News that Obama really does plan to create an Office of Urban Policy is certainly welcome. But as of yet, it's fairly unclear what the office's charge will be, what its jurIsdiction will look like, and what funding or regulatory authority (if any) it'll have. Everything from transit to crime to nutrition to the mortgage deduction has an urban impact. But all those issues have masters already, and turf wars can be ugly things. So I'm reserving particular judgment until those issue come clear. But there's some reason for optimism. Obama, after all, is our first metropolitan president.
