A new study found a steep decline in the development of forest and agricultural land from 2000 to 2015 compared to the previous two decades, which resulted in a broad shift towards denser development patterns throughout the U.S. A primary culprit was rising gas prices. Researchers from Oregon State University, Montana State University and the...
After two-year state budget impasse ended, Chicago youth homicide numbers declined State budget funds programs that serve Chicago’s most vulnerable populations ‘Must consider state funding and social services as part of a violence-prevention strategy’ In 2016, homicides among Chicagoans aged 15 to 24 drastically spiked. Then in 2017, youth homicides boomeranged back to lower, pre-2015 levels....
Green infrastructure (GI) refers to a system of interconnected ecosystems, ecological–technological hybrids, and built infrastructures providing contextual social, environmental, and technological functions and benefits. As a planning concept, GI brings attention to how diverse types of urban ecosystems and built infrastructures function in relation to one another to meet socially negotiated goals. Green infrastructure has been...
An analysis of data from 16 U.S. states suggests that the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic saw increases in wine and spirit sales, accompanied by notable changes in the relationship between alcohol sales and people’s visits to businesses that sell alcohol. University at Buffalo researchers Yingjie Hu, Brian M. Quigley and Dane Taylor...
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69819076/GettyImages_497765130_copy.0.jpg "‘Gentrification’ Changes the Personality Make-Up of Cities in Just a Few Years, Study Suggests")
Rising house prices may change the personality make-up of US cities within a few years, with residents becoming increasingly open-minded – not just as wealthier people move in, but also among longer-term locals. This is according to a University of Cambridge-led study of almost two million people in the US living across 199 cities. Psychologists...
City living has its perks: Live music, museums, trendy cafés and much more. But urban living isn’t so cool when it comes to summer weather. Living in a city translates to an extra two to six hours of uncomfortable weather per day in the summer for people in the eastern and central United States, according...
Contrary to prior evidence, a new field study in six developing countries finds that community policing did not improve trust between citizens and the police, nor did it reduce crime. The results reveal that community policing – a widely lauded form of police reform – may not improve police-community relations in all contexts. The findings...
This year marks the 400th anniversary of the first Thanksgiving in New England. Remembered and retold as an allegory for perseverance and cooperation, the story of that first Thanksgiving has become an important part of how Americans think about the founding of their country. But what happened four months later, starting in March 1622 about...
Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted of all charges Friday after pleading self-defense in the deadly Kenosha shootings that became a flashpoint in the debate over guns, vigilantism and racial injustice in the U.S. Rittenhouse, 18, began to choke up, fell forward toward the defense table and then hugged one of his attorneys as he heard a court clerk recite “not...
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69990426/merlin_2879964.0.jpg "More Than Half of Utah’s Households Unable to Afford Median Home Price, Report Shows")
The State of the State’s Housing Market report, released last week by the Gardner Policy Institute, shows that more than half of Utah’s households are now unable to afford the median-home priced home in 2021. For renters, the path to ownership narrowed further. In 2019, approximately 63.1% of renter households were priced out of the median...