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.
Infrastructure, Housing & Transportation
Posted inTAP
Endless Mortgage
The median age of a homebuyer right now is 59, and even for a first-time homebuyer, it’s 40. Nobody really wants to be in debt until they die.
Posted inEconomic Policy
How Do We Rebuild After Trump?
Many Trump critics are focused on what he is doing to our basic democratic compact. But there’s a reason that all the presidents who led us through our worst previous crises also had an aggressive program of reform—including public provision and ownership.
Posted inTransportation
Another Rail Headache for New York and New Jersey, Courtesy of Trump
The Gateway Program aims to bring the New York metro section of the nation’s rail infrastructure into the 21st century, but President Trump has threatened to terminate the project, blaming “DEI” and the government shutdown.
Posted inHousing
The Lost Dream of Obam-a-Lago
Long before the September 30 ICE raid, Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood had been ravaged by a series of sprawling apartment building pump-and-dump schemes, aided and abetted by industrial-scale mortgage fraud, old-fashioned government inaction, and a smattering of Venezuelan gangsters.
Posted inPolitics
Michelle Wu, the Boston Beacon of Progress
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s first-term achievements shine, but numerous challenges persist after her re-election.
Posted inHousing
YIMBYs on the Cusp of Major Victory in California
Years of organizing might be rewarded in the form of denser housing around California transit.
Posted inTransportation
Transportation Department Quietly Disbands Advisory Committees
Labor groups representing railroaders worry the move could muzzle frontline worker voices and make it easier for industry to shape regulation.
Posted inEnergy and the Environment
Beating Back Data Centers
Desperate for ‘free money,’ most of the communities that approve these facilities are outmatched by developers. But these water-guzzling, power-hungry projects have major downsides.
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Washington’s Football Fantasy Comes True
The city council passes the first of two approvals necessary for a new Washington Commanders stadium. But the numbers from their own studies still don’t add up.