Clik here to view.
The Great Betrayal of Middle America
America’s vast midsection, a region that has been hammered by globalists of both parties, has been abandoned by the great corporations that grew fat on its labor and resources. To many from the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Coming Democratic Civil War
Even before the election of Donald Trump, and more so afterwards, the dysfunction of the GOP has been glaringly obvious. Yet, despite the miserable favorability ratings for both Trump and the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
America's Most Suburbanized Cities
Recently, The Wall Street Journal and Newsday, in a photographic spread, trumpeted the 70th anniversary of Levittown, the New York suburban development that provided the model for much of the rapid...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Las Vegas Lessons, Part 1
I spent much of last week in Las Vegas for the International Council of Shopping Centers' RECON 2017, the world's largest real estate convention. It's a gathering for developers, brokers, property...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Is Your Transportation Project a Boondoggle?
Tony Dutzik, writing for the progressive Frontier Group, offers a ten ways of recognizing whether a highway project is a boondoggle. A few of his ideas are valid: a highway widening project aimed...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How Does Housing Stock Affect Urban Revitalization?
The second of Pete Saunders’ nine reasons why Detroit failed is “poor housing stock,” particularly its overweighting towards small, early postwar cottages. Here’s a sample:Here’s what Pete had to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
California’s Descent to Socialism
California is widely celebrated as the fount of technical, cultural and political innovation. Now we seem primed to outdo even ourselves, creating a new kind of socialism that, in the end, more...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Where Manufacturing Is Thriving In The U.S.
Throughout the dismal presidential campaign, the plight of America’s manufacturing sector played a central role. Yet despite all the concerns raised about factory jobs leaving the country, all but 18...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dispersed Cities: Starting the 3rd Decade
Cities (urban areas or settlements) have been around for millennia. Over that time, cities have changed in form and function. But the way that people move around the city has materially changed only...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Superstar Gap
The biggest challenge facing many cities in transitioning to the knowledge economy is a shortage of “A” talent, especially true superstars.All “talent” isn’t created equal. Crude measures such as the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Connecticut's Future is Suburban, Not Urban
Connecticut is now grappling with a fiscal and economic crisis that, according to some leading Democrats, has been caused by ineffective urban policy. In late May, Hartford-based insurer Aetna...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Grenfell High-Rise Fire: A Litany of Failures?
At this writing, the London (Kensington) Grenfell high-rise fire has taken a confirmed 58 lives, with an unknown number missing and many more sent to hospitals. The 24 story low income housing tower...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Is America Now Second-Rate?
President Donald Trump’s recent renunciation of the Paris climate change accords has spurred “the international community” to pronounce America’s sudden exit from global leadership. Now you read in the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Amazon Eats Up Whole Foods as the New Masters of the Universe Plunder America
“We must make our choice. We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.” —Justice Louis BrandeisWith his $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole...
View ArticleClik here to view.
California’s Global Warming High-Speed Train
The California High-Speed Rail Authority promises to “achieve net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in construction” and is committed to operate the system on “100% renewable energy” by contracting...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Las Vegas Lessons, Part II
A couple weeks ago I wrote some thoughts after a recent visit to Las Vegas. Most of what I wrote about concerned the Strip and downtown areas of the city, without question the two most recognizable and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Urban Talent Sheds Say a Lot About Cities
Jim Russell pointed me as the workforce report program that LinkedIn runs. They use their data to show trends in 20 major job markets.For each market they track, they put together a map of the 10...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Future Work: What, Where, and Why
The growth industries and professions of the future will shape our cities in very different ways to the industries and professions that shaped our cities in the past. There are profound implications...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How to Take Advantage of the Retail Apocalypse
Amazon’s stunning acquisition last week of Whole Foods signaled an inflection point in the development of retail, notably the $800 billion supermarket sector. The massive shift of retail to the web is...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Moving to the More Suburban Metropolitan Areas
A review of the most recent US Census Bureau population estimates and components of population change indicates that US residents are overwhelmingly moving to the most suburban cities (metropolitan...
View Article