Urban Planner in the White House!

by Leigh Graham · 2009-02-27 06:00:00 UTC
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In my obsession with the stimulus I totally missed this story:

Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión Jr., who was named Thursday to direct the new White House Office of Urban Affairs, said he wants cities to become economic centers that can pull the country out of a recession and improve American competitiveness in a global market.

Carrión said he would help coordinate urban policy in traditional areas such as education, health care and public safety. But he also said he would look to develop urban neighborhoods in environmentally thoughtful ways, such as by offering incentives for companies to locate in densely populated areas and improving mass transit.

The Detroit Free Press gets at the significance of this appointment:

it does lay the groundwork for coordinated urban and regional policies, and it creates a sense of urgency for fixing problems that impede not only central cities and their regions, but also the entire nation.Up to now, policies that affect urban areas, such as transportation, housing, economic development, education, public safety and criminal justice, have not focused on cities. In fact, the government has often carried out urban policies in a way that actually hurt cites. U.S. transportation policies, for example, have led to sprawl, pollution and energy waste.

80% of the US lives in metropolitan areas - central cities and their surrounding surburbs:

So-called urban problems -- housing, education, public safety, transportation, poverty, economic development and the like -- are really national problems. Solving them will take a new set of urban policies -- and an agency to ensure they focus on the nation's population centers.

Time has some quick facts about Carrion, including some terrific quotes (like telling academics to stop experimenting on the poor).  Apparently he was arrested for protesting the Navy's occupation of Vieques in Puerto Rico.  Love it.

His detractors cite his giveaway of a new Yankee Stadium to the Yankees, urged on by Bloomberg.  I'm definitely not a fan of these mega-projects.  He's also credited with anywhere from 25-40k new units of affordable housing in the Bronx, and plentiful new parks and open space in the borough.

All in, a pretty good record.  Let's hope together with Obama, Donovan, Solis and others Carrion can really get some equitable, smart development happening in our cities.  Urban planners unite!

Leigh Graham
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