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• Columnists

  Consensus, but Progress?

  Josh Leon | Thu, Jul 2nd, 2009 | Category: Commentary | City: Detroit | Tags: detroit, josh leon, jane jacobs, richard florida, migration, world bank, shanghai, worldwatch, reshaping economic geography, creative class, world expo, bob dylan, talking heads, the atlantic | 2

  Josh Leon on whether the new standards of planning truly represent progress—or leave entire communities in the dust.

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• Columnists

  Sham Retirements

  Andrew Thompson | Mon, Jun 29th, 2009 | Category: Commentary | City: Philadelphia | Tags: michael nutter, whyy, andrew thompson, metronomics, deferred retirement option program, poynter, al tompkins, sham retirements, retirement | 0

  Andrew Thompson on cities and states that are reconsidering an all-too-common loophole that allows workers to receive a pension and a salary at the same time.

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• Columnists

  Beyond the Gas Tax: Future Funding for Transit Options

  Justin Glick | Fri, Jun 26th, 2009 | Category: Commentary | Tags: justin glick, high speed rail, omnibus, jim oberstar, susan fleming, government accountability office, barbara boxer, highway trust fund, house | 0

  Transportation funding woes are the theme of the week as Washington tries to get our infrastructure investment back on track.

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• Columnists

  Congressional Transportation Bill Announced

  Ben Adler | Wed, Jun 24th, 2009 | Category: Commentary | City: Washington, D.C. | Tags: obama, transportation, ben adler, ray lahood, oberstar, congressional transportation bill | 0

  House Transportation Committee Chair Oberstar puts out his plan for Surface Transit Re-authorization. Is it as transformative as promised?

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• Columnists

  A Simple Hat and a Complicated Story: The Risk of Unreliable Storytelling in a Recovering City

  Ariella Cohen | Mon, Jun 22nd, 2009 | Category: Commentary | City: New Orleans | Tags: new orleans, new york times, national public radio, recession, lower ninth ward, marketplace, vacancy, kai ryssdal, urban reinvestment, eastern new orleans, jeff schwartz, dan baum, broad street | 4

  Dan Baum’s blog post on the New York Times website on Friday illustrates the problems of narrating a city from a distance.

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• Urban Nation

  Required Reading

  Ben Adler | Thu, Jun 18th, 2009 | Category: Commentary | City: Washington, D.C. | Tags: infrastructure, ben adler, paris, high speed rail, politico, segregation, new york times magazine, james surowiecki, gas tax, raymond lahood | 2

  What to take to the beach? Other than Next American City, a round up of magazine articles from the New York Times Magazine, The Nation, and others. The hot topics are high speed rail, homelessness, gas taxes and of course, what Obama is going to do to improve U.S. cities.

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• Columnists

  Green Vendors Take NYC

  Jori Lewis | Thu, Jun 11th, 2009 | Category: Commentary | City: New York | Tags: new york city, brooklyn, bloomberg, bangladesh, street vendors, nyc green cart, ghana, street vendor project, crown fried chicken, popeye's | 0

  NAC Urban Leaders fellow Jori Lewis talks about the Green Carts popping up in New York City—and encourages her neighbors to take advantage of them.

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• Columnists

  Slumdog Megadisaster

  Hamida Kinge | Tue, Jun 9th, 2009 | Category: Commentary | Tags: china, haiti, hurricane ike, caribbean, united nations, india, andrew maskrey, gonaives, deforestation, shantytowns, bogota, myanmar, bahrain, cyclone nargis, megadisasters, hurricane jeanne, hurricane hanna, poverty | 0

  In her column, The Tipping Point, Hamida Kinge looks at a new United Nations report that links urban poverty, climate change and migration to cities from rural areas to “megadisasters.”

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• Columnists

  More Than a “Minor” Shift

  Jody Pollock | Thu, Jun 4th, 2009 | Category: Commentary | City: Los Angeles | Tags: california, texas, new mexico, honolulu, disneyland, majority-minority, population reference bureau, u.s. census, non-hispanic whites, orange county florida, hawaii, walt disney, anaheim, kansas, finney county, disney world, montgomery county, maryland, washington, d.c. | 0

  In her column, Divercity, Jody Pollock reports on the increasing number of “majority-minority” cities, where more than half the population belongs to a group other than single-race, non-Hispanic whites.

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• Columnists

  Going After Cars Where it Really Matters

  Ben Adler | Wed, Jun 3rd, 2009 | Category: Commentary | Tags: new york city, ben adler, maryland, manhattan, janette sadik-khan, virginia, urban nation, new york magazine, complete streets, kentlands, transportation commissioner, leesburg, germany, broadway, the american prospect | 0

  Everyone is talking about New York’s transportation commissioner, but they should be looking at the suburbs.

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• Columnists

  World Expo 2010: “Better Cities,” or High-Tech Charade?

