Extreme weather and changes in seasonal patterns are fundamentally altering the landscape, in cities and in farming communities. You’re going to pay for it.
Cities & Communities
Posted inLaw and Justice
State and Local Contracts Prop Up For-Profit Prisons
CoreCivic and GEO Group profit from Trump’s immigration policies while also receiving lucrative contracts from state and local governments, including areas controlled by Democrats.
Posted inHousing
Progressive Mayors vs. Developers
In New York, one of the toughest challenges that Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani faces will be preserving and increasing the supply of affordable housing. Same story in Boston, where progressive Mayor Michelle Wu is constrained by similar forces.
Posted inEconomic Policy
Credit Unions Go Large and Go Rogue
Intended to bolster local access to lending, large credit unions today are swallowing up community banks. A Trump purge has reduced their oversight to one regulator.
Posted inEconomic Policy
New York Gets Serious About Food Prices
State lawmakers could work with Zohran Mamdani’s administration to tackle high food prices through a combination of his public grocery proposal and a proposed antitrust law.
Posted inHealth and Social Policy
The Shutdown Is Over. SNAP’s Struggles Aren’t.
Turning off the logistically complicated SNAP system—which relies on the federal government, states, and private companies to function in concert—and then trying to turn it back on quickly is no easy task.
Posted inHealth and Social Policy
Ripping Up SNAP and America’s Social Contract
Like their colleagues across the country, Mississippi River corridor mayors are on the front lines speeding food to desperate residents. Six out of the ten Mississippi River states have more than 10 percent of their populations who currently depend on SNAP benefits.
Posted inEconomic Policy
Six Ways Zohran Mamdani Can Make New York City Affordable Again
Mamdani begins his term with something few mayors ever have: an energized following and an international megaphone. His administration could launch a 100-day affordability sprint, using executive and emergency powers creatively and expansively to lower costs for ordinary people.
Posted inTAP
Trump’s Armed Force to Take Over Democratic Cities Is Nearly Ready to Deploy
On Tuesday, the Ninth Circuit Federal Appeals Court voted to hear the case of the Trump administration’s attempted deployment of the National Guard to Portland, Oregon. The president then declared he was prepared to send “more than the National Guard” into American cities.
Posted inPolitics
Mamdani and the Jews
Unlike his opponents in the New York City mayoral race, Zohran Mamdani has offered perspectives on Israel, Zionism, and antisemitism that have upset and even alarmed some voters. But his outreach efforts to the city’s diverse Jewish communities will persist.