A Competition to Re-Think the Suburbs

A little bit of absurdity may not be a bad thing.

Governing, September 2009

Urban Harvest

For urban agriculture to work, we’ll need to stop talking about it in utopian terms. Instead, let’s talk about money.

Governing, August 2009

High Time for the High Line

The first leg of New York’s park in the sky is open.

Governing, July 2009

The Great White Right-of-Way

New York gives Broadway over to pedestrians.

Governing, June 2009

Plus: my interview with NYC Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan

Local Warming

It’s too late to stop climate change. What we can do is plan for it.

Governing, December, 2007

Plus: my interview with two officials in Olympia, Washington, about how to cope with sea-level rise.

Smart Decline

Youngstown has lost more than half its population. Those people aren’t coming back. But shrinking doesn’t have to mean dying.

Governing, November 2006

Plus: My photo essay on Youngstown, and interviews with Mayor Jay Williams and urban planner Hunter Morrison.

UPDATE: New York Times Magazine includes “creative shrinkage” in its 2006 Year in Ideas issue. Now where did they read about that?

Mississippi’s Urbanist Odyssey

The ravaged Gulf Coast has a rare opportunity to recreate itself. But it still has to decide what it wants to look like.

Governing, September 2006

Plus: A Q&A with me on what I found in Mississippi and New Orleans.

The Code War

As governments move toward uniform building codes, they are being lobbied by two rival groups that offer competing sets of standards.

Governing, January 2006

Rethinking the Urban Speedway

For decades, highway engineers focused on designing wider, straighter, faster roads. Now, moving traffic quickly is no longer the sole goal.

Governing, October 2005

Advancing Hope

For Gloria Rodriguez and her nonprofit group, Avance, preservation is a critical tool in the fight against poverty.

Preservation, September/October 2005

D.C.’s Waterfront Revival

You need not wander far from the steps of the U.S. Capitol to find a part of Washington, D.C., that even most locals don't know exists.

Planning, April 2004

Reinventing the District

A pro-planning mayor and his planning director set a new course for a troubled city.

Planning, February 2004