City Makers: American Futures
The people, organizations, and ideas reshaping the country. A journey piloted by James Fallows with Deborah Fallows.
Development
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Calisphere California High-Speed Rail No. 11: Thinking in Time
Everybody talks about the future, but nobody does anything about it.
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Calisphere California High-Speed Rail No. 10: Palate Cleanser
"The decision on HSR is going to shape the future in ways we can’t predict, and a touch of modesty in the arguments would be welcome."
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Marin County Library, via Calisphere California High-Speed Rail No. 9—the Chairman's Turn Again
You want to hear more about the biggest infrastructure project being considered anywhere in the country? You've come to the right place.
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Calisphere California High-Speed Rail—More Questions and Concerns
"Bad, bad, bad," and other critiques
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AP The Courts Speak Up for California High-Speed Rail
And so do some readers.
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James Fallows California High-Speed Rail: Some Views From the Valley
People in Los Angeles and San Francisco often say that the initial links in a proposed north-south system would be "trains to nowhere." People from nowhere weigh in.
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UC Davis and Esri California High-Speed Rail: 10 Readers With 10 Views
A solution looking for a problem? A genuine leap forward? The best we can expect from messy political half-measures? Or something truly brave? Take your pick.
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California Digital Library 7 Ways in Which High-Speed Rail Would Help California, According to Its Chairman
For your reference, a detailed pro-and-con about the most ambitious current attempt to change America's transportation infrastructure
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UC Davis and Esri California High-Speed Rail No. 3: Let's Hear From the Chairman
It's time for broader national attention to the most expensive and ambitious infrastructure proposal in America today.
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St. Louis Public Library California High-Speed Rail—the Critics' Case
Every big infrastructure project is controversial. Most of them work out better than critics contend early on. But maybe the critics are right about high-speed rail. Let's hear what they say.
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Wikimedia Commons The California High-Speed Rail Debate—Kicking Things Off
The Erie Canal. The transcontinental railroad. The Interstate Highway system. Big, expensive, controversial—and indispensable. Is the next one in this series a new rail network in our most famously freeway-centric state?
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Photos by Deborah Fallows Theories of History: Joe Max Higgins and the Golden Triangle of Mississippi
"When Eurocopter came here, people started walking upright a little bit." Why has this part of Mississippi pulled ahead of some others?
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Severstal company video The New Industrial Belt: The Deep South
Does America still "make things?" Come take a look ... in Mississippi.
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Annotation of map from US Fish and Wildlife ... The Seas? The Skies? The Transformation of a Company Town, Part 2
One economic titan has fallen, another has taken its place, but a city wants to expand its options.
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The Parks and Recreation Theory of America's Future
What we discuss at the national level has surprisingly little to do with startup decisions. Some provocative data about where America is growing, and why.
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A City's Turning Points
The steps toward success, or failure, and why our understanding of them matters.
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From the Tree to the Table: The Journey of a Brave Little Orange
The surprising complexity behind even the simplest-seeming aspects of modern life.
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When Rails Make the Difference, From Down East to the Southwest
The loss of rail service into a small Maine town has been crippling. By John Tierney
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Wikimedia Commons Building a Museum: Report From Down East
A Maine couple defies the odds -- and helps to build community in the process.
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A New Type of Growing City
"This is where the talent wants to live"
