Controversy surrounds a $20 million redesign of New York City's Union Square Park.
"Union Square Park wasn't named to honor the labor movement - or the winning side in the Civil War, for that matter. The label has more prosaic origins: when city planners laid out the square in the 1830s, it sat at the union of three major roads, where stagecoaches picked up routes leading to Albany or Boston.
The traffic that circumnavigates its thumb-shaped green space these days has slightly less room to maneuver. Over the last two decades, New York has gradually increased the park's size to its present 3.6 acres by adding castoff lots and absorbing parts of streets. The change has been one factor turning the park - with its statues of former presidents, long lines of benches and rows of thick oaks - into a destination spot.
Yet when vehicles converge on one spot, there can be collisions, and the same is true of interests at the square. One example is the battle over its $20 million renovation."
FULL STORY: People Converge, Interests Compete

Manufactured Crisis: Losing the Nation’s Largest Source of Unsubsidized Affordable Housing
Manufactured housing communities have long been an affordable housing option for millions of people living in the U.S., but that affordability is disappearing rapidly. How did we get here?

Americans May Be Stuck — But Why?
Americans are moving a lot less than they once did, and that is a problem. While Yoni Applebaum, in his highly-publicized article Stuck, gets the reasons badly wrong, it's still important to ask: why are we moving so much less than before?

Using Old Oil and Gas Wells for Green Energy Storage
Penn State researchers have found that repurposing abandoned oil and gas wells for geothermal-assisted compressed-air energy storage can boost efficiency, reduce environmental risks, and support clean energy and job transitions.

California's Canal Solar Projects Aim to Conserve Resources and Expand Clean Energy
California’s Project Nexus has begun generating electricity from solar panels installed over irrigation canals, with researchers and state agencies exploring statewide expansion to conserve water and boost clean energy production.

HHS Staff Cuts Gut Energy Assistance Program
The full staff of a federal program that distributes heating and cooling assistance for low-income families was laid off, jeopardizing the program’s operations.

San Antonio Remains Affordable as City Grows
The city’s active efforts to keep housing costs down through housing reforms and coordinated efforts among city agencies and developers have kept it one of the most affordable in the nation despite its rapid population growth.
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