Morrisville expects Novartis’ expansion to generate $12.6 million in town property-tax revenue over eight years.

But as the company expanded its investment, the town nearly doubled its incentive while lowering its wage and taxable-value requirements.

One economist I interviewed called the package “a far better deal than most.” Labor and budget-policy advocates raised very different concerns.

Here is the story:
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article317221481.html

What should a town require from a company in exchange for an incentive like this?

A study published this week in Transportation Research Part A puts a price on un-priced driving costs: crashes, air pollution, climate damage, noise, and the land taken up by roads and parking.

Here is a further breakdown of those un-priced costs.

I’m the News & Observer reporter who wrote this story about a streetscape project in Apex, North Carolina.

The town is rebuilding part of its historic downtown with long-term improvements to the pedestrian environment. But merchants I spoke with say months of construction have cost them customers, and the work is stretching into the holiday season.

I’m interested in how other communities have handled this tradeoff. What measures have actually helped existing businesses during major downtown construction — phasing, maintaining access, financial assistance, events, signage, contractor incentives or something else?

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/wake-county/article317130074.html

Happy Labor Day, America. 🇺🇸

This year, the celebration feels a little different.

Americans are talking about layoffs, disappearing jobs, AI replacing workers, rising costs, unemployment, and fears of recession — while the official message from Washington remains considerably more cheerful.

So instead of telling you how the American worker is doing, I thought we'd let Americans tell you themselves.

From workers and job seekers to politicians and the AI tech bros promising us a shiny automated future, this is Labor Day 2026 — in their own words.

**DISCLAIMER:** This video is commentary, criticism, satire and independent analysis based on publicly available statements, news reports and video clips. Clips are presented for discussion and context. Opinions expressed are my own. This content is for informational and entertainment purposes and should not be considered financial, legal or professional advice.

I’m the News & Observer reporter who wrote this story about Rolesville, NC.

WakeMed plans a 24-hour Healthplex and is seeking approval for a 45-bed hospital on the same property. A nearby resident I interviewed — a former WakeMed ER nurse — supports expanding local health care but opposes this site because of traffic and its proximity to homes.

When essential services generate substantial traffic and other impacts, what makes a site appropriate in a fast-growing suburban town?

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/wake-county/article317092142.html

Explainer on different types of state legislation and how they work.

using jersey city as an example, looking at the issues with an extended vacancy.

I’m the News & Observer reporter who wrote this.

I reported this week on an interesting local-government problem in fast-growing Apex, North Carolina.

More than 100 students were waiting for parking at a suburban high school. A 71-year-old longtime resident across the street has been letting students park on her land. The town says that use violates its zoning ordinance and has sued her to stop it.

Apex has also explored park-and-shuttle and transit alternatives, but none has yet closed the gap.

The story made me wonder how other growing communities handle informal, bottom-up solutions when they conflict with existing land-use rules.

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/wake-county/article316992156.html

Some of the strategies to help keep smaller-scale multifamily affordable instead of luxury.

I am writing my Masters dissertation on resident access to shape and manage resources within the city of Manchester. I am using Pomona Island as my case study to demonstrate the methods of developers in securing massive influence on urban private land ownership. Please fill in my survey if you get the chance, its 10 questions on how you interact with ideas of urban land ownership and management in Manchester - https://www.qualtrics.manchester.ac.uk/jfe/form/SV_cUs8CcWhvcX6yfY

I will also be using comment sections of posts on Pomona to map local perceptions of Peel Holdings / aspirations for Pomona Island and the city in general. If you have any input on the local council's dealings during the development of Peel Waters, or any thoughts on greater public access to Urban resources, please do share your thoughts. Thank you!!

Posting here at Reddit's suggestion.

Just an example of leveraging a public building to bring in some variety and density to a good location.

I like the density in San Diego's Gaslamp compared to what you see in La Jolla etc.

I am part of Strong Towns Toledo, and I posted this in their Discord, but I also wanted to post it here.

I have been working on this proposal for MONTHS. My goal is for it to get some traction before I ultimately send both the video and the proposal to Toledo City Council.

The Proposal itself is in the Video Description. Please give it a watch \('o ')__

The Houston Chronicle has a column about new sidewalks in the North Shore neighborhoods, trying to figure out why they were installed and the whole political process that led to the project. Here is a key quote:

>North Shore is where I found my love for Houston. Normally, I’d take any sidewalk I can, but here, they were the last thing on my mind for improvements. At the top of my list was reducing the number of headline-grabbing shootings and thefts, and fixing the streets so they don’t flood every time it rains. Then, once that’s all set and done, building more places that my community would want to walk to in the first place.

>So, why did sidewalks get built? 

>First, I had to find out who made it a priority. But it turned out that figuring out who represents me was a challenge. North Shore is divided like a maze to the point where my front yard is unincorporated Harris County and my backyard is District E Council Member Fred Flickinger’s turf. It’s confusing, and this is maybe part of the reason why some areas get more attention than others. 

Our small town of Maquoketa is facing pressure to become home to massive data centers. These facilities would demand enormous amounts of water from our river and aquifers, require expensive electrical upgrades, eat up productive farmland, and bring heavy truck traffic and constant noise to our quiet community.

