25 August 2008

New Obama Urbanist

Sen. Obama says his administration would shift urban-policy making to so-called smart-growth strategies that synchronize transportation, commercial and housing needs for entire regions, rather than following the tradition of focusing first on fighting poverty and crime. He would fund $200 million in annual grants to develop "regional clusters," such as the high-technology-focused area known as the Research Triangle in North Carolina…..

Wall Street Journal:
Barack Obama's campaign plans to relaunch his "urban agenda" Monday in what people close to the strategy say is an effort to assure urban leaders and voters of the Democratic nominee's commitment to cities and minorities without alienating skeptical white voters.

The plan features an increase in the minimum hourly wage, a new White House office focused on metropolitan areas and $60 billion to establish a national bank to finance public-works projects.
...
Michael Coleman, the black mayor of Columbus, Ohio, will lead the discussion Monday before the caucus. A series of town-hall meetings staged in various cities will follow, each led by mayors and other local leaders.

...Sen. McCain hasn't released a formal policy identified as targeting urban issues.

via: Smart Growth America

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Discovered your City Kin blog today and wanted to let you know I enjoyed reading it and also enjoyed your efforts to keep a spotlight on sustainability and urban issues in the presidential election. I am involved in a group that is trying to do that too and its been a bit hard!

Having grown up in Indiana, I spent some time wandering through Over the Rhine and so I have some appreciation for the fantastic resources folks in Cincy are working with. Keep up the good work.

Best regards,
Andrew
www.historicpreservationforobama.org
http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/group/HistoricPreservationforObama (our nascent blog)