Three historic hurricanes. Wildfires in the West. Increased frequency nuisance flooding and heavy rainfall. As extreme weather continues to dominate the headlines, in 2017 what can city leaders do to protect their communities? Last week, NLC and the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) co-hosted a Congressional Briefing entitled “How Can Cities Become More Resilient
This is an NLC staff post by Bernadette Onyenaka and Chelsea Jones. Hurricane season is upon us yet again, and while nothing is ever certain, what does seem clear is that this is a hurricane season the U.S. will find hard to forget. If we are lucky, perhaps we will take the lessons that we
This is a guest post by Suzanne Nienaber of the Center for Active Design. Over the summer, the Center for Active Design (CfAD) introduced the Assembly Civic Engagement Survey (ACES), a groundbreaking study examining the relationship between place-based design and civic engagement. Through the CitiesSpeak blog series, we highlighted 5 key design strategies to support civic life,
This week, the catastrophic flooding and winds of Hurricane Harvey impacted millions of Americans across Texas and Louisiana. But while the storm’s effects were vast, much of the greatest damage was averted by the swift actions of local leaders, first responders, heroic citizens and outside organizations. As the floodwaters recede and the rebuilding begins, NLC’s partners
This is a guest post by Eric West. For Small Cities Month, NLC asked its member cities what they were most proud of. The city of Santa Fe, New Mexico, is proud of its heritage as the oldest capital city in North America; it was established by Europeans thirteen years prior to the settlement of
This post was co-authored by Irma Esparza Diggs and Will Downie. This week, the White House rolled out ideas on how to fix our nation’s ailing roads, bridges, schools and water systems in their version of “Infrastructure Week.” Building off the $200 billion in federal investment included in President Donald Trump’s FY2018 budget, ideas such
Local governments need a federal commitment and partner to improve our water, transportation and broadband systems. America cannot continue to be great without world-class infrastructure. This is a guest post by Mayor Sal Panto, Jr. The nation’s local leaders know that our nation’s infrastructure has never been a partisan issue. Today, with ailing infrastructure and
To improve our nation’s infrastructure, cities need the freedom to explore innovative financing tools — but they also need a renewed commitment from their partners at the state and federal levels of government. This is a guest post by Councilmember James McDonald. As federal and state funding for infrastructure has become less predictable, the stress
