One mayor didn't wait for the federal government to act before announcing a major set of initiatives to help citizens weather the challenges brought on by the economic downturn in the global, national and local economies. New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's  initiatives are designed to create jobs, support… more

Ryan Avent (if you're not reading him you should be) celebrates the new excitement about infrastructure.  He reports for Grist, "Last week, Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Arlen Specter (R-Penn.) introduced the High-Speed Rail for America Act, a bill that would authorize $23 billion in bond sales… more

Here's one more reason to get serious about mega-regions:  the Air Transport Association said 97 U.S. airports have lost or will lose all commercial airline service by the end of this year.  Among the cities that have lost all scheduled passenger service in the past year: Salem, Ore.; Trenton, N.J.;… more

Danish architect Jørn Utzon, designer of the Sydney Opera House, died today at the age 90.  The Sydney Opera House is one of the most recognizable structures in the world.  And it does not disappoint in person or up close.  It is a marvel.

Utzon designed the opera house in… more

Saskia Sassen has a provocative post at Open Democracy suggesting that the violence in Mumbai represents an emerging type of urban violence. 

She writes, "Cities seem to be losing the capacity they have long had to triage conflict - through commerce, through civic activity. The national state, confronted with… more

Three years into the recovery from Katrina, New Orleans' population has grown only modestly and resettlement has slowed to a trickle.  Times-Picayune reporter Gordon Russell asks, Is it time to recognize New Orleans as a shrinking city? 

Russell writes, "Embracing or even accepting a downsized city can be painful for… more

With New York's Coney Island in limbo, the Center for an Urban Future has asked thinkers from a variety of fields to share their vision for Coney Island.  The Municipal Arts Society  invited the public in on the discussion. 

Reading through the vision statements, I particularly liked the… more

Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, who has been mentioned as a possible choice of the Obama administration to head the Office of Urban Policy, has been named to U.S. News and World Report's list of Best Leaders of 2008.  He shares the honor with Jeffrey Sachs, Stephen Spielberg, Amory Lovins… more

The Urbanophile blogs about the Midwest.  Always provocative, today's post reviews the auto industry's options and what that means for Detroit.  Definitely worth a read.

"How do we recapture the value of the investments we've already made?" 

If ever there were a time in the life of this nation to ask that question, it is now.  And if asked in a public sense, the answer leads inevitably to the need to re-focus on cities.

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Earlier this week I spoke to Cleveland University Circle's annual meeting.  Chris Ronayne is doing an impressive job in leading this district full of extraordinary assets, including Case Western, Severance Hall, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, the Botanical Gardens, the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland Clinic, and University Hospitals. … more

The Columbus Foundation, led by Doug Kridler, has come up with a powerful way to motivate more people to donate funds to that city's nonprofits.

Doug calls it PowerPhilanthropy Match Day 2.0 and the plan is to raise $1 million… more