, 2007 - The New York Times

Megapolitans are regions that combine at least two, and often several, metropolitan areas. Researchers Robert E. Lang and Arthur C. Nelson developed the megapolitan concept in part to depict where the next 100 million Americans will live.

January 9, 2007 - Planning magazine, American Planning Association

Chris Williamson offers advice on how to make sure you don't confuse Census Bureau projections with actual planning.

January 8, 2007 - Planning magazine, American Planning Association

Sales of high-priced playhouses that replicate real-life homes are increasing.

January 5, 2007 - The Oregonian

In the wee hours of the morning, hundreds if not thousands of workers from Tijuana, Mexico trade the comfort of their beds for restless sleep in cars parked near U.S. border inspection stations.

January 4, 2007 - The Los Angeles Times

There may not be a Times Square, but Los Angeles residents have created their own city centers wherever they can.

January 4, 2007 - The Los Angeles Times

Demand for locally-grown food is increasing in Canada, but the number of organic growers has shown a national decline. A shortage of organic processing plants -- especially those used for meats -- is a limiting factor in the 'slow food' movement.

December 31, 2006 - The Tyee

The New England region's population growth rate continues to drop below that of the nation as a whole, measuring at a rate of just 0.2 percent between July 2005 and July 2006. This compares with a national growth rate of about 1 percent.

December 31, 2006 - Portland Press Herald

FBI statistics that identify Kansas City as having the most violent crime in the nation fortify results from a recent survey of residents who are more concerned about crime than residents of the reigning "most dangerous city in America", St. Louis.

December 30, 2006 - The Kansas City Star

The Brookings Institution's Metropolitan Policy Program has published its list of the top ten most noteworthy urban and demographic trends affecting U.S. metropolitan regions in 2006.

December 29, 2006 - The Brookings Institution