DrUrbanPolicy

Here is a development situation that is unfolding in real time: Dimensions Healthcare System, Prince George’s County, Md officials and the University of Maryland Medical System are meeting on Thursday to discuss the location of the new regional hospital that will replace the problematic Prince George’s Hospital Center . There are four prospective sites, all in the central area of the county near interchanges on I-495, the Capital Beltway. County officials' shortsightedness may cause the hospital to be built in a location that seems optimal at a glance, but won't serve residents best - this is a perfect opportunity to use a hospital as an anchor for transit-oriented development.

On Sunday, I watched Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on Meet the Press - He and the and other department secretaries are on the morning shows discussing sequestration. His department's example is a $1 billion cut from DOT, including $600 million from the FAA. This once unlikely scenario has become the likely policy outcome, and lessons from policy school have come back to me as this unfolds. 1: The "do-nothing" option is chosen most of the time because it's usually the easiest option, and 2: Once a policy has been adopted, that becomes the new standard.

A short but sweet installment:  Carole Fleck of the the AARP Blog  posted about my  latest AARP Public Policy Institute housing  paper . Click on the link below to read her post: Mortgages Snare Bigger Share of Boomers’ Earnings

There's been a great deal of discussion about the 2nd amendment lately, but on this Inauguration Day, I'm thinking about the effectiveness of a different amendment - the 20th. For those without a pocket copy of the US Constitution handy, the 20th Amendment covers a few things, including presidential succession in cases where the President-Elect dies before taking office, but my questions surround a different part of the amendment - the first two sections moved the Presidential Inauguration from March 4 to January 20, and established January 3 as the first day for a new Congress. President's box for the 2013 inaugural parade The inauguration date was moved to January after concerns that the original date was too old-fashioned for a modern America. The logic was that modern transportation and communication (in 1932-33) meant that a new administration and Congress could take office more quickly than they could in the 18th century - moving the dates to January would ...

Ac cording to the National Association of Realtors' Housing Affordability Index , 2012 was a record year for housing affordability.  The release of their results led to articles with titles such as " Housing Today Is More Affordable Than At Any Time In History " on an investment blog and " 2012 a banner year for housing affordability, industry group says " in a major national newspaper. I've also seen several TV reports that covered how affordable housing has become. If that's the case, then how could we release a paper titled " Loss of Housing Affordability Threatens Older Middle Class Adults " as part of AARP's Middle Class Security Project ?

Maryland State House - from www.plan.maryland.gov In Prince George's County, Maryland, County Executive Jack Johnson and his director of Housing and Community Development were convicted of taking bribes from developers hoping to build in the county .  His wife, a future County Councilperson, became infamous - not only for conspiring to destroy evidence of the bribery conspiracy and hiding money in her undergarments when the FBI was closing in, but also her later refusal to step down from office and after pleading guilty , and she continued to serve as councilperson until forced out. Uly Currie, Maryland State Senator from Prince George's and former chairman of the most powerful committee in the Senate, was acquitted of corruption in a case where his defense was largely ignorance of the disclosure rules. Maryland Delegate Tiffany Alston was recently stripped of her position because she took money from her campaign account to pay for her wedding amongst other financial ind...

I know that many of you are not yet on Twitter, so I thought I'd continue the Social Media discussion and offer a year-end wrap up of what's been going on @DrUrbanPolicy , and what I've learned about Twitter during the year. (For those that want to hear more about policy issues, don't worry - I've been bothered by something recently, so look for another post soon.)  First, you should be sure to read my last post:  "Social media - It's time to pay attention and yes, learn one more new thing." As I've mentioned,  I have become a big fan of the "mutually beneficial" side of social media - the ability to share what others have done, and seeing others share what I've done.  I welcome that change from many types of research, where the important thing is to differentiate your work from other researchers who are writing about similar topics. Social media allows me to write about the same events and topics as others, and become part of a ...