CISS Affiliates Testify in Support of New Massachusetts Law Incentivizing Towns Along Public Transportation
Two global trends collided in 2023: the warming of the atmosphere and the growth of urban areas. Phoenix, Ariz., the fifth-largest city in the US, reached 110 degrees on 31 consecutive days. Heat-related hospitalizations spiked and people burned themselves on scorching asphalt. Texas, home to several of the country’s largest and fastest-growing cities, experienced the second-hottest summer ever, leading to a BBC headline that asked if the Lone Star State could “become too hot for humans.”
Exclusionary Housing Policies Revealed in Housing Database
The most comprehensive database of Massachusetts’ affordable housing inventory spotlights the use of age-restricted housing to maintain racial segregation, its creators say. In 44 cities and towns, not a single unit of non-age-restricted affordable housing has been built despite state laws such as Chapter 40B that make it easier for developers to build income-restricted projects.
Muppets from Sesame Workshop help explain opioid addiction to young children
Tevis Simon grew up in West Baltimore back in the 1980s, a neighborhood that lacked attention from the city and investment from the government. From day to day, she was never sure what version of her mother she’d encounter. “I knew that if my mom had her drugs, that she was fun, mommy. And if she didn’t, then she was mean mommy,” Simon says.
Gentrification & Displacement: An International Dialogue
In an era marked by rapid urbanisation, shifting demographics, and evolving socio-cultural urban spaces, gentrification has emerged as a process of transforming neighbourhoods. It is a complex and multifaceted urban phenomenon characterised by the influx of higher-income residents, more educated people, and investment or new green development in residential areas.
When the Turner Prize Came to ‘God’s Waiting Room’
Now, one of Britain’s most important art events, the Turner Prize, has arrived in the town, too, at the Towner Eastbourne art museum. Locals are hoping it will change the town’s reputation and place it on a national, or even global, cultural stage. But as shown by the experiences of other English seaside towns, big-city culture often dovetails with an influx of new residents, and concerns about gentrification and unfairly shared benefits often follow.
The Battle for I-95
Two weeks ago, looking at the burned-out section of I-95 in Philadelphia from above, the safe bet was that this stretch of the East Coast’s most essential arterial would be a traffic nightmare for months to come. The elevated section of the highway had collapsed on June 11 after a tractor trailer flipped over and caught fire.
Why Are So Many Cities’ Homeless Policies Punitive?
There is a strong body of evidence on what works when it comes to resolving homelessness – housing – and what does not work – punitive policies like criminalization and homeless sweeps that move people around while discarding their belongings. So why do so many American cities seem vexed when it comes to this issue, constantly framing people who are unhoused as threats to public safety while simultaneously promising a compassionate approach?
Police are shaping and enforcing homelessness policies. It’s making the problem worse, researchers say.
As cities throughout the U.S. grapple with the rising number of people experiencing homelessness, many have asked police to enforce local laws against camping, sitting on sidewalks, and sleeping or eating in public, according to the brief. Pressure to use police to address homelessness often comes from residents and businesses that complain about the sight of unsheltered homelessness, it states.
‘Street crisis team’ aims to curb police involvement in homelessness response in San Francisco
In San Francisco, a “street crisis team” of trained practitioners will now respond to non-emergency calls involving people experiencing homelessness through a yearlong, $3 million pilot program announced by Mayor London Breed last week. Law enforcement has historically responded to these calls, and the new Homeless Engagement Assistance Response Team is part of a larger city effort to reduce the need for police to be the primary response for people experiencing a crisis on the street, according to last week’s news release. Decreasing the use of police can reduce cycles of incarceration, which are expensive for cities and harm people experiencing homelessness, said Charley Willison, an assistant professor of public and ecosystem health at Cornell University who co-authored a new policy brief on the role of police in cities’ responses to homelessness.
America Has Decided That Homeless People Aren’t People
Last week, when 30-year-old Jordan Neely was choked to death on an F-train in New York City, video circulated showing the hands of passengers holding him down as Neely, who was homeless at the time, flailed his arms and legs. Neely had been yelling at passengers, though no video has circulated about the events leading up to his killing. He reportedly said that he was “fed up,” hungry, and thirsty, a witness named Juan Alberto Vasquez told CNN. The city medical examiner ruled his death a homicide. The Manhattan District Attorney is investigating the killing but has not yet pressed charges.