Clik here to view.
Is L.A. Back? Don't Buy the Hype.
With two football teams moving to Los Angeles, a host of towers rising in a resurgent downtown and an upcoming IPO for L.A.'s signature start-up, Snapchat parent Snap Inc., one can make a credible case...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Los Angeles Traffic: Likely To Worsen with Higher Densities
A few recent days driving the Los Angeles freeways impressed me with how different they are from in most other places in the country. The intensity of the traffic is astounding. Even on the weekend,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Economics of Dependency
This article first appeared at Foreign Affairs.How countries hit the demographic sweet spot.Demographics are among the most important influences on a country’s overall economic performance, but...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Chicago's Crime Wave Understood: Complex Problem, Simple Formula
Chicago's violent crime problem can be understood through this formula:It's a simplistic, reductionist, even crude, but it explains the roots of Chicago's crisis as well as anything.It has been...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How the Democrats can Rebuild
Numerous commentaries from both the political left and right have expounded the parlous state of the Democratic Party. And, to be sure, the Democrats have been working on extinguishing themselves in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A New Age of Progressive Suburbanism?
“We are living in a global suburban age… While statistics demonstrate that the amount of the world population in metropolitan areas is rapidly increasing, rarely is it understood that the bulk of this...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Detroit's Recovery? Oh Yeah, It's Real Alright
So it seems the debate has begun. There's been enough progress in Detroit to discuss whether its rebound is for real, or not.Two academics, Laura Reese of Michigan State University and Gary Sands of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Is Climate Change Really the Cause of Mexico City’s Water Problems?
A couple weeks ago the New York Times ran a gigantic front-page Sunday article by architecture critic Michael Kimmelman on Mexico City’s water crisis.This piece was billed as the first installment in a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Canada’s Urban Areas: Descent from Affordability
Canada is a nation of wide open spaces, yet it has high urban area densities recently driven higher by a redefinition of urban area criteria (Note 1). Canada's largest urban area (population centre) is...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Common Sense on Immigration
No issue divides the United States more than immigration. Many Americans are resentful of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants, worry about their own job security, and fear the arrival of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Fractions within the Working Class
This has been a rough year. After the election, I reposted a few articles on my Facebook wall, as did so many of my friends, about the “working-class vote.” Did the white working-class just elect...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Taxpayers Need Protection from Dallas-Houston High Speed Rail Bailout? New...
The proposed privately financed high-speed rail line from Houston to Dallas is projected to have a revenue shortfall of $21.5 billion in its first 40 years of operation. This is the conclusion of a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Small Colleges and Small Towns Working Together for Their Futures
My latest column in the March 2017 issue of Governing magazine is about how small liberal arts schools are partnering to try to help the small towns where they are located succeed. In this they are...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Cities Creating the Most Tech Jobs in 2017
A growing tech industry is often considered the ultimate sign of a healthy local economy. By that measure, the Bay Area still stands at the top of the heap in the United States, but our survey of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Big Box Jesus
One of my cousins recently attended an event at a suburban church and I tagged along. I’m amoral and omnivorous. I’ll go to any house of worship on the odd chance I might actually learn something...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Can Tech Oligarchs Thrive Under Trump?
With the first billionaire in the White House, Wall Street booming and, for the first time in almost a decade, very solid and broad based job growth, one would think America’s business elite would be...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hollywood's Self-Inflicted Wounds
No industry is more identified with Southern California than entertainment. Yet, in the past, the industry’s appeal has lain in identifying with the always-changing values and mythos of American...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Suburban and Urban Housing Cost Relationships
Perhaps this is old hat to you, but this came across as a bit of an epiphany to me earlier today.I was listening to the local public radio station this morning and there was a segment about the Chicago...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ten Things You Need to Know About Indianapolis City Culture
What makes one city different from another? Some of it is the geography, the economy, or the buildings. But a big chunk of it is culture.Every city has its own culture. A journalist recently...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Flight from Urban Cores Accelerates: 2016 Census Metropolitan Area Estimates
The flight from the nation’s major metropolitan area core counties increased 60 percent between 2015 and 2016, according to just-released estimates from the US Census Bureau (Note). A total of 321,000...
View Article