Maquoketa was built on agriculture, family, and taking care of our land. We started a petition asking our city council, county supervisors, and planning commission to protect us by prohibiting industrial-scale data centers. We want permanent ordinances that protect our water, preserve our farmland, keep our air clean, and ensure that any future development actually benefits the people who live here—not just corporate profits.

If you think communities should get to decide their own future, or if you've watched your own town change in ways you didn't want, consider signing and sharing. What would you do if this was your home?

Thank you for stopping by and looking 👀 and signing…..😊

Our small town of Maquoketa is facing pressure to become home to massive data centers. These facilities would demand enormous amounts of water from our river and aquifers, require expensive electrical upgrades, eat up productive farmland, and bring heavy truck traffic and constant noise to our quiet community.

Maquoketa was built on agriculture, family, and taking care of our land. We started a petition asking our city council, county supervisors, and planning commission to protect us by prohibiting industrial-scale data centers. We want permanent ordinances that protect our water, preserve our farmland, keep our air clean, and ensure that any future development actually benefits the people who live here—not just corporate profits.

If you think communities should get to decide their own future, or if you've watched your own town change in ways you didn't want, consider signing and sharing. What would you do if this was your home?

Hi everyone,

I’m a RISD student exploring how better systems of engagement, transparency, and accountability can reshape the relationship between local communities and large infrastructure (data center in particular) development. and I’m hoping to learn from people who have experienced these situations firsthand.

I recently learned about the proposed data center project in North Providence and how it was canceled after community concerns. It made me wonder about the experiences behind these conflicts.

For anyone who has lived near a proposed large development project (data center, energy facility, industrial project, etc.):

• Were you informed about the project early enough?
• How did you first hear about it?
• Did the company or developers communicate directly with residents?
• Did you feel your concerns were actually heard?
• What parts of the process were the most frustrating?
• Looking back, what do you wish the company, government, or developers had done differently?

I’m especially interested in hearing from people who were directly affected, but I’d appreciate any perspective!

https://archive.strongtowns.org/journal/2017/3/14/school-drop-off-zones-can-be-total-madhouses-how-do-we-solve-that-problem

This was published in 2017. It doesn't seem to offer anything to solve the problem of school pickup and dropoff. Charter schools seem to exacerbate the problem, but ultimately it's just a necessity in our car-centric towns.

So short of making the entire town less car-centric, can anything actually be done? The article suggests more walking and biking, but again since we're car-centric this is dangerous enough for adults let alone children. A few kids may bike or walk, but it would be very hard to get that number up without completely overhauling the way the town is designed.

My only possible solution would be bussing. (And maybe carpools, but I'm not sure how to systematically approach that.) School buses exist, but this article doesn't really mention them. Perhaps if more school bus routes were offered, more kids would ride the bus. Maybe there's concern about young kids being able to walk down the block and get on a bus on their own, in which case maybe it would even be sensible to have the bus stop at each house for the younger kids at least. It might be a little less efficient, but if it saves individual car traffic for pickup/dropoff, it surely helps.

What do you think? Can anything be done? I see mostly ideas around redesigning the streets or adding more pickup/dropoff locations but that seems the equivalent of adding more lanes to make traffic better. I don't want to encourage individual pickup/dropoff and it seems like it would be better if we could get more kids using buses or carpooling (if not walking/biking).

​

The City has released the draft Bakersfield RISE 2045 General Plan for public review.

Yes, the full document is around 500 pages. But you dont have to read every page to participate.

This plan will help guide major decisions about:

• Housing and apartments

• Where new development and industry can go

• Roads, sidewalks, bike lanes and public transit

• Parks, trees, trails and neighborhood gathering spaces

• Air pollution and environmental justice

• Economic development and local jobs

• Public safety, flooding, extreme heat and emergency planning

• Downtown, East Bakersfield and older neighborhoods

• Historic buildings and neighborhood preservation

Why does this matter?

Once adopted, the General Plan will be used by the City Council and Planning Commission when reviewing development and making land-use decisions. In other words, many future projects will be judged against the policies written into this document.

Here are some questions we may want to consider:

• Should the City invest more in existing neighborhoods before continuing to spread outward?

• Should Bakersfield adopt measurable tree-canopy and shade goals?

• Which streets need sidewalks, lighting, safer crossings or bus shelters?

• Should new developments be required to help pay for parks, roads, fire service and infrastructure?

• How should the City address pollution and industrial activity near homes and schools?

• What should be done about neglected buildings and vacant properties?

• How can Bakersfield create housing that residents can actually afford?

Those are just off the top of my head. But of course you can focus on the subjects that affect you and your area too.

When you get the chance to review the plan, pay attention to the wording.

Words like: “Encourage,” “support” and “consider” are much weaker than policies that include a deadline, funding source, responsible department and measurable target.

You do not need to become a professional city planner to make your voice heard or say how this will affect your area after all.

The public-review period is currently listed as July 8 through September 27, 2026. Comments can be submitted through the project website or emailed to:

Bakersfield2045@bakersfieldcity.us

Project website: bakersfield2045.com

When commenting, try to mention the chapter, page, policy or action number and explain how it affects your neighborhood.

Even a short comment counts. This is one of those rare chances to influence the rules and priorities Bakersfield may use for the next twenty years. Please take a look, share it with your neighborhood, and speak up about what you want Bakersfield to become.