To effectively monitor police and investigate cases of alleged misconduct, oversight boards need independence, access to information and evidence, and adequate funding. If given sufficient power and authority, these agencies can hold police departments accountable for officers’ actions and build public trust. A new Kinder Institute report examines the police oversight systems in the state’s five largest cities to see how they compare.
Influenced by the Garden City movement, Badin, North Carolina, is a small gem of urban planning whose design called for green space, residential areas and commercial development in proportionate amounts. The planning of small towns like Badin can serve as an example for larger cities as they continue to grow.
New reports on rental market trends show Houston, Austin and other Texas Triangle cities are hotspots for millennials while many of the most expensive U.S. cities for renters have seen prices decrease in the past year.
More than 325,000 16- to 29-year-olds have filed jobless claims since the COVID-19 outbreak began, many of them worked in accommodation, food services and retail — trade sectors hit hardest by the pandemic.
After a car-centric urban renewal plan irrevocably changed the town where he grew up, a young urbanist found the essence of Auburn, New York, in Southern California.
A failed plan to breathe life back into the economy of the beautiful, walkable city where I grew up left it half the place it once was, broke my father’s heart and shaped me as an urbanist.
The Miracle on 14th Street demonstrates how taking a tiny fraction of road space from car traffic and giving it to bus travel is inherently equitable. And charging a very high price to cars for using scarce road space promotes equity and safety.
Where you live determines to a great extent how much access you have to quality education, health care, housing, public services and more. More access correlates to better outcomes in life. One-third of the Black population and almost one-third of the Hispanic population of Texas live in an economically distressed community. The populations of the Houston area’s distressed ZIP codes predominantly are people of color.
The image of the suburbs as being home to only white and wealthy residents whose ‘suburban lifestyle dream’ is being threatened doesn’t square with the reality of American life in 2020. Half of Black Americans live in the suburbs, which are much more diverse — both racially and economically — than many urban areas.
PERSPECTIVES:
DEMOGRAPHICS, ELECTIONS AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
