Citiwire.net

Welcome to Citiwire.net! These are scary times, but also openings for long-delayed moves and reforms–a serious start at rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure included. My column focuses on that theme, including some cautions to be sure infrastructure spending in the next stimulus bill reflects “green” and smart growth principles, not asphalt laying out to new burbs. Manuel Pastor, our Citistates colleague now based at the University of Southern California directing the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity, presents a strong case–not just moral but economic–for including equity in regional plans. Manuel includes a fascinating angle: how a formerly obscure state senator, now our president-elect, “found his own language of cohesion while still a community organizer focused on issues of inclusion and economic recovery.”