Urban Planning and Development

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie at a January press conference announcing a new initiative for homeless treatment.

An Abundance of Influence An Abundance of Influence

A group of YIMBY Big Tech donors took over San Francisco politics. Now they’re setting their sights on the rest of the country.

Jul 8, 2026 / Julie Pitta and Dylan Gyauch-Lewis

Reflecting Pool

Trump’s Reflecting Pool Renovations Are a Total Disaster Trump’s Reflecting Pool Renovations Are a Total Disaster

The president’s attempt to make his mark on the National Mall has become a big, wet mess.

Jun 23, 2026 / Chris Lehmann

The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge spanning New York Harbor.

What Would Happen if You Walked All of New York’s Shoreline? What Would Happen if You Walked All of New York’s Shoreline?

The art and architecture of New York’s vast and sweeping waterfront.

May 14, 2026 / Books & the Arts / Karrie Jacobs

Signage reading “Defend Historic Princeton” across the street from Albert Einstein’s House in Princeton, New Jersey, on March 9, 2026.

In Princeton, a Housing Plan Sparks a Neighborhood War In Princeton, a Housing Plan Sparks a Neighborhood War

What a battle over a mixed-use development in a historic town reveals about liberal America.

Apr 10, 2026 / Sophie Mann-Shafir

The rebuilt Industrial Canal levee wall (L) in the Lower Ninth Ward stands near restored homes in New Orleans, Louisiana, on August 6, 2025.

The Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans Can’t Get a Break The Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans Can’t Get a Break

The neighborhood is facing an onslaught of catastrophic projects that could be more damaging than Hurricane Katrina.

Mar 30, 2026 / Roberta Brandes Gratz

Construction workers work with pipes as part of Texas’s sewer project

Water Infrastructure in Texas Is Failing. A Surge of New Funding Can Fix It. Water Infrastructure in Texas Is Failing. A Surge of New Funding Can Fix It.

As the state promotes industrial expansion and costly seawater desalination projects, advocates want to prioritize fixing aging pipes and supporting public health.

Mar 26, 2026 / StudentNation / Lajward Zahra

The construction of the Knickerbocker Village housing development in 1933.

Mary K. Simkhovitch and the Dream of an Affordable New York Mary K. Simkhovitch and the Dream of an Affordable New York

A new book revisits the public housing programs of the 1930s.

Mar 16, 2026 / Books & the Arts / Joshua Freeman

How the Theatrics of Mamdani’s Trump Meeting Backfired

How the Theatrics of Mamdani’s Trump Meeting Backfired How the Theatrics of Mamdani’s Trump Meeting Backfired

By pandering to the president’s vanity, the New York mayor reinforced Trump’s image as a strongman commanding deference—an especially bad look on the eve of Trump’s war with Iran

Mar 5, 2026 / D.D. Guttenplan

Sunnyside Yard circa 1971.

Sunnyside Yard and the Quest for Affordable Housing in New York Sunnyside Yard and the Quest for Affordable Housing in New York

Constructing new residential buildings, let alone those with rental units that New Yorkers can afford, is never an easy task.

Feb 16, 2026 / Books & the Arts / Karrie Jacobs

A flooded floor is blocked off in the 42nd Street Times Square subway station during a rain storm in New York.

Can New York Adapt the Subway for the Climate Crisis? Can New York Adapt the Subway for the Climate Crisis?

As climate change leads to record rainfalls, the city’s 120-year-old subway system is more vulnerable to flooding than ever.

Jan 28, 2026 / StudentNation / Ilana Cohen

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