Planning & Growth

"The Environmental Protection Agency has a murky future in the Trump administration. Hours before the President promised in his address to Congress 'to promote clean air and clear water,' he signed an executive order to roll back an Obama-era EPA clean water rule. Whatever happens to the EPA, this might be a good time to reflect on its legacy, especially in urban spaces. Though environmentalism conjures 'America the Beautiful' images of purple mountains and unspoiled wilderness, much of the EPA’s heaviest lifting in rescuing this nation from its own filth happened in cities."

"Over several decades in the past century, city populations swelled as Americans moved away from rural forests. Now the forests are moving farther away from Americans."

"'Water always wins in the end': Lost rivers slow development and capture the imagination".

"Which cities have the greenest streets? MIT’s Senseable City Lab is pushing toward an answer to this question with a new project called Treepedia."

"When the remnants of Hurricane Matthew threatened the coastal lowlands of South Carolina, 335,000 people fled for higher ground. Marquetta Goodwine stayed put."

"TOMS RIVER, N.J.—For most of the last century, modest one-story summer bungalows lined this private strip of road that dead-ends at Vision Beach. Then Sandy made landfall here on Oct. 29, 2012, obliterating them."

"Washington state is grossly unprepared for a large earthquake and tsunami that may strike in the coming decades, putting it at risk for a humanitarian disaster, the Seattle Times reported on Sunday, citing a draft government report."

"As the 15-year Chicago Riverwalk project draws to a close, the city hopes to use its waterways to bridge neighborhoods."