The suburbs of Las Vegas. Image by Selbe Lynn licensed under Creative Commons.

Traditionally seen as the bastion of the middle class and upwardly mobile, today the suburbs are increasingly places of poverty. How will we decide how autonomous vehicles will shape our cities? Phoenix is continuing to sprawl through the desert without regard for where it's going to get water.

Suburbs and the rise in poverty: Poverty has begun to sneak into the suburbs, as immigration flows change and more residents experience downward mobility. Suburban poverty is particularly difficult to address, since residents have neither the jobs, transit, and social services of cities, nor the tight-knit community of rural areas. (Slate)

Autonomous vehicle fatality and the future of place: The news of the first death attributed to an automated vehicle has sent shockwaves around the world. Death on our roads is tragic, and the discussions about this technology that happen now are important to what cities of the future look like and how they protect their people. (Brookings)

How will Phoenix survive?: In the desert, Phoenix continues to sprawl outward without regard to where new water will be found. Continued droughts and increased use are drying out the main source of water that culminates in Lake Mead in the Rocky Mountains. When the water does dry up, scholars worry how resources will be distributed between the rich and poor. (Guardian Cities)

Shrinking eastern and Midwestern suburbs: Talk of migration has been a major discussion point during many decades of shifting demographics and shrinking cities. But in many suburbs, rich and poor, attention is turning towards the rising instances of birthrates dropping below death rates, leading to shrinking populations. (New York Times)

Economic development incentive hidden in tax law: The new tax cut bill passed in December contains a little-known incentive to create “opportunity zones” in every state. Governors choose low income tracts for the program (at least 25 in every state), opening them up to investment for 10 years while sheltering gains made by investors. (Urban Institute)

Quote of the Week

“…his tweet promoting the article engages in a common, but aggravating, rhetorical framing of the issue by construing a move to allow transit-oriented development as being an effort to “force” people out of their cars. Personal liberty and the concept of freedom are, rightly, important to Americans and to American political culture. And in the case of proposals for high-density zoning, nobody is trying to force anyone to do anything.”

Matthew Yglesias in Vox discussing the framing of a recent New York Times article discussing CA SB 827.

Tagged: links

Jeff Wood is the Principal of The Overhead Wire, a consulting firm focused on sharing information about cities around the world. He hosts a weekly podcast called Talking Headways at Streetsblog USA and operates the daily news site The Overhead Wire.