Shin-pei Tsay, Victoria Herrmann
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Cities, Suburbs, and Changing Attitudes
The United State should focus on the construction of livable communities composed of walkable, mixed-use, transit-served neighborhoods.
Source: New York Times

Unfortunately, decades-old policies and laws discourage sprawl-free developments in much of the country. Local laws are shaped by federal policy. The current national transportation bill continues to focus on highway development at the expense of walking, biking and public transit.
Federal Housing Administration limits on financing of commercial developments essentially cap the mixed-use districts Ms. Mozingo and Mr. Leinberger wrote about. Moreover, the mortgage interest tax deduction continues to support overfinancing of outsized homes in the suburbs.
It’s time that we updated our nation’s policies so that we can begin a new chapter in American metropolitan development. If we continue to use outmoded 20th-century tools to solve 21st-century problems, especially in an age of diminishing public funds and heightened climate and security concerns, we will go nowhere fast.
About the Author
Former Nonresident Associate, Energy and Climate Program
Shin-pei Tsay was a nonresident associate in the Energy and Climate Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
- Rethinking Urban Mobility: Sustainable Policies for the Century of the CityReport
- A New Focus for U.S.-China Cooperation: Low-Carbon CitiesArticle
Shin-pei Tsay, Victoria Herrmann
Recent Work
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
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