Sustainable transportation in Seattle, a streetcar in Cincinnati and an Astrodome in Houston were among the policies and projects at stake in local elections across the U.S. yesterday. Here are some of the winners and losers.
Writing in Streetsblog, Angie Schmitt focuses on four of the high-profile mayoral elections: Cincinnati, Seattle, New York, and Pittsburgh. The results of the latter two were a foregone conclusion.
"The biggest story was Cincinnati’s mayoral race, where Queen City voters backed Democrat John Cranley by a wide margin," she writes. "Cranley campaigned on a platform of tearing out the city’s under-construction streetcar, even though stopping the streetcar at this point could be more expensive for the city than continuing it."
"Meanwhile," Schmitt continues, "a champion of sustainable transportation in Seattle, Mayor Mike McGinn, fell to challenger Ed Murray, a state senator best known for crafting the state’s marriage equality law."
What did voters in Houston have to say about the Astrodome, you ask? Unfortunately for fans of the "Eighth Wonder of the World", voters in Harris County rejected a proposed overhaul. "County officials have not explicitly said a no vote would mean the structure would be demolished, but they've suggested as much," notes Ryan Holeywell.
At Governing, Louis Jacobson has a detailed roundup of yesterday's elections.
FULL STORY: Setbacks and Victories For Urbanism in Yesterday’s Mayoral Races
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City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research