Is the YIMBY movement doomed?

For more than a decade now, a “YIMBY” movement has been working to bulldoze the rules and regulations that have been holding back new housing development. A central goal of this movement — which declares Yes In My Backyard to more development — is to make housing more plentiful and affordable for Americans who are often priced out of owning or even living in the communities they want to.

Can we vacuum our way out of the climate crisis?

Technology may not solve the climate crisis, but that hasn’t stopped a wide variety of new techno-fixes from appearing in recent years, from carbon capture and storage to solar geoengineering. One of the latest is direct air capture (DAC) – a technology that removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. There are now 200 such projects in operation around the world, up from 150 a year ago, and only a handful a decade ago.

Fact Over Fiction: Medicaid, Immigration, and Health Care Access

In 2025, approximately 52 million immigrants lived in the United States, forming 16% of the population. Health insurance coverage is closely tied to immigration status – including Medicaid. Many groups of immigrants are categorically excluded from federally-funded health insurance programs. Undocumented immigrants, in particular, have long been prohibited from obtaining Medicaid. However, in the last year, inaccurate claims around Medicaid eligibility for immigrants have been used to justify policy changes proposed under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). For example, one false claim was that undocumented immigrants were responsible for increased Medicaid spending. It is crucial to ground any discussions of policy proposals and their potential impacts in evidence.

Pathways to reduce child poverty: Impacts of federal tax credits

On February 5, 2026, the Center for Economic Security and Opportunity (CESO) hosted a briefing on a new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NAS), “Pathways to Reduce Child Poverty: Impacts of Federal Tax Credits.” The report examines the implementation and effects on child poverty of the temporary expansions of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC) under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021.

Decoding the New Federal Dietary Guidelines

In a stark departure from previous recommendations, the US Departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture jointly released 2025-2030 federal dietary guidelines last month that place an emphasis on consuming red meat, whole milk, and butter, along with fruits and vegetables. Dubbed “the most significant reset of federal nutrition policy in our nation’s history,” by US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the updated dietary guidelines also suggest people limit—or eliminate entirely—highly processed foods, added sugars, and excess sodium. The guidelines also removed daily limits for alcohol consumption and now urge people to just “consume less alcohol.”

How renters and landlords on the Providence City Council are grappling with the rent control plan

The two are among 15 city councilors who will have to decide whether to implement rent stabilization in Providence this year. An ordinance introduced last month would cap rent increases at 4 percent a year across the city, with many exceptions, including for newly constructed homes. More than half of the council’s members are either renters or landlords in the city. And their own experiences, and those of their neighbors, have helped shape their opinions.

Finally, a media breakthrough of the pro-Yimby narrative that has dominated press and politics

The Yimby movement was born in 2014, when Sonja Trauss founded SFBARF, the San Francisco Bay Area Renters Foundation. Twelve years later, Yimbyism, rebranded as Abundance, has bipartisan support in Congress. “Pro-housing” legislation has passed in dozens of states. It’s the law of the land in California. Its advocates call the shots in reputedly progressive cities such as San Francisco and Berkeley. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, has surrounded himself with Yimby advisors.

Trump is taking on high housing costs. Will his ideas help?

The Trump administration has floated a flurry of new housing policies — from longer mortgage terms to cracking down on corporate buyers of single-family homes — that officials hope will ease the housing cost burden on everyday Americans. But will they? And can the federal government really tackle a problem largely determined by local and state governments?

Families are leaving Boston. What is Boston’s millennial mom mayor doing about that?

Despite a series of pro-family policies from City Hall, the number of children in Boston continues to decline.

Mayor Michelle Wu has long worn her motherhood on her sleeve.

From nursing her infant sons at City Council meetings, to commuting with them as toddlers on the Orange Line, to carrying her newborn, Mira, on the campaign trail, Wu has put her status as a parent front and center, and says the heart of her mayoral agenda is to make Boston the “most family-friendly city in America.”

That is not by accident.