Deep Dive: Page 3
Industry insights from our journalists
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Building the drone highways of the sky
UAS corridors or "sky lanes" can facilitate transformational opportunities for cities. Yet the road to integrated drone operation poses a host of challenges.
Nathan Eddy • Dec. 22, 2020 -
Retrieved from Flickr user Kim Seng on November 13, 2020
5G health concerns sow uncertainty amid ongoing rollout
While deployment continues unabated across the U.S., a small coalition of groups and leaders are trying to put the brakes on 5G in a bid to learn more about the technology.
Chris Teale • Dec. 14, 2020 -
Dollar Photo Club
Agencies tap public surveys to gauge transit trends
From Idaho Falls to Norman, OK, cities and transit agencies are leaning on carefully crafted surveys to navigate the post-COVID future of transit.
Adina Solomon • Dec. 8, 2020 -
Shopping to shelter: Abandoned mall sites welcome senior housing
A number of cities nationally are looking to "infill redevelopment" of vacant mall sites to bridge the growing housing gap for aging populations.
Joan Mooney • Updated Dec. 4, 2020 -
Photo illustration by Brian Tucker/Utility Dive; photograph by tommaso79 via Getty Images
Rate design innovations are boosting the energy transition
Success with time-of-use rates can allow utilities to integrate more variable and distributed generation, leading to more sophisticated time-varying rates.
Herman K. Trabish • Nov. 30, 2020 -
Danielle Ternes/Smart Cities Dive
Wildfires pushed PG&E into bankruptcy. Should other utilities be worried?
Catastrophic wildfires, which can lead to billions of dollars in damages, present a unique financial risk that the utility sector will want to get ahead of.
Kavya Balaraman • Nov. 20, 2020 -
Cycling-friendly cities scramble to combat rising bike thefts
Bike Index found thefts increased 68% from March to September, running incongruous to cities' investments in cycling infrastructure and support.
Amanda Loudin • Nov. 19, 2020 -
Behind the scrutiny of Bird's fleet manager program
A recent media report said Bird's fleet manager program is "luring contract workers into debt," while some contractors say the program has been lucrative.
Kristin Musulin • Nov. 11, 2020 -
Will ghost kitchens define the restaurant industry's future?
While investor interest booms and sales have the potential to outpace traditional models, questions linger about how much this emerging market could disrupt business in the long term.
Emma Liem Beckett • Nov. 10, 2020 -
"An election official outside and voters outside a voting location in Minneapolis, Minnesota" by Lorie Shaull is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
5 ballot initiatives poised to propel states, cities to 100% clean energy
At the local level, as in previous elections, energy is less prone to partisan politics in 2020.
Catherine Morehouse • Nov. 5, 2020 -
Danielle Ternes/Smart Cities Dive
Ballot billions: Behind the efforts to fund and finance climate action
In a year that virtually depleted municipal budgets, ballot-derived tax and funding measures can be crucial to support city-level climate action. Outside of these measures, how else can cities secure cash?
Kristin Musulin, Chris Teale and Cailin Crowe • Oct. 27, 2020 -
The gas tax was already broken. The pandemic could end it.
As states and cities face infrastructure budget crunches with gas tax revenues down, some are thinking about alternative ways to secure funding.
Jason Plautz • Oct. 26, 2020 -
Kendall Davis/Smart Cities Dive
Death of the downtown: How cities can rebuild using 'tactical urbanism'
Whether or not cities "bounce back" from the COVID-19 pandemic will be determined by the choices they make to reimagine their downtown hubs, experts say.
Amanda Loudin • Oct. 20, 2020 -
Permission granted by Capital Metro
Behind the controversial $7.1B plan to transform transit in Austin, TX
Voters will soon decide on a ballot initiative to fund a comprehensive transit revamp dubbed Project Connect. Opponents call the plan a "costly burden."
Joan Mooney • Oct. 15, 2020 -
Kendall Davis/Smart Cities Dive
Cities push ahead on EEaaS as private sector plays catch up
Forms of Energy Efficiency as a Service have existed for decades as alternative funding mechanisms in cities. Now, as technologies accelerate and COVID-19 continues, the private sector wants in.
Chris Teale • Oct. 1, 2020 -
Courtesy of LINK
LINK is tapping top talent to one-up its scooter competition
In the wake of industry layoffs and consolidation, one micromobility firm is hiring its competitors' former leaders to develop a unique scooter-sharing service.
Kristin Musulin • Sept. 21, 2020 -
O'Connor, Josh. (2009). "Wildfire" [Photograph]. Retrieved from Flickr.
Wildfires, COVID deliver one-two punch to West Coast cities
More than 1.6 million acres have burned in California this year alone while cities scramble to protect resident health amid the challenges of COVID-19.
Catherine Arnold • Updated Sept. 9, 2020 -
Becker1999. (2020). "Solidarity with Kenosha" [Photograph]. Retrieved from Flickr.
Governments are declaring racism a health crisis. What comes next?
Milwaukee County's 2019 resolution blazed a trail for more than 120 U.S. governments in denouncing racism. Now, leaders must look internally to prioritize equitable budgeting and employee training.
Cailin Crowe • Updated Oct. 6, 2020 -
Permission granted by Lakeview Pantry
Fighting urban hunger in the age of COVID-19
Nonprofits, businesses and cities are stepping up with new and expanded programs to tackle the surge in food insecurity during the pandemic.
Katie Pyzyk • Aug. 17, 2020 -
iStock via Getty Images
Can health and safety efforts save ride-hailing post-pandemic?
Companies are adopting new ways to bolster riders' confidence, but the industry may struggle to recover if health concerns linger or labor issues expand.
Chris Teale • Aug. 12, 2020 -
Permission granted by Go Tuk'n
Tuk tuks could shift from novelty to necessity in the COVID era
Rickshaws and pedicabs offer a key advantage over most common forms of city transportation: They operate in the open-air at a time when air flow is more important than ever.
Jason Plautz • Aug. 4, 2020 -
Brian Tucker and Kendall Davis/Smart Cities Dive
Calls to 'defund the police' are upending FY21 budgets. Here's how.
In this interactive report, Smart Cities Dive details how each state's largest city adjusted its public safety funding — if at all — amid demands for reallocations of police budgets.
Kristin Musulin and Cailin Crowe • July 15, 2020 -
Yujin Kim/Smart Cities Dive
Algal blooms to data boons: How 'smart lakes' improve water quality
New York's Lake George and Ohio's Lake Erie are among those to deploy sensors and IoT tech in an effort to monitor pollution, toxins and weather.
Chris Teale • July 13, 2020 -
Kendall Davis/Smart Cities Dive
Virus vs. voting: Behind the high-risk presidential primary elections
As November's election showdown looms, officials nationwide are scrambling to preserve voter rights while minimizing coronavirus transmission.
Katie Pyzyk • July 6, 2020 -
A COVID-19 hit to public power? For some, it's not all bad
Municipal utilities and other public power entities have unique challenges, and some advantages, when dealing with the financial impacts of the pandemic.
Matthew Bandyk • June 26, 2020
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