NY Mag surveyed more than 100 retailers in the city and came up with a terrific, very now look at how retailers are coping with changing consumer habits.  Reporter Michael Idov calls it "a retail shakeout of historic proportions."  "Fifth Avenue, Madison Avenue and Soho are suddenly pocked with… more

The Obama administration has been "incredibly refreshing" on urban issues, said Miami Mayor Manuel Diaz, president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, which has met a half-dozen times with Obama's top advisers since December. "It's pretty clear that there's going to be a whole new day," said Diaz.

That's the… more

Of all the impacts of this recession, one has received no attention.  I've been musing about what people will do with their time when they don't spend it working and shopping.  I've seen the impact of unemployment of a family member twice. In both cases, exercise became a positive focus… more

Shaun Donovan, the new Secretary of HUD, is speaking at the NYU Furman Center Housing Policy Conference, began his remarks by praising Judith Rodin for engaging her community and remaking it in ways that engage the "least of these."

Donovan began by saying that this is may be less a… more

NYU President John Sexton is introducing Rockefeller Foundation President Judith Rodin and he had a lovely phrase about Judith, "She engineered a marriage between her university and her city."  He was speaking, of course, about her work at Penn which has inspired so many college presidents and urban leaders.  That… more

Bruce Katz of Brookings (on leave to HUD)  is speaking now at the NYU Furman Center's Housing Policy Conference.  What does it mean for a national government to create an Office of Urban Policy?  Bruce says it is a recognition that place matters.  Cities and metro areas are key to… more

Listening to developer Richard Baron, Chairman and CEO, McCormack Baron Salazar, talk about the neighborhood transformations that he is managing and the comprehensive services he is coordinating for residents, while agencies continue to do what they have always done [working independently rather than together].  “We make very poor use of… more

Building affordable housing and parks at the same time density is advanced helps sell density.

Terry Montague of the Atlanta Beltline just noted that the silos at the federal level flow all the way down to local communities.  So it makes it difficult to advance multiple linked agendas as she… more

Mary Nichols, Chairman of California Air Resources Board, says Ed's recommendation to getting rid of the unlimited home mortgage interest deduction has not yet been discussed as a solution to climate change.  California has been absent from the scene in land use for many years, but the desire to mitigate… more

I'm here at the Furman Center at NYU at a quickly organized meeting on America's Housing Policy.  The first panel is on Connecting the Dots between Housing, Transportation, Energy and the Environment.  Ed Glaeser (Harvard) is up first.  (I am always surprised how young Ed looks.)

Ed says housing policy… more

In the coming decade Tampa Bay is expecting a huge wave of Baby Boomers to roll into the region.  Anticipating this trend, CreativeTampaBay's Deanne Roberts and Michelle Bauer (both CEOs for Cities network partners) are already strategizing on how to capitalize on this impending opportunity for their city.  

In… more

Eduardo Padrón, President of Miami Dade College and CEOs for Cities partner, has a compelling piece in Tuesday's Miami Herald on the importance of talent to the nation's economy.  From Padron "We reassure ourselves that we are still the greatest country on Earth, with the most creative and… more

He foresaw the ugliness.  The meme of doomed suburbs went mainstream with Chris Leinberger's cover story for the Atlantic magazine last March, “The Next Slum?” The problem, he says, goes much deeper than the foreclosure crisis. It’s part of a painful societal adjustment that will take a generation… more

This just in from the Midwest High Speed Rail Association...

"The Senate approved the stimulus package today.  The conference committee hopes to have a finished bill on the President's desk by Monday.

"But that isn't why this action alert is so important.  Earlier today, President Obama listed high-speed… more

This morning I've been reading an advance copy of Jeff Brugmann's new book, Welcome to the Urban Revolution: How Cities Are Changing the World, along with the new issue of Seed magazine. 

Both make the obvious (but much ignored) point that cities are bastions of efficiency, thanks to their density. … more

I am ready to scream.  Since when did building new highways and bridges become the only thing "real," the only thing "worthy," the only thing "smart," the only thing that is given a pass as "not pork"?  Llistening to some members of Congress and the media, you would think that… more

While the future may be uncertain, a collaboration in Stamford is actively engaging in conversations to ensure that their city rides this wave successfully. The Reinventing Stamford initiative, co-hosted by CEOs for Cities partner Kip Bergstrom, will use this year to convene key stakeholders with outside thought leaders… more

While Perth, and most Australian cities, have a long way to go to transform themselves into sustainable exemplars, it is exciting to hear of the changes in motion and the benefits stemming from new planning, investment in transport infrastructure and TODs. 

“In Perth, this sprawling capital city… more

In response to Carol's recent post on NYT Magazine's The Big Fix CEOs for Cities partner Diego Kolsky gives us a global perspective on universal access to higher education:

"As you know I come from Argentina. To this day the university is free to citizens and… more

How much sense does this make?  The NYT just posted a story that begins like this:  "There are some 2,300 bus stops around St. Louis where the buses will no longer stop at the end of next month, when, despite rising ridership, the cash-strapped transit system plans to lay… more

Congratulations to CEOs for Cities member Nancy Zimpher on her pending appointment to chancellor of the State University of New York (SUNY).  With a half million students (!) and 64 campuses, Dr. Zimpher will have her very capable hands full.  With that many campuses, she may be able to… more

On a recent trip to Neiman Marcus on Chicago's Michigan Avenue, I found this striking woman reading intently in the Accessories Department.  When I left the store almost an hour later, she was still there.  That's when I took this photo.  I later learned from a sales associate that she… more

Only in Portland?  Here's an ad from the Red Cross Chapter there for Singles CPR.  (Hat tip to Ethan Seltzer)

Alone on Valentine's Day? Find that special someone by attending our first-ever Singles CPR class!… more

Read The Big Fix in Sunday NYT Magazine, and you'll find that the answer to our economic woes is more college graduates.  Yes, that's right.  It's the Talent Dividend, exactly what we've been saying.  And it's worth $124 billion to the nation... every single year.

Note writer David Leonhardt's conclusion:

The New York Times declares our love affair with the shopping mall is rocky.  But not for the reasons you think.

As reporter David Segal puts it, "We are reliably informed that whatever part of the economic crisis can’t be pinned on Wall Street — or on mortgage-related financial… more