Social / Demographics

Trump Takes a Final Swipe at the Civil Rights Act
The Department of Justice has proposed a change to the interpretation of disparate impact in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and many anti-discrimination laws that followed.

Los Angeles Mayor Blames COVID Outbreak on Density
Appearing on a Sunday news show, Mayor Eric Garcetti noted that the Los Angeles metropolitan region is the nation's densest and one of two primary reasons why "we're seeing a person every six seconds contract COVID-19 here in Los Angeles County."

From Dumps to Solar Farms, One Houston Neighborhood Is Planning its Own Future
After decades of fighting landfills and pollution in their community, residents of Sunnyside are working to build a more sustainable future.

California Hospitals Now Operating Under Contingency Care Guidelines
The three levels of care provided by hospitals: conventional, contingency, and crisis, were outlined in a letter sent to all hospitals. They must notify the state by Wednesday that they have adopted some version of crisis standards to ration care.

Missing Your Commute? You're Not Alone
After months of working from home, some former commuters miss the familiar routine of going to and from the office.

Buttigieg Promises to Undo Racist Freeway Policies
The U.S. Department of Transportation nominee acknowledged the impact the interstate highway system has had on communities of color and vowed to mitigate the damage.

Friday Fun: CityLab Picks the Best Games of 2020
In the year of stay-at-home orders, people turned to old and new games to stay sane and stay connected.

What Is the American Community Survey?
The American Community Survey offers a treasure trove of social, economic, housing and demographic data.

The Census Missed its Dec. 31 Deadline
The pandemic didn't help, but this moment has been a long time coming, and the delay is bad news for President Trump efforts to exclude undocumented immigrants from the count.

Cars, Covid, and California
Pultizer-winning science journalist and global health expert Laurie Garrett, an Angeleno, points to the Golden State's auto culture during an interview on MSNBC as one reason why the state is now the epicenter of the pandemic in the U.S.

Urban Planning and the Coronavirus: 2020 Year in Review
If ever there was a doubt about the sheer depth and breadth of intersectionality found in the practice and theory of planning, the pandemic provides daily reminders.

Pandemic Disrupts Ski Town Life in More Ways Than One
The working class that make ski towns run are getting squeezed out of work by public health restrictions while wealthy newcomers push real estate markets to crazy new heights.

Pandemic Endgame: The Goalposts are Moving
With most of the nation in the coronavirus "red zone," the endgame to the pandemic in the U.S. is likely through achieving herd immunity, preferably through vaccinations, but the nation's top infectious disease expert has been changing the threshold.

Seattle's Homeless Bearing the Brunt of Helmet Citations
Almost half of bike helmet citations in the city are issued to people experiencing homelessness.

The Planning Profession Needs More Black Women
If planners want to address the impacts of exclusionary planning, historical inequities, and policies that ignore the needs of women and minorities, they must address systemic inequities within the field itself.

On the Eve of the Pandemic: U.S. Migration at an All-Time Low
The most recent Census data on migration shows the continuation of a decades-long decline in migration in the United States, according to analysis by William H. Frey.

Civil Rights and Historic Preservation: A Case Study from Northern Virginia
The civil rights debates of the 1960s and 1970s influence city planning in Alexandria, Virginia to this day.

Another Fun Neighborhood Analysis Toy
A Trulia feature offers lots of interesting information about neighborhoods (or at least about how their residents perceive them).

The Race to Preserve America's Black Cemeteries
America's historic Black cemeteries, which have long fallen victim to displacement, relocation, and outright destruction, could have a new ally in the fight for preservation and recognition.

California's Hospital Crisis: What Lies Ahead
As COVID infections and hospitalizations mount in California, ICU availability dropped to zero in Southern and Central California. Demand for hospital care is also outstripping supply in New Mexico.
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