Equity: Page 4

  • A close up of Michael Regan
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    Win McNamee via Getty Images
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    EPA kicks off effort to help communities use climate, environmental justice funds

    The agency will host a six-day “national virtual open house" starting on Nov. 6, which will include panels about how communities can use “historic” federal funds to address pollution and climate change challenges. 

    By • Nov. 2, 2023
  • Cars and pedestrians navigate a rainy downtown street in Tucson, Arizona.
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    A.E. Araiza/Arizona Daily Star/AP

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    Deep Dive

    Can Sun Belt cities go from danger zones to pedestrian-friendly?

    Tucson, Jacksonville, Los Angeles and other fast-growing, car-centric cities are focusing on street design and other strategies to slow drivers.

    By , , • Nov. 2, 2023
  • smart city, smart cities Explore the Trendline➔
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    jamesteohart via Getty Images
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    Trendline

    Top 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 in 2024.

    By Smart Cities Dive staff
  • Overhead view of pedestrians crossing a street in midtown Manhattan.
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    Bruce Bennett via Getty Images
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    Deep Dive

    US drivers kill 20 pedestrians a day. Here’s what cities are doing about it.

    Targeted interventions aim to reduce the higher pedestrian death rates in communities of color and low-income communities and make cities more walkable for all.

    By , , • Nov. 1, 2023
  • The California Capitol building.
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    Wallentine via Getty Images
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    Opinion

    ‘Yes in God’s Back Yard’ law aims to help battle California’s housing crisis

    The recently signed bill allows religious groups and nonprofit colleges to build affordable housing on their land without strict adherence to zoning standards. 

    By Ellia Thompson • Oct. 31, 2023
  • Man wearing a suit speaking into a microphone while seated
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    Kevin Dietsch via Getty Images
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    EPA pours $128M into environmental justice projects

    The Environmental Protection Agency chose 186 projects led by community groups and local governments and counts several waste and recycling initiatives among its recipients.

    By Megan Quinn • Oct. 25, 2023
  • Two transit buses painted gray with an orange stripe stopped on a street behind two trees.
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    Angele LaFaver via Getty Images
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    70+ cities, groups report progress a year after committing to shared-mobility goals

    The shared-use mobility “action agenda” seeks to reduce reliance on private vehicles while creating more sustainable and equitable transportation systems.

    By • Oct. 24, 2023
  • A mural of two people sitting back to back
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    Courtesy of Bloomberg Philanthropies
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    8 cities to install public art projects with Bloomberg Philanthropies grants

    The winners include Houston, which aims to “disrupt perceptions of homelessness,” and Phoenix, which will commission artists to create shading and cooling installations.

    By • Oct. 20, 2023
  • Close-up of one hand passing another hand two $100 bills.
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    DjelicS via Getty Images
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    Washington, DC’s ban on cashless businesses, explained

    As contactless, digital and card transactions become more common, the district has joined state and local governments preserving residents' right to pay cash.

    By Paige Gross • Oct. 19, 2023
  • People bicycle and jog on a paved path lined by trees
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    Stephanie Keith/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    NYC plans greenway expansion amid concern about cycling deaths

    Supporters of the expansion called it “historic," but other street safety decisions have left advocates feeling betrayed by the mayor, reports news organization Gothamist.

    By • Oct. 18, 2023
  • University of Virginia
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    Joel Carillet via Getty Images
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    Opinion

    Colleges can take steps to address the affordable housing crisis

    From contributing underutilized land to tapping government support, institutions can help alleviate the problem — and get a return on their investment. 

    By Eric Maribojoc • Oct. 17, 2023
  • Aerial shot of highways crossing and downtown skyline
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    Mario Tama/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    Why Los Angeles’ climate plan has ‘outlived its usefulness’: city controller

    The new report says the plan has the same shortcoming as those in many other cities: a lack of meaningful metrics. What should the California city do now? 

    By • Oct. 16, 2023
  • A street sign above floodwaters
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    tornadochaser via Getty Images
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    FEMA makes ‘key changes’ to $1.8B climate resilience grant programs

    Amid concerns that some communities struggle to access federal climate resilience funding, the agency moved to lower the administrative and financial burden for certain applicants.

