Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Barack Obama

Obama Talks Urban Policy as LaHood Seeks More Urban Transpo Money

6:07 PM EDT on July 13, 2009

obama_fl.jpgObama during the "sprawl is over" speech last February

The White House Office of Urban Affairs, which has drawn criticism for its inactivity at a rocky economic time for the nation's cities, capped a day-long summit today with a speech by President Obama.

Referencing his formative years as a Chicago community organizer, Obama urged the mayors, governors, and Cabinet secretaries who attended the urban policy summit to think of cities and suburbs as interacting parts of the same metropolitan organism.

At one point, the president sounded a David Brooks-esque note, describing sprawl -- the days of which he declared "over" in February -- as "creating new pressures and problems [but] also opening up new opportunities":

Now, the first thing we need to recognize is that this is not justa time of challenge for America's cities; it's also a time of greatchange. Even as we've seen many of our central cities continuing togrow in recent years, we've seen their suburbs and exurbs grow roughlytwice as fast. It spreads homes and jobs and businesses to a broadergeographic area.

And this transformation is creating newpressures and problems, of course, but it's also opening up newopportunities, because it's not just our cities that are hotbeds ofinnovation anymore. It's our growing metropolitan areas.

Later in his speech, however, Obama criticized a pattern of Washington policy-making that "encouraged sprawl, congestion, and pollution" instead of promoting transit and smart growth.

His urban policy goals remain centered on renewable energy, transit, and high-speed rail, he added, which would not "just make our downtowns more livable [but help] our regional economies grow."

Obama announced a broad inter-agency review of urban policy, which he billed as the first of its kind in three decades, and vowed to send Cabinet officials on a listening tour of the nation's cities this summer.

Meanwhile, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood sought to do his part for cities today by calling on state DOTs to spend more federal stimulus money in urban and economically disadvantaged areas. Cities have gotten shortchanged on stimulus road funding, though an analysis by Streetsblog Capitol Hill found the top 20 U.S. metro areas faring better when it comes to the smaller pot of transit aid.

LaHood made his remarks during a roundtable with regional reporters. From the Allentown Morning Call's report:

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Monday that he’sconcerned not enough stimulus dollars are being spent in largemetropolitan areas around that country and he’s urging states toconsider places with higher unemployment when choosing where to directthe government funds.

“These decisions are not being made by DOT,” LaHood told reporterstoday ... “Governors and [state] DOTs are deciding where this moneyis spent and we want to make sure that the money is being spent inhighly economically distressed areas and high unemployment areas.”

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Thursday’s Headlines: What an Historic Day Edition

It was such a big deal that all sorts of strangers in the press corps showed up. Plus other news.

December 7, 2023

Council Repeals Decade-Old Law that Stalled Bike Lane Installation

The City Council repealