HUD
How Will Obama’s Sustainability Team Spend Its $150M? A Preview
Before the U.S. DOT gave some early clues as to how the agency would craft its new transit funding rules, deputy housing and urban development (HUD) secretary Ron Sims answered another question that's been on the minds of transit and local-planning wonks: How will the Obama administration's three-agency partnership for sustainable communities spend its $150 million in funding for this year?
January 21, 2010
Obama Quietly Gets Federal Agencies Involved in Transport Planning
When President Obama signed an executive order in October requiring federal agencies to craft strategies for reducing their greenhouse gas emissions, he described the mandate as Washington "lead[ing] by example" on the pollution-reduction front.
January 19, 2010
The 2009 Capitol Hill Streetsies: And the Nominees Are …
The year-end Streetsie Awards are a time-honored tradition at Streetsblog -- check out New York's first round of honorees, hot off the presses today -- and Capitol Hill certainly has provided plenty of material. Without further ado, here are the nominees for Washington's brightest and bleakest moments of 2009. Winners will be announced on New Year's Eve, so don't forget to root for your favorites (by emailing elana [at] streetsblog [dot] org).
December 29, 2009
Just How Regressive is America’s Federal Housing Policy?
(ed. note. Please welcome contributor Chris Bradford, author of the economics blog Austin Contrarian.)
November 20, 2009
California Cities Lead Nation in Reducing Emissions from Streetlights
PG&E workers installing an LED streetlight. Photo: PG&E
October 16, 2009
Bridging the Local-National Message Divide: The Climate Bill is the Answer
This week, I was fortunate to attend the Open Cities conference in Washington (along with fellow Streetsbloggers Elana Schor and Aaron Naparstek), on the ways in which new media is shaping urban policy.
October 9, 2009
Team Obama Adviser: Here’s How to Make Sustainability Mainstream
Shelley Poticha, head of the Obama administration's inter-agency sustainable communities push, is so new to the job that the legislation creating her office has yet to be officially approved by Congress -- but she has already hit upon two goals aimed at remaking the way Americans, and their government, view local development.
October 7, 2009
The Good Problem With Housing Near Transit: It’s Almost Too Popular
Local officials are catching on to the power of transit-oriented development to transform quality of life while decreasing congestion, as my colleague Ryan Avent has explored. But now that the federal government is starting to explore how to expand transit-accessible housing, an intriguing problem is arising: it's almost too popular.
October 1, 2009
Lawmakers Aim to Bring ‘Sustainable Communities’ From Talk to Action
When three agencies in President Obama's Cabinet -- DOT, Housing and Urban Development, and the Environmental Protection Agency -- banded together to promote "sustainable communities," the initiative sounded promising but somewhat lacking in concrete ideas.
July 8, 2009
In the Works: Senate Bill to Promote Sustainable Development
In Washington politics, the term "kumbaya moment" is used to describe those rare occasions when self-interested stakeholders join hands to support a set of reforms. And today's appearance before the Senate Banking Committee by the chiefs of three Cabinet departments -- Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and the Environmental Protection Agency -- definitely qualified for kumbaya status.
June 16, 2009