America's (Relatively) Dismal Showing at the Winter Olympics
Despite individual triumphs and memorable moments, Team USA had its worst performance in 20 years.
What Kids' Trauma Looks Like Across the U.S.
Race, location, and income level can determine how often children experience violence and crisis.
A New, Democratic Tool for Mapping City Streets
SharedStreets offers an open-source solution to help taxis, buses, pedestrians, bikers, and ride-sharing services coexist curbside.
How to Get Fewer People to Commute in Cars
As the example of Seattle shows, it helps when employers try to persuade workers not to drive.
When Welfare Decisions Are Left to Algorithms
The political scientist Virginia Eubanks worries that technology is providing “the emotional distance that’s necessary to make what are inhuman decisions.”
Urban Foxes and Coyotes Learn to Make Nice
Researchers are finding that the two predators, historically enemies, may be learning to get along in the big city.
The Ecologists Turning Vacant Lots Into Labs
A research project in Baltimore is using wildflowers—and lots of data—to investigate urban ecosystems.
America's Other Housing Crisis: Undercrowded Suburbs
Many neighborhoods with single-family homes have seen little or no new construction since they were built in the middle of the last century.
Why It's So Hard to Forecast the Flu
Big-data predictions don't always line up with reality.
How Basic Economics Could Solve Manhattan’s Traffic Problems
It's simple: Charge people to bring cars onto city streets during rush hour.
Food Deserts Exist. But Do They Matter?
America's healthy-eating disparities might have more to do with income and class than with geography.
The Great Urban Housing Solution That Has No Good Name
Call them “accessory dwelling units” or “granny flats”—small living spaces built on existing lots could help make cities more affordable.
Cities Have to Get Creative When Uber and Lyft Won't Release Trip Data
Researchers must devise workarounds, sometimes even recording the cost and travel time of their own rides.
If Google Were Mayor
A sister company of the tech giant wants to help develop—and then collect data on—a waterfront neighborhood in Toronto.
Boutique Fitness Studios Are Remaking Urban Neighborhoods
Wellness, not drinking and dancing, now defines the character of many city blocks.
The Uncertain Future of a Detroit Retail Icon
A local paper once described Northland Center as a “stately pleasure dome.” A half-century later, part of it is being demolished.
How Trump's Infrastructure Plan Could Strain America's Cities
A big investment blueprint is expected next month, and it might stretch local governments’ already-stretched budgets.
Ride-Hailing Apps Are Clogging New York's Streets
The city’s traffic woes owe in part to more people choosing private transit over public.
How to Rebuild After the Retail Apocalypse
Where suburbs see dead malls, developers see condos, megachurches, and paintball parks.
The Myth That Urbanization Means Prosperity
Cities play different economic roles in different areas. And for developing countries, smaller might be better.
The Number of Renters Just Went Down for the First Time in 12 Years
What does this reversal mean for the American housing market?
Soccer Stadiums Are the New Football Stadiums
In hopes of securing an MLS expansion team, cities are proposing to spend lots of public money on building arenas.
The Dispiriting Saga of a Private Cul-de-Sac in the Bay Area
For progressive politics, San Francisco was once a city upon a hill. Now it’s rich people squabbling over one.
Los Angeles Imagines Life After Cars
The city famous for its freeways—and traffic—has ambitious transit plans for the coming decades.
The Bay Area's Housing Crisis Is Even Worse After the Wildfires
In the weeks following the blazes, median monthly rent in Sonoma County jumped more than 35 percent.
What Chicago Could Pay for With Its Uber Tax
The city’s per-ride fees are expected to raise $16 million next year—$16 million that can get invested in public transit.
How One Texas City Is Trying to Downsize Mass Transit
For years Arlington was the largest metropolis with no major transportation system. Now, it’s experimenting with microtransit in lieu of more-conventional options.
The Second Life of Sears's Massive Distribution Centers
New projects in the shells of former Sears warehouses reveal much about America’s urban history—and its future.
The Moral Fabric of Cities
The writer and politician Michael Ignatieff discusses the “moral operating systems” that bind urban communities.
Buses Have a Branding Problem
A new “trackless train” shows that commuters have a long way to go before embracing a perfectly good form of transit.
The End of Gothamist Is a Terrible Sign for the Future of Local News
Last week, a network of vital urban media outlets suddenly shut down. Will anything take their place?
Denver Built Up Its Public Transit, but Where Are All the Riders?
Thirteen years after a vote that poured resources into transportation, most residents haven’t changed their habits.
The Homes Are Mobile, but Many Residents Are Stuck
A new book catalogues how people living in trailer parks miss out on the benefits of conventional homeownership.
Innovation and Urban Inequality Go Hand in Hand
A new study finds a correlation between the number of patents a city produces and economic segregation within its limits.
Can Cities Master Their Garbage With Better Design?
A band of architects and city planners insist that trash shouldn’t be a permanent feature of urban topography.
How to Get More People to Ride the Bus
A driver, a transportation official, and a transit advocate explain why Seattle recently saw one of the biggest citywide increases in passenger numbers.
How Cities Shape Epidemics
To understand the spread of diseases like Zika and Ebola, it’s helpful to look at trends in urbanization over the past few centuries.