California High-Speed Rail No. 2 The Critics’ Case
Every big infrastructure project is controversial. Most of them work out better than critics contend early on. But maybe the critics are right about high-speed rail. Let's hear what they say.
Economic Development
222 posts
It Takes a Village to Staff a Factory
"It indeed is an oasis, but the passion and commitment are replicable elsewhere." A Kenyan-born man working in Mississippi on some of the things the state has done right.
The California High-Speed Rail Debate Kicking Things Off
The Erie Canal. The transcontinental railroad. The Interstate Highway system. Big, expensive, controversial—and indispensable. Is the next one in this series a new rail network in our most famously freeway-centric state?
Smaller Towns as Talent Magnets: The Chance to Make Things Work
"The kind of people who might have gone to NASA in the 1960s, Wall Street in the 1980s, or Silicon Valley in the late 1990s are now, I think, more likely than ever to work in municipal government." So says a well-educated young small-town mayor.
The Endless Civil War, Continued
"Should the people in Mississippi stay poor? I would suggest taking a serious look at the answer 'yes'." So says a reader who lives elsewhere.
Heavy Industry in the Mississippi ‘Prairie’: Why Are These Factories Here?
Why Are These Factories Here?
Mapping America’s Prospects, in Mississippi and Elsewhere
Images that illustrate the challenges and opportunities Americans face region-by-region
Theories of History: Joe Max Higgins & the Golden Triangle
"When Eurocopter came here, people started walking upright a little bit." Why has this part of Mississippi pulled ahead of some others?
The New Industrial Belt: The Deep South
Does America still "make things?" Come take a look ... in Mississippi.
A Song of America’s Downtowns
A heartening surprise of our travel so far: the breadth, seriousness, and—in some places—success of the effort to revitalize small-town downtowns. Or, what 3 programmers from Uzbekistan taught us about America.
Beer Notes From All Over, Starkville Edition
This is the new America.
The Seas? The Skies? The Transformation of a Company Town, II
One economic titan has fallen, another has taken its place, but a city wants to expand its options.
The Transformation of a Company Town: St. Marys, Part 1
What happens when the company shuts down?
The Parks and Recreation Theory of America’s Future
What we discuss at the national level has surprisingly little to do with startup decisions. Some provocative data about where America is growing, and why.
Smaller-Town Startups: ‘Stopping the Brain Drain’ in SC
'People say, this is my ticket Out.' Then, they want to stay.
Welcome to Greenville and ‘The Upstate’
A region that has willed its way to a new economic and civic identity.