All articles by jake blumgart
jake blumgart
A city leaders’ guide to Joe Biden’s policy agenda
From public transportation to affordable housing to infrastructure, the new US president has outlined a wide range of initiatives that will profoundly affect how cities recover from the pandemic – and beyond.
State and local aid will be contested under a Joe Biden presidency, too
As the president-elect’s stimulus plans emerge, local leaders shouldn’t get too excited for direct, flexible aid to bolster their flagging revenues.
The pandemic doesn’t have to be an existential threat to mass transit
In countries that have committed to supporting public transport, advocates express confidence that systems will continue to provide decent service and adapt to the needs of a post-pandemic world.
What the election of two senators from Georgia means for US cities
The results of Tuesday’s run-off races have major implications for the fiscal future of local governments across the country.
Even with stimulus, US mass transit faces a death spiral
The fear is that service cuts today could reduce the constituency for public transportation later. In this looming disaster, the US is an outlier among the world’s wealthy nations.
China’s Gilded Age shows how corruption infects bureaucracies and economies
The professor and author Yuen Yuen Ang outlines four types of government corruption and the ways they can harm or assist economic growth.
Mass transit ridership didn’t snap back after the 2003 SARS outbreaks
The peak of the epidemic in Taipei and Hong Kong lasted about a month, but ridership lagged significantly for half a year.
US public transit systems are facing a threat like never before
Beth Osborne, director of Transportation for America, explains why the pandemic presents a unique challenge after decades of underfunding mass transit.
What can the Biden administration do to reform zoning?
Much depends on control of the Senate, but the administration may have a few tools of its own to encourage cities to change their land-use rules.
Who even wants to run for mayor?
Several major US cities will hold mayoral elections in 2021, but in an era of overlapping crises, ambitious candidates might just opt out.