  Josh Leon | Tue, Jun 2nd, 2009 | Category: Commentary | Tags: josh leon, shanghai, un habitat, worldwatch, world expo, bureau of international exhibitions, eviction, paris hilton, smart cards | 3

  Will the Shanghai 2010 World Expo show the way to a healthier urban China—or be plagued by the worst mistakes of China’s recent urban past?

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• Columnists

  When Cities Are Too Generous

  Andrew Thompson | Wed, May 27th, 2009 | Category: Commentary | Tags: philadelphia, boston, houston, andrew thompson, metronomics, wall street journal, st. joseph county, tax abatements, property taxes, indiana, indiana university | 7

  In his column, Metronomics, Andrew Thompson wonders whether tax abatements are an effective prescription for long-term urban health.

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• Columnists

  Wading in Vain

  Hamida Kinge | Fri, May 22nd, 2009 | Category: Commentary | Tags: obama, maryland, virginia, environmental protection agency, lisa jackson, clean water act, american clean energy and security act, the national pollution discharge elimination system, mississippi rivergulf of mexico nutrient task force, daily show with jon stewart, nitrous oxide, chesapeake, mississippi river, nutrient pollution, water-quality trading, carbon, miami valley, total maximum daily load, great miami, world resources institute, gulf of mexico, house energy and commerce committee | 2

  In her column, The Tipping Point, Hamida Kinge explains that there are 57 water quality trading programs worldwide—none of which you know about.

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• Columnists

  Should We Abandon the “Uncreative Class”?

  Josh Leon | Tue, May 19th, 2009 | Category: Commentary | City: Detroit | Tags: detroit, china, josh leon, canada, richard florida, migration, mexico, industrial decline, atlantic monthly, the changed world economy, peter f. drucker, creative class, nafta | 4

  In the latest installment of his column, Josh Leon wonders who gets left behind when cities adapt to a volatile market and a mobile professional class.

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• Columnists

  A Fair Urban Tax Code?

  Ben Adler | Mon, May 18th, 2009 | Category: Commentary | City: New Orleans | Tags: new york city, ben adler, michael bloomberg, connecticut, new jersey, urban nation, sales tax, david cicilline, providence, new york observer | 2

  New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg wants to punish waitresses to protect Wall Streeters.

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• The Daily Report

  Has Buffalo Hit the Bottom? Or Is it Rising Again?

  Danielle Zimmerman | Fri, May 15th, 2009 | Category: Commentary | City: New York | Tags: foreclosures, buffalo, abandoned property, vacant homes, danielle zimmerman, new york magazine, buffalo central terminal, erie canal, associated press, adam sternbergh | 0

  Buffalo is now home to “America’s emptiest neighborhood.” It seems that after decades of decline, Buffalo has recently hit an all-time low. However, there are many indications that Buffalo is on the rise. Locals have newfound hope. Positive media coverage describes Buffalo as a “frontier.” City officials don’t seem to be buying it. Who’s going to give the upstate N.Y. city a chance?

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• The Daily Report

  Save the World ... by Tomorrow!

  Diana Lind | Thu, May 14th, 2009 | Category: Commentary | City: Philadelphia | Tags: philadelphia, diana lind, urban:sos, edaw, economic collapse, social disintegration, effects of global warming, environmental pollution, graduate students, ecological degradation, vacant properties, impacts of natural disaster | 0

  EDAW is hosting a fantastic contest for students called Urban:SOS (must be registered by tomorrow, May 15). They say: Find an urban site in disrepair. Fix it. I’m no longer a student, but if I were, I have a few ideas of what I’d fix.

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• Columnists

  Public Art Gets Closer to Nature

  Julia Ramey | Wed, May 13th, 2009 | Category: Commentary | City: Houston | Tags: san francisco, houston, indianapolis, the upper crust, george rickey, discovery green, light as air, san francisco arts commission, patrick dougherty, susan robb | 3

  In her ongoing arts/culture column, NAC Deputy Editor Julia Ramey zeroes in on three public art installations that rely on the environment to work their magic.

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• Columnists

  By the Mile

  Justin Glick | Fri, May 8th, 2009 | Category: Commentary | Tags: congress, justin glick, omnibus, jim oberstar, ray lahood, ez pass, mileage tax, joseph sussman, house transportation bill | 1

  In his column, Omnibus, Justin Glick debates the merits of the “mileage tax.”

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• Columnists

  Beluga Whales: The Canaries in the Coal Mine

  Hamida Kinge | Tue, May 5th, 2009 | Category: Commentary | Tags: hamida kinge, oprah, anchorage, sarah palin, fabien cousteau, endangered species, st. lawrence river, jean-michel cousteau, stephane lair, university of montreal, cook inlet, beluga whales, quebec, pbs, ocean adventures, tipping point, ddt, noaa, pcbs | 1

  In her column, The Tipping Point, Metcalf Institute Fellow Hamida Kinge explains how the current plight of America’s beluga whales could foretell trouble for human populations.

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