Tag: "New York Times"
Food Deserts? What Food Deserts?
The New York Times reports on two new studies that call into question the importance of so-called “food deserts” in the US: It has become an article of faith among some policy makers and advocates, including Michelle Obama, that poor urban neighborhoods are food deserts, bereft of fresh fruits and vegetables. But two new studies [...]
Services Could Fuel a Surge in US Exports
Twenty years ago, some “serious” business thinkers used to lament the rise of the US service economy. They argued that a service-based economy was nothing more than (and this is an actual quote) “a bunch of people washing each other’s underwear.” This was taken as a serious critique. A service economy was doomed, they reasoned, [...]
Competing for Manufacturing Jobs: Racing into the Darkness?
In case you missed it, Sunday’s New York Times had a front-page story on why the US has such a hard time competing for manufacturing jobs. According to the article, here is a typical description of the problem as seen by Apple: Apple executives say that going overseas, at this point, is their only option. [...]
The Challenge Income Inequality Raises for Planners
Two recent New York Times articles help highlight how growing income inequality raises some interesting issues for urban planners. Most cities were built with extensive middle-income neighborhoods, and the thrust of most city planning efforts are to retain and strengthen those residential areas. But a recent Stanford University study reinforces the idea that we are [...]
Coming Soon: Industrial Revolution 2.0 or Manufacturing’s Big Bang
The “Dispruptions” blog in the New York Times reports on the eminent arrival of 3-D printing and how it will change the world: It won’t be long before people have a 3-D printer sitting at home alongside its old inkjet counterpart. These 3-D printers, some already costing less than a computer did in 1999, can [...]
If You Don’t Wash Your Levi’s, They Will Turn Green
While this is probably literally true, yesterday’s New York Times had a story about the efforts of the Levi Strauss company to adopt “green” practices to dramatically reduce water usage involved with making and wearing its signature blue jeans: [A] typical pair of blue jeans consumes 919 gallons of water during its life cycle, Levi [...]
