How a Public Housing Project Became an Unplanned Neighborhood
A favela in southern Brazil shows the upside of an "invasive" urban form—and offers lessons for U.S. housing policy.
Cities
Is There a Future for the City of Tomorrow?
The consequences of our obsession with urban dystopias and utopias
Politics Is Getting in the Way of What Makes Cities Great
Healthy cities are a boon not just for those who live in them, but for our entire society.
San Francisco Wants To Spend $1.7 Million on a Single Public Toilet
Local officials argue that the eye-popping sum is necessary due to rising construction costs, but experts disagree.
Los Angeles City Council Scandal Highlights Ugly Influence of Big Labor
Having a city council secretly dominated by people with racist views is troubling, but having an entire political system controlled by one special interest group is also scandalous.
San Francisco Spent Over $20,000 on a Trash Can
“We need to have a trash can that works for the city of San Francisco,” said city project manager Lisa Zhuo.
Christopher Alexander's Utopian Blueprint
There is telling people how to live, and there is maximizing people's ability to live the lives they want.
The Death of Walt Disney's Private Dream City?
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to end a wildly successful half-century experiment in municipal governance.
California Cities Are Rethinking Their Marijuana Business Bans
Nearly two dozen towns that had said no to legal weed shops are reconsidering.
Crime Is Down From Pre-Pandemic Levels in San Francisco (and Other Cities)
Plus: Substack stands up for free speech, a nonprofit challenges lawyers' stranglehold on giving legal advice, and more...
How Much Would You Pay To Escape Australia's COVID 'Ring of Steel'?
Australian researchers used changes in home prices and rents to tease out how much people were willing to spend to avoid the country's harshest lockdown.
Cities Undermine the Holiday Spirit with Unconstitutional Bans on Sharing Food with the Homeless
Do you, like many Americans, feel especially charitable this time of year? Enjoy helping those in need? Better buy a permit.
Karol Markowicz's Escape From New York Should Worry Blue-State America
This Brooklyn-bred New York Post columnist and her family are fleeing to Florida due to bad education policy and COVID mismanagement.
L.A. Finally Lets People Eat In Parking Lots
Los Angeles temporarily eased parking requirements during the pandemic, offering a glimpse of how much a less restrictive zoning code improves urban life.
Texas Wins the Census
Plus: Oregon ditches high school proficiency requirements, new vaccine rules in San Francisco and New Orleans, and more...
A City Got Protections From Qualified Immunity After a Cop Killed a Man. SCOTUS Won't Hear the Case.
The decision will make it even more difficult for victims to hold the government accountable when their rights are violated.
Florida's 'Anti-Rioting' Bill Gives the Government New Powers That Have Nothing to Do With Riots
Among other things, it calls for online censorship to shield identities of public officials and lets the governor control city police budgets.
Under 'Approval Voting,' St. Louis Voters Rally Behind Two Progressive Potential Mayors
No third-party options were on the menu for the launch of this new voting system.
Singapore Is Not the Model for a More Libertarian America
The island nation's harsh drug sentences, crackdowns on speech, and poor treatment of blue-collar immigrants make Singapore's policy not worth replicating.
Remote Work Is Here to Stay and That's a Good Thing
Able to do our jobs from where we please, life for many of us will reflect a bit more of what we want rather than what we have to do to get by.
Will Cities Survive 2020?
COVID-19 is reigniting old debates about zoning, public health, urban planning, and suburban sprawl.
The Shaky Case for State Bailouts
Governments should prepare for emergencies by cutting spending during flush times.
Taxpayers Still on the Hook for Stadium Debts, Even Though Coronavirus Canceled Sports
But then, those stadiums weren't likely to bring the growth the cities wanted in the first place.
COVID-19 Could Force City Planners To Rethink Their Priorities
The coronavirus shutdown might alter buying patterns, as more people flee tightly packed cities for suburban, exurban, and rural areas.
Will New York Ever Recover From COVID-19?
Urbanist Joel Kotkin says the pandemic will accelerate America's urban decline. Richard Florida is "100 percent convinced" NYC will be just fine.
Stop Ignoring the Different Needs of Rural Areas and Cities Responding to COVID-19
A uniform national response risks doing more harm than good in a nation that’s not uniform.
Density or Sprawl? How To Solve the Urban Housing Crisis
Land use regulation is making cities unaffordable. In an unfettered market, how would Americans choose to live?
Can U.S. Cities Be Forced To House Coronavirus Patients?
Plus: Supreme Court will hear Catholic foster agency case, Apple and TikTok reject Sen. Josh Hawley's testimony request, and more...
Trump Uses Clemency To Help Drug War Victims, Reward GOP Donors, and Spite James Comey
Plus: China boots three reporters, megacities are getting a smaller share of growth than they used to, and Dems gather to debate in Las Vegas..
Fault Lines
The relics of terrible segregationist government policies are still felt in East Austin, an area that's quickly gentrifying
'Jane Jacobs Goals Through Robert Moses Tactics'
Community planners don't have all the answers.
An Ohio City Is Declaring Itself a 'Crime Victim' of a False Police Report and Demanding Restitution
Ohio's Marsy’s Law has the potential to be abused for municipal cash grabs.
Instead of Suing or Appealing to Regulators, These Manhattanites Paid Market Price for Their Condo Views
NIMBYs can keep their views. They just have to pay for them.
A Florida Retiree's Uncut Lawn May Cost Him His House
Jim Ficken was fined $29,000 for violations of his town's tall grass ordinance.
It's Not a Mystery Why America's Biggest Cities Are Losing Population
Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City all have some easily identifiable management problems.
Want to End Urban-Rural Conflict? Stop Looking for a Victor.
Whether red vs. blue or city vs. country, political tensions are best addressed by letting people run their own lives.
Leave the Strand Alone! Iconic Bookstore Owner Pleads With NYC: Don't Landmark My Property
Nancy Bass Wyden says historic designation would compromise her ownership rights and mean dealing with bureaucrats who "do not know how to run a bookstore."
HQ2: How Amazon Made Governments Do Their Bidding for Free
It wasn't just about financial breaks and subsidies. Cities gave up all sorts of data the giant can use for its own market advantages.
Seattle's Proposed Employment Tax is Just the City's Latest Self-Inflicted Wound
City officials seem dedicated to driving away the businesses that create prosperity.