The federal government has an opportunity to make a generational investment in the country's infrastructure that could fundamentally shift the way we live and move around cities.
Thomas Day describes how, with a clear vision, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) could be an opportunity to invest in large-scale projects that shift development toward "hyperdense," transit-oriented cities. But while Robert Moses-style redevelopment on a large scale may no longer be possible, experts like Vishaan Chakrabarti, architect and professor at the University of California, Berkeley, argue that leaving too much power in the hands of competing local interests would squander a "generational opportunity" to redesign urban landscapes with a broad, unified vision.
According to Chakrabarti, the 1956 Federal Highway Act kindled a reassessment of how Americans live—a reassessment that could happen again with a similarly massive and directed infrastructure investment.
Ongoing debates over freeway removal or expansion proposals and rail projects indicate that policymakers and the public remain divided on what the future of transportation should be. But Chakrabarti believes that policymakers should move to aggressively encourage high-density development that would both ease the housing crisis and reduce carbon emissions and energy use.
Day suggests that in order to facilitate quicker and more assertive development of high-density, transit-oriented infrastructure projects, federal agencies should direct funding to projects that meet their goals and empower regional agencies to make decisions that balance local concerns and opposition with regional benefits.
FULL STORY: The Opportunity to Create the Hyperdense Cities We Need
How SB 827 'Cleaved the California Environmental Movement'
Even before the bill was defeated, it exposed a major generational divide between anti-development environmentalists and their pro-density, pro-housing heirs.
How Cities Are Resisting State Efforts To Increase Density
Cities are attempting to wrest back local control over land use and zoning via some ingenious—and sometimes disingenuous—strategies.
Report Links Housing Growth and Climate Resilience
Data from three U.S. metro areas show a failure to address land use and sprawl as a key factor driving climate change.
‘Forward Together’ Bus System Redesign Rolling Out in Portland
Portland is redesigning its bus system to respond to the changing patterns of the post-pandemic world—with twin goals of increasing ridership and improving equity.
Plan to Potentially Remove Downtown Milwaukee’s Interstate Faces Public Scrutiny
The public is weighing in on a suite of options for repairing, replacing, or removing Interstate 794 in downtown Milwaukee.
Can New York City Go Green Without Renewable Rikers?
New York City’s bold proposal to close the jail on Rikers Island and replace it with green infrastructure is in jeopardy. Will this compromise the city’s ambitious climate goals?
700-Acre Master-Planned Community Planned in Utah
A massive development plan is taking shape for lakefront property in Vineyard, Utah—on the site of a former U.S. Steel Geneva Works facility.
More Cities Ponder the End of Drive-Thrus
Drive-thru fast food restaurants might be a staple of American life, but several U.S. cities are actively considering prohibiting the development of new drive-thrus for the benefit of traffic safety, air quality, and congestion.
Air Pollution World’s Worst Public Health Threat, Report Says
Air pollution is more likely to take years life off the lifespan of the average human than any other external factor, according to a recent report out of the University of Chicago.
Placer County
City of Morganton
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Dongguan Binhaiwan Bay Area Management Committee
City of Waukesha, WI
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Indiana Borough
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