"A black family that earns $157,000 a year is less likely to qualify for a prime loan than a white family that earns $40,000." (from the archives)

The late journalist and novelist was an exuberant chronicler of urban settings.

Our overly simplified mental models of America’s economic geography—especially of its rural areas—mask a more complex reality, Richard Florida writes.

"It’s a movie-lovers’ paradise. Pretty much anything you can think of, they have. And that’s not true online." When streaming upended the industry, Seattle’s Scarecrow Video reimagined itself as a community hub and keeper of an archive that can’t be matched online. Its work as a nonprofit has helped to highlight just what could be lost if movie stores were swept away in favor of more convenient technology. More: trib.al/qc3JH4u (📷: Hallie Golden/CityLab)

Long before America had a distinct sense of buildings as corporate branding, rail lines were busy laying the very track of the idea. (from June 2017)

"How can it be that all these foreign religions have temples and we who are from here don’t have a single church?"

After the publication of a new, much higher estimated death count, an improvised memorial of thousands of shoes has become the focal point for grief and anger.

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"As an African arriving in America, I took it for granted that I would gain access to that fortress of black belonging by virtue of shared ancestry. How mistaken I was."

In 1983, neighbors on an unusual block agreed to create a more open, shared space behind their homes. What they built remains a special slice of nature in a bustling city.

How do we shift our mindsets? How do we think about our urban historical past? Mayors, thought leaders, and practitioners weigh in:

Why is transit ridership dropping across North American cities? Blame declining bus service.

Most other vehicles on the road have evolved dramatically over the past few years, growing sleeker, safer, more efficient, and more electric. So how has the school bus evaded revolution?

"Riding one feels like a superpower."
#Cityreads via The Atlantic