Urban Issues

One of the candidates for president in this November’s election is known by the nickname, “Amtrak Joe.” The Democratic-controlled House wants to triple federal funding for intercity passenger trains.  read more »

Be it resolved, COVID-19 and its social and economic fall out spells the end of the big city boom.

Listen to the debate at Munk Debates.

About this episode  read more »

Let’s start at the beginning, Joel. In talking about your new book, “The Coming of Neo-Feudalism: A Warning to the Global Middle Class,” do you literally fear that liberal capitalism is losing out to economic “feudalism”? And please put that word feudalism in a modern context for our readers.  read more »

The New York Times reported on July 4 that 239 scientists in 32 countries had signed an Open Letter to the World Health Organization (WHO) outlining “the evidence showing that smaller particles can infect people, and are calling for the agency to revise its recommendations.” The letter was published in the journal  read more »

The evening cheers in support of health care workers during the worst of New York’s coronavirus outbreak were a rare bright spot in a day full of depressing developments.  read more »

So last month I saw an article in the New York Times about the resurfacing of a video documenting a racist attack on black children in Rosedale, Queens in New York City in 1975. A group of black kids from a nearby neighborhood decided to go on a "bike hike" through surrounding neighborhoods. Little did they know they would stumble on a protest against black movement into the area.  read more »

In the past month or so, we’ve seen the destruction or defacement of statues of Confederate generals, the Father of our Country who was also a slaveowner, the Great Emancipationist, the  read more »

The years to come seem likely to see America’s historic population dispersion continue or accelerate, as pandemic and lockdown worries have severely reduced the attractiveness of dense urban cores (especially in the highest density areas, such as New York City). As a result, the sparsely populated outer areas of combined statistical areas (CSAs), the largest category of local labor market defined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), could be the destination of many former urban core households.  read more »

The COVID-19 virus has taken a hammer to many of the ideas we have about what is normal.

It is obvious now that many things will never be the same.

COVID-19 follows a period of significant change for Australia’s residential property market.  read more »

Not long ago, Tom Delonge, one of the founders of the punk-rock band Blink 182 and founder/front man for the alternative band Angels and Airwaves, decided to put together an interesting public benefit corporation based in California. It just so happens to be a company that conducts research on UFOs. But what’s interesting here is how Delonge’s To The Stars Academy (TTSA) have been able to promote this subject, not just on obscure websites or the Joe Rogan podcast, but through other more surprising channels.  read more »