Urban Issues

After her election as mayor of Los Angeles in 2022, Karen Bass was a heroine of California’s Left. A former backer of Fidel Castro, she decisively defeated billionaire businessman Rick Caruso  read more »

From the start, California’s “landmark” climate law recognized that because global warming is a planetary wide phenomena , the state could only have “far-reaching” effects by “encouraging other states, the federal government, and other countries to act.” To achieve this goal, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and leaders, charged with crafting climate policy, could have chosen to preserve the state’s quality of life – the “California Dream” – while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving climate resiliency.  read more »

America’s universities may be a disgrace, but the deeper problems with our education system lie with grades K-12. Higher education still ranks as a U.S. strength that other countries might admire—but our grade schools might even be inadequate for poor, developing countries.  read more »

Los Angeles authorities’ poor preparation for and lamentable response to the wildfires now devastating the city capture a broader problem – namely, the failure of governance  read more »

Between 2000 and 2024, there has been substantial movement between the states — net domestic migration. The source of the data is the Census Bureau population estimates program  read more »

When I was studying for my Project Management Professional certification several years ago, part of the content included disaster planning.  read more »

The fire still engulfing large swaths of Los Angeles has done more than destroy homes, businesses, and livelihoods. It has scorched the whole dream of Los Angeles, part of a downward spiral unfolding for a generation  read more »

Data in the 2022 National Household Travel Survey (NTHS) provides insight into the daily frequency of daily commuting by the mode characterized as “usual” in survey (See: Summary of Travel Trends: 2022 National Household Travel Survey, Table 7-3, reproduced below as Figure 1). The annual American Community Survey (ACS), administered by the Census Bureau, asks respondents for their “usual” mode of travel over the past week.  read more »

For years, the US South has done very well in net domestic migration (moving into the region from another region of the United States.  read more »

Today’s piece will be a little nerdy, perhaps a little lecture-y. You’ve been forewarned.

I often think about why American cities seem almost incapable of capitalizing on their assets  read more »