Equity
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With a $2.5M direct cash assistance pilot, Ohio city aims to boost low-income residents’ economic mobility
Columbus, Ohio, is pairing monthly payments with career-building and wealth-building programs to give residents a “crucial stepping stone.”
By Ysabelle Kempe • Nov. 13, 2024 -
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Trump agenda has states, advocacy groups girding for legal battles
California, New York and Illinois are among states readying to sue the Trump administration over divisive issues such as reproductive rights, climate regulation and immigration.
By Justin Bachman • Nov. 11, 2024 -
Explore the Trendline➔
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TrendlineTop 5 stories from Smart Cities Dive
From worsening climate change to a shifting transportation landscape and the housing affordability crisis, cities have their work cut out for them.
By Smart Cities Dive staff -
Jacob Wallace/Smart Cities Dive
New York City official backs composting over codigestion, citing environmental justice concerns
Residents across New York City are now putting their organics into curbside bins for collection. But where those organics will be processed continues to be up for debate.
By Jacob Wallace • Nov. 8, 2024 -
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Transit agencies document equity efforts in APTA report
Hiring dedicated equity executives, requiring analyses prior to system changes and partnering on services for those experiencing homelessness are among the efforts named in the American Public Transportation Association report.
By Dan Zukowski • Oct. 15, 2024 -
Retrieved from Pixabay.
EPA requires lead pipes to be replaced nationwide within 10 years
The landmark rule imposes the strictest limits on lead in drinking water since federal standards were set 30 years ago.
By Julie Strupp • Oct. 8, 2024 -
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2025’s top smart city conferences
Smart city technology, housing, climate action, road safety and more will take center stage at events already announced for next year.
By Ysabelle Kempe , Dan Zukowski • Oct. 1, 2024 -
Permission granted by Jon Lugbill
Q&AThis former Olympian is bringing a 43-mile trail to life in Virginia
Jon Lugbill, ardent trail user and executive director of a nonprofit that encourages active living, tells how the Fall Line Trail came to be and what it means for the communities it reaches.
By Dan Zukowski • Sept. 30, 2024 -
Retrieved from Miami-Dade County Department of Solid Waste Management.
Miami-Dade County, Florida, postpones vote on new incinerator due to siting concerns
The decision should not be taken lightly given the history of a waste incinerator that polluted one neighborhood for decades, a commissioner said.
By Jacob Wallace • Sept. 24, 2024 -
Alex Potemkin via Getty Images
How one city plans to reconnect a historically Black neighborhood split by a 1950s interstate
New Rochelle, New York, is one of more than 130 projects using funds allocated this year from the Reconnecting Communities Pilot program.
By Dan Zukowski • Sept. 20, 2024 -
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Low-income families face high energy burden, prompting calls for more government action
One in four low-income U.S. households spends more than 15% of their income on energy bills, finds an analysis by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.
By Ysabelle Kempe • Sept. 13, 2024 -
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Q&ACincinnati mayor says zoning overhaul reflects a ‘generational change in how people think about cities’
Years of community engagement revealed Cincinnatians don’t support getting rid of single-family zoning altogether — but they were open to relaxing it in some areas, Mayor Aftab Pureval said.
By Ysabelle Kempe • Sept. 11, 2024 -
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OSHA sets late December comment deadline for extreme heat standard
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s proposed rule would require employers to develop heat injury and illness prevention plans, among other actions.
By Ryan Golden • Sept. 4, 2024 -
Brandon Bell/Getty Images via Getty Images
Cooling is expensive, and more federal assistance is needed, advocates say
The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program is “chronically underfunded,” argues a policy brief by the Natural Resources Defense Council and WE ACT for Environmental Justice.
By Ysabelle Kempe • Aug. 29, 2024 -
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Intercity bus operators won’t be forced out of Chicago’s main bus terminal just yet
As the owner of Chicago’s bus station gears up to sell the site, FlixBus and Greyhound have found a stopgap allowing them to continue using the terminal.
By Dan Zukowski • Updated Oct. 23, 2024 -
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Cities assert tenants’ right to cooling in a warming world
Grappling with fatal heat waves, local governments are passing laws that make landlords provide working air conditioning. Financial and other challenges remain, however.
By Ysabelle Kempe • Aug. 27, 2024 -
Michael M. Santiago via Getty Images
Q&AWill New York City make landlords provide air conditioning? Its climate chief is optimistic.
Coordinating any such mandate with the city's building decarbonization law requirements could reduce the burden it might create for building owners, Rohit Aggarwala explained.
By Ysabelle Kempe • Aug. 26, 2024 -
Retrieved from New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority on August 23, 2024
NYC rezoning allows transit-oriented development around four new train stations in the Bronx
The New York City Council plan includes 7,000 new housing units around the stations in the East Bronx, currently considered a transit desert.
By Dan Zukowski • Aug. 23, 2024 -
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Focus on heat illness intensifies after death of Baltimore sanitation worker
In the wake of the death of Ronald Silver II, a city employee, labor groups are calling for more heat safety protections — and fast. Pending state and federal heat standards could help.
By Megan Quinn • Aug. 22, 2024 -
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Deep DiveAn air conditioning law, the first in its region, changed tenants’ rights in this Maryland county
Montgomery County began requiring landlords to provide AC in 2020 amid climate concerns and renter complaints. Despite a shaky start, officials say things are going smoothly now.
By Ysabelle Kempe • Aug. 22, 2024 -
Kent J. Edwards/Reuters
Deep DiveShould tenants have a right to cooling? More cities say yes amid record heat.
As rental cooling standards pop up around the country, experts warn that they aren’t a perfect solution to the rising danger of scorching temperatures.
By Ysabelle Kempe • Aug. 20, 2024 -
Mario Tama/Getty Images via Getty Images
$36M for low-income housing energy efficiency available from US DOE grants
Local governments and other entities can get up to $2 million each for weatherization and workforce training efforts.
By Ysabelle Kempe • Aug. 1, 2024 -
Permission granted by Healthy Community Services/The Kresge Foundation
Q&AHow cities can work with philanthropies: Kresge Foundation CEO
Philanthropies are not "a gilded ATM machine that you can access if you figure out the code," CEO Rip Rapson said. "Just try to understand them."
By Dan Zukowski • July 30, 2024 -
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EPA releases $325M in environmental justice grants
It’s not too late for other local governments to apply to the federal Community Change grants program, with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency accepting submissions into November.
By Ysabelle Kempe • July 26, 2024 -
Mario Tama via Getty Images
How cities are using Biden’s $4.3B climate pollution reduction grants
The grants “put local governments in the driver’s seat to develop climate solutions,” a federal official said. Cities and counties plan to use the money for electrification, bike-sharing, solar power and more.
By Ysabelle Kempe • July 23, 2024 -
Maddie Meyer via Getty Images
$607M in US DOT grants available for reconnecting communities
This will be the final round of grants under the Biden administration's pilot program to restore neighborhoods split by highways and other transportation infrastructure.
By Dan Zukowski • July 17, 2024
