January 2, 2009 – 12:13 pm
Welcome to Citiwire.net! Will the Obama administration’s historic stimulus bill–now boldly titled the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan” –really deliver on the reinvestment side, especially “green” industry and smart growth policies? My column covers that issue as a critical first test of the new political order. My long-time Citistates Group colleague [...]
December 26, 2008 – 2:21 pm
Welcome to Citiwire.net! The imagery of President-elect Obama reaching Washington by train for his inauguration next month is really exciting for all of us who’ve been waiting for years to see railroading in America get a decent break. Theme of my column–let’s surely hope the brighter future really pans out! Alex Marshall, [...]
December 18, 2008 – 3:54 pm
Welcome to Citiwire.net! And warm Christmas season wishes to all. In that spirit, I dared in my column to address happiness–and how, even in economically bleak times, it can play out in national life and especially in the communities where we live. Our Citistates Group contributor for the week is Kim Walesh, [...]
December 12, 2008 – 12:26 pm
Welcome to Citiwire.net! For years I’ve been one of a small group of journalists/commentators vainly urging a fresh look at the United States’ irrational, counterproductive “war on drugs.” The impacts of this “war” –from turning some inner-city neighborhoods into criminal hell holes to packing prisons with minor offenders–are all abhorrent. Thus this [...]
December 4, 2008 – 12:36 pm
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 [...]
November 28, 2008 – 11:43 am
Welcome to Citiwire.net! “Caught in the eye of a fiscal hurricane, how can cities and counties save some big dollars? Crack down on inefficient public safety systems? Focus on prevention, to stop the incessant demand for new jails? My column probes some sure-to-ruffle-feathers ideas for dramatic savings. Citistates Associate John Hall addresses [...]
November 20, 2008 – 9:27 am
Welcome to Citiwire.net! We’re pleased to welcome back a former Citistates Associate, Rick Cole, city manager of Ventura, Calif., and former mayor of Pasadena. Rick has a sharp political/policy eye and I think you’ll enjoy his analysis of how the Obama administration will have to build an agenda around long-term sustainability, not the [...]
November 13, 2008 – 10:48 am
Welcome to Citiwire.net! What an exciting election, what a set of opportunities for America’s cities and regions! Our Citistates Associate Anthony Flint, author and former Boston Globe correspondent now with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, poses an array of the immediate issues, priority choices that President Obama will face. My column is [...]
October 30, 2008 – 10:18 am
Welcome to Citiwire.net! With the election hot upon us, I couldn’t resist my quadrennial hit on the electoral college (I actually wrote a book on the topic, The People’s President, published in 1968). I’ve never wavered from my belief that the only way to fix the current system’s madness must be a system [...]
October 23, 2008 – 10:55 am
Welcome to Citiwire.net! Could we really have a sensible food revolution in America? Could we save energy and improve health by rotating fields and growing a lot more food close to home and in our metro regions? Could a new president really take on the challenge? My column nibbles at the [...]