Municipal

While the 1990s were a time of economic growth and declining poverty in the United States, the year 2000 marked a turning point. A mild recession was followed by a “jobless recovery,” and poverty rates began to increase. Between 2000 and 2008, the number of the U.S. residents living in poverty increased at nearly twice the growth rate of the population as a whole. This translates to an increase in the national poverty rate by 0.8% to 15.2% in 2008.

Metropolitan planning organizations are federally mandated bodies (MPOs) responsible for urban transportation planning. Billions of dollars are channeled through MPOs, giving them considerable influence over growth patterns and, consequently, social and economic opportunity.

Minnesota implemented the first statewide smoking ban in 1975, and since then, 30 other states and more than 350 cities and towns have enacted restrictions. A meta-study by the Institute of Medicine indicates that the health benefits of such legislation are both immediate and significant.

From the Scholars Strategy Network, written by Eric Hansen, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This piece has been edited for Journalist’s Resource.