Lamentation for Detroit

The March issue of Atlantic Magazine on-line includes a very thoughtful and comprehensive article titled, “How the Crash Will Reshape America,” by urban theorist, Richard Florida. It is an vital analysis for anyone who cares about American cities and essential reading for those of us in planning, real estate, urban policy and economic development who [...]

The Super Bowl is Tomorrow. Who Knew?!

I am going to a party tomorrow and don’t want to appear more foolish or out of touch than usual. Apparently, the Super Bowl is tomorrow evening so that’s the theme of the party. I wondered why someone would schedule a party on a Sunday evening when people have to go to work the next [...]

Big Three Bailout and Foreign Automakers

David Broder, in his Washington Post column last Sunday, implied that the opposition to the bailout of US automakers by southern Senators, led by DeMint (R, SC) and McConnell (R, KY) was influenced by the presence of foreign auto manufacturers in many southern states. The column is about politics and not specifically about economic development [...]

City Blogs

I’ve added a box on the right titled, City Blogs. This morning, I stumbled across a post about deep-fried candy bars (no joke) from a blog called All Over Albany. AOA is a nice site full of things to do and be proud of  if you find yourself in Albany, New York.  I have also provided the [...]

Do it Now!

The environment demands that we use less oil and find better energy sources for our mobility. Our transportation infrastructure is crumbling due to insufficient funding provided largely by fuel taxes. Unfriendly nations are enriched and their hostility is funded by our globally unrivaled consumption of oil.  Raise the federal gas tax now! http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/27/opinion/27sat1.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/23/us/23works.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

We’ve been here before – Upton Sinclair

Reading & linking through a Paul Krugman commentary in the New York Times led me to this excerpt from Metropolis written by Upton Sinclair in 1908. How many of us will be feeling this way as our ‘leaders’ deal with the current economic conditions? He was burning with a sense of outrage. He had been tricked and made [...]

Invest at home – Infrastructure & Jobs

Bob Herbert of the New York Times gets it. Today’s column makes a forceful case for intense, well planned infrastructure investment as a crucial part of President Obama’s stimulus package. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/25/opinion/25herbert.html?_r=1&hp

The Formerly Middle Class

I promise that this editorial by David Brooks from the New York Times will not cheer you up.  It is a frank assessment of what the longer term effects of the current economic mess may be for many of us. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/18/opinion/18brooks.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Team of Rivals – another Lincoln lesson for Barrack Obama

As President-elect Obama has been considering candidates for his administration’s cabinet secretaries and other key roles, there have been plenty of references to Doris Kearns Goodwin’s 2005 bestseller, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. The book details Lincoln’s selection of the most talented politicians and leaders he could assemble for his cabinet, many [...]