    By • Oct. 13, 2023
  • Aerial view of wind turbines taken with a drone in Vermont.
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    Gabriel Shakour via Getty Images
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    Vermont utility wants to give all customers battery storage to prevent outages

    Green Mountain Power aims to shift the state’s grid to a distributed system — a future the utility’s CEO envisions for the entire U.S.

    By Diana DiGangi • Oct. 11, 2023
  • Aerial shot of city
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    rarrarorro via Getty Images
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    New alliance aims to turn this Rust Belt city into a ‘Green Belt’ hub

    The Chicagoland Climate Investment Alliance wants $1 billion in federal funding for a “Rust Belt to Green Belt Initiative,” indicating the region is ready to move past its nickname from the 1970s.

    By • Oct. 10, 2023
  • People in a subway station with water on the floor.
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    Michael M. Santiago via Getty Images
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    MTA lags on NYC subway flooding prevention plan

    A new audit shows severe weather amplified by climate change poses a huge risk to the city’s transit system, which was swamped by a tropical rainstorm last week.

    By Julie Strupp • Oct. 5, 2023
  • Downtown Los Angeles California skyline cityscape skyscrapers
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    dszc via Getty Images
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    Will LA hotels be required to house homeless people alongside their guests?

    The Responsible Hotels Ordinance, if enacted, would require every hotel in Los Angeles to report its vacancies to the municipal government.

    By Noelle Mateer • Oct. 4, 2023
  • A person with a helmet and sunglasses rides a bike in front of blurred out streetscape.
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    JMichl via Getty Images
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    Building a bike-friendly city

    Smart Cities Dive looked at the bike-friendly features of the top large, medium and small cities for bike riders in the U.S., as named by nonprofit People for Bikes.

    By Karen Kroll • Oct. 2, 2023
  • Aerial shot of a flooded road
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    Scott Olson/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    FEMA climate resilience grants unevenly distributed among communities

    Coastal states with more “high-capacity” local governments tend to win more of the competitive BRIC grants, a Headwaters Economics analysis finds.

    By • Sept. 27, 2023
  • Lively mural on stone wall depicting waste collection workers on a truck
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    (2016). Retrieved from Baltimore Department of Public Works.
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    Deep Dive

    Baltimore faces expensive road ahead for waste infrastructure

    Despite pressure from advocacy groups, the city's 10-year waste plan anticipates landfill and incineration will continue to serve a key role as the city works to increase recycling.

    By Jacob Wallace • Sept. 19, 2023
  • Aerial shot of trees in front of Chicago skyline
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    Retrieved from USDA Forest Service.
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    Forest Service unveils 385 urban forestry projects to get over $1B in grants

    The Inflation Reduction Act bolstered the program's funding to more than 27 times its 2022 appropriation. Explore which states received the largest investments with our map.

    By • Sept. 15, 2023
  • A window air conditioning unit in the window of a blue house.
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    Brandon Bell/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    Extreme heat disproportionately threatens Black renters, experts say

    Black renters disproportionately experience energy insecurity, which stems from an inability to pay energy bills, and federal policy falls short in addressing it, a Brookings Metro report says.

    By • Sept. 13, 2023
  • An adult and child sit next to each other at a table with a laptop on it
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    LightFieldStudios via Getty Images
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    Broadband affordability program enrolls 20M+ US households, most in urban areas

    Some cities are advancing their own plans to bridge the digital divide using American Rescue Plan Act and other funding sources.

    By Iulia Gheorghiu • Sept. 12, 2023
  • A sign on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency building in Washington, D.C.
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    Gromit702/iStock/Getty Images Plus via Getty Images
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    EPA seeks advisers on ‘critical’ local government issues

    The Environmental Protection Agency will pick up to five officials who represent local, state, tribal or territorial governments to serve one-year terms.

    By • Sept. 8, 2023
  • A red and gray Los Angeles Metro bus is driving through an intersection along Broadway in downtown LA.
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    Laser1987 via Getty Images
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    How 2 big US transit agencies approach equity

    Community members, small businesses and the agency's own workforce can provide crucial input to programs and projects, agency executives said.

    By • Sept. 8, 2023
  • Aerial shot of destroyed homes
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    Bilanol via Getty Images
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    FEMA selects ‘disaster resilience zones’ to get priority access to federal funds

    The 483 census tracts span D.C. and all 50 states. More communities will be designated as community disaster resilience zones in the coming months.

    By • Sept. 7, 2023