Engineer Sam Schwartz, former New York City traffic commissioner, did a nice blog post today titled A Traffic Engineer’s Lament. He bemoans the fact that engineers no longer run transportation departments in most cities and states in America. Here’s an excerpt: An example I’ve used time and time again in New York City is that the Brooklyn Bridge, when it was largely a rail and walking bridge, handled 430,000 people daily.  He further laments that the traffic engineering of the last century focused so strongly on cars. It pays. MORE >>

Today's New York Times has a great article on a Pre-fab project used for student housing. Squeezing Costs, Builders Take New Look at Prefab By RONDA KAYSEN New York Times, June 15, 2011 PHILADELPHIA — A package arrived on a shabby north Philadelphia block in January 2010, wrapped in Tyvek and measuring 55 feet long and 16 feet wide. Yes,” said Christopher Sharples, a principal at SHoP Architects, which is designing a possible 34-story prefab tower for the developer Forest City Ratner at Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn. And that is Fab-tastic! Is the desire? MORE >>

I found an interesting article via Reuters about a new concept in Business called a "B Corp." They say a new kind of corporate legal structure is needed to require companies to operate for the good of society, not just for their shareholders. These new corporations -- they're called B Corporations -- are growing in number, and their structure has been enshrined into law in four states -- Vermont, Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia. We can't have a new economy unless we have a new type of corporation," Jay told me. Few would argue that it's working well. MORE >>

What is interesting as I study the current Census and align it with the "mythology" that Americans are a mobile lot and relocate in order to find work and establish urban areas often centered on certain industries - the Automotive industry - Detroit, Software/Technology - the Bay Area and so on, in reality the new economy is less about migratory patterns and about actual productivity and wealth building. Much of this is of course racial with Detroit being America's most segregated city. Between 2000 and 2009, six of them lost population – led, not surprisingly, by New Orleans. MORE >>

At this time it is unclear what sector this affected most but if the jobs were in retail and hospitality there is a limited benefit to the long run. These are notoriously low paid and often sans benefits. New York City (including the outer boroughs)gained only 127,000 in residents since the last Census. If there is ever a city that demonstrates the current two tier economy its this one. Below is an article from today's New York Times discussing the further decline of wages and the affect it has on family life. This is where we are heading. MORE >>