Urban-Rural Divide

A hypothetical map of the state of Idaho, expanded by annexing a large portion fo Oregon. The map is emblazoned with the words “Greater Idaho.”

The Nation's Most Advanced Secessionist Movement

Legislation supporting the Greater Idaho Movement, which would annex over half of neighboring Oregon, has advanced in the Idaho legislature.

March 22, 2023 - FOX News

Coronavirus

COVID and the Urban-Rural Divide

Researchers at the University of Iowa analyzed COVID-19 death data in rural and metropolitan counties and found that rural Americans have died at twice the rate as those living in more urbanized counties. The health divide will only widen.

October 8, 2021 - Kaiser Health News

Mass Vaccination

Vaccination Disparities Between Urban and Rural America

The pandemic has largely been measured by case incidence, down significantly in recent weeks in most states. A new metric, the vaccination rate, may determine where the virus strikes next. The urban-rural divide is a major factor, says the CDC.

May 25, 2021 - CNBC

Trump Sign

Partisan Clustering at the Neighborhood Level

Forget red state versus blue state: a new data analysis and mapping project by The New York Times shows that the political divides in the country can be mapped to the neighborhood level within metropolitan areas.

March 18, 2021 - The New York Times

Atlanta Park

The Blue Beltway

Ronald Brownstein, a senior editor at The Atlantic, coins a new political-geographic term in the wake of the Georgia U.S. Senate runoff elections to describe a shift in the political alignment of nearly all large metropolitan areas in the nation.

January 8, 2021 - The Atlantic

COVID-19 protests

Election Post-Mortem: Politics Trumps Public Health

An analysis by the Associated Press found that voters in counties that are disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus were far more likely to support President Trump's reelection than voters in less-impacted counties.

November 9, 2020 - Los Angeles Times

COVID-19

The U.S. Might Soon Be Surpassed in Coronavirus Infections

India could be on track to overtake the United States in the number of COVID-19 cases. The surge is explained by a sharp and growing urban-rural divide in the ability and willingness to follow public health measures.

October 13, 2020 - The New York Times

Arch Rock Beach

Déjà Vu: Republican Legislators Flee From Capitol to Stall Climate Bill

Republican state lawmakers repeated a tactic they successfully deployed last summer to prevent the passage of a bill that would have made Oregon the second state, after California, to place a price on carbon emissions from most economic sectors.

March 2, 2020 - The Washington Post

Charlotte, NC

Understanding North Carolina's Urban-Rural Divide

North Carolina cities are thriving, but rural counties are not experiencing the same level of growth. Still, residents in rural areas say the numbers do not necessarily capture the whole picture.

January 6, 2020 - The Courier-Tribune

Rural Texas

U.S. Economic Growth Shows Urban-Rural Divide

The economy is improving in places like Texas, but a closer look indicates that cities are taking off while rural areas are lagging behind.

July 20, 2019 - The New York Times

Supreme Court

Cities Lost Political Power in that 'Other' Supreme Court Ruling Last Month

On June 27, the Supreme Court didn't just rule on the Census Bureau's citizenship question. It also decided that it wasn't their business to consider how congressional districts are drawn, which will likely reduce the influence of cities.

July 7, 2019 - The New York Times

Portland, Oregon

What Went Wrong With Oregon's Climate Bill?

The Oregon Climate Action Program, which would have priced carbon emissions by establishing a cap-and-trade program similar to the one in California, was defeated on Saturday, the penultimate day of the 2019 legislative session.

July 2, 2019 - The Oregonian

Rural Utah

When Cities Prosper, Rural Areas Are Better Off

The pitting of cities and rural communities against one another is the wrong approach. Instead, policies that help cities thrive will benefit rural areas in the long run.

December 9, 2018 - Brookings

Macron Protest

President Macron Acquiesces to Yellow Vests' Demands on Fuel Tax Hike

Despite statements to the contrary just a week ago, Macron reversed position and caved to the demonstrators' demands that upcoming fuel tax hikes be suspended.

December 5, 2018 - CityLab

Emergency Sign

U.S. Life Expectancy Continues Downward Trend

Drug overdoses and suicides caused American life expectancy to drop in 2017 for the second consecutive year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most notable is the gap between the urban and rural suicide rate.

December 1, 2018 - The Washington Post

Philadelphia Urban Farm

Minnesota Grants May Bolster Urban Farming's Legitimacy

For the first time, the state of Minnesota is offering money specifically for urban agriculture, in a win for urban farmers who want to challenge the notion that agriculture is necessarily a rural enterprise.

October 10, 2018 - MinnPost

Gilpin County, Colorado

Colorado Tax Mandates Will Continue to Hurt Rural Areas

When home values rise, the state constitution requires cuts to residential tax rates that severely impact less-developed areas.

December 30, 2017 - The Denver Post

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.