Alfred E. Smith Houses in New York by Ken Lund licensed under Creative Commons.

Can public housing help close the affordable housing gap? Copenhagen wants to create its first all timber neighborhood. How is the land across the US actually used?

Is public housing the solution?: Over the past several months, a number of legislators have called for big investments in creating new or revamping existing public housing. Some housing experts, however, believe that other measures could be more effective at creating affordable housing, like expanding Section 8 vouchers for private housing rentals. Some Democrats propose expanding the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program or the National Housing Trust fund. (Jeff Andrews | Curbed)

Copenhagen’s all timber neighborhood: Henning Larsen has created a proposal for Copenhagen’s first all timber neighborhood. The plan includes 40% undeveloped nature and would accommodate 7,000 residents. The proposal stems from a commitment to both caring for the community’s plant and animal residents while also building a sustainable neighborhood. (Eric Baldwin | ArchDaily)

America’s land use, mapped: Altogether, the US spans 3.8 million square miles, and the McHarg Center mapped out how all that land is used. Twenty-seven percent of the land, or about 842,000 square miles, is dedicated to forests, while 24% is shrubland. Agriculture and pasture each take up about 17%. Urban areas only comprise 2% of US land, though urbanites make up over 82% of the US population. Mapping America’s land use is critical as the US population is set to grow by 100 million more people in the coming decades. (Iman Ghosh | Visual Capitalist)

Is Texas done with freeways?: In a San Antonio speech, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said Texas may be experiencing its “last major build-out of roads.” In the statement, he declared “the way people get around, the way people live is going to change.” Urban advocates hope the governor’s remarks signal that Texas is finally realizing that urban sprawl is fundamentally unsustainable. (Peter Simek | D Magazine)

MaaS Should Be More Than an App: Once fully operational, Mobility as a Service (MaaS), the practice of bundling transportation services together, will provide the mobility and flexibility of an individual car without the expense, congestion, and environmental impact. (Ethan Goffman | Mobility Lab)

Quote of the Week

“The reality is, the folks in government, they are extremely bright, they want to change. They just know intimately all the red tape. And they will dream with you if you come to their side and you can look from their perspective.”

Danielle Harris in Smart Cities Dive discussing how innovation can happen if private companies and public agencies work together.

This week on the podcast, we chat with former BART General Manager Grace Crunican about leadership and her illustrious career.