Many talk about poverty—its causes, its effects, and its possible remedies. There is literature on this issue from almost every social science, and no one can summarize it all in one blog post. However, there’s
How Poverty Has Deepened (part 1) Read Post »
For the past several months, Portland’s City Council has been wrestling with various proposals to raise additional funds to pay for maintaining and improving city streets. After considering a range of ideas, including fees on
How Should Portland Pay for Streets? Read Post »
One of the nation’s biggest health problems is the challenge of obesity: since the early 1960s the number of American’s who are obese has increased from about 13 percent to 35 percent. The problem is
Where are the food deserts? Read Post »
Those of us at City Observatory wish you all a Happy New Year. Its been just three months since we launched in October, and its been a busy period for us. We’ve released two major
Happy New Year from City Observatory Read Post »
At City Observatory, we’ve come the conclusion that every city has its own unique characteristics that both define its identity and which play a key role in shaping its economic opportunities. These distinctive traits don’t
Understanding Your City’s Distinctiveness Through Occupational Data Read Post »
Guest Commentary by Carol Coletta It’s a glorious moment to be in the business of promoting the built environment. I use “built environment” to encompass the way we build our buildings, arrange our neighborhoods and
How we build our cities: What’s at stake Read Post »
