cities

Linda Bailey, Executive Director of the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) issued the following statement in response to the White House’s 2018 budget blueprint. President Trump’s proposed budget would be a disaster for cities and their transportation systems, gutting three of the most valuable Federal programs for cities across the country.

Creating cities that work for everyone means seeing them from different perspectives—literally. In Seeing the Better City, urbanist writer, photographer, and land-use attorney Charles R. Wolfe takes urban observation beyond design review and zoning codes, charting a future where all city-dwellers can contribute to the improvement of their city.

Few things in the world have as much immediate ability to shift me into a different mood, into a different and more positive outlook, than birds—seeing them, hearing them, watching their often frenetic but joyful movements and machinations. Birds, and animals more generally, don’t receive the attention they deserve among urban designers and planners. They are so profoundly a part of the quality of life, and so important to the positive mental health of urban residents, that they ought to be given more attention in planning.

Growth of modern cities requires embrace of nature.