Urban Issues

In case anyone believes that transit advocates haven’t completely lost their grip on reality, take a look at Memphis. The new CEO of the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) has “discovered” a $60 million deficit in the agency’s budget that “prior leadership was unaware of.”  read more »

The streets of the South Bronx testify to the decay that has afflicted parts of modern American cities.  read more »

Here’s one representation of the Rust Belt. However, just like with definitions of the Midwest overall, people usually identify where they live in the region as the center of it.  read more »

The summer recess is approaching and I would like to suggest an extra-curricular activity for college students: go somewhere different, away from campus, somewhere unlike home, and talk to new people who have had appreciably different life experiences.  read more »

The Gonzalez family’s immigrant journey from Mexico to California began in the late 1970s with a modest corner market in Anaheim. Today, Northgate Gonzalez Market has evolved into a billion-dollar food retailer that operates 47 stores  read more »

My extended family spans from third to seventh generation Mexican immigrants. Most of us expect to work hard, provide for our families, and hope our children do better than we did.  read more »

As America’s cities continue to decline, as even ardent boosters warn of “an urban doom loop”, how does London remain a global powerhouse? The straightforward answer is that it retains an old advantage: its origins as a former imperial capital.  read more »

I came across a couple of interesting pieces in the last week that had me thinking about the past, present and future of American cities again. After reading them, I felt somewhat upbeat and validated, but also concerned.  read more »

Over the six decades that transit subsidies have been virtually universal, governments and media have urged people to give up driving and switch to transit.  read more »

New York City, like many urban areas, has suffered vacant storefronts in recent years. The causes are likely many  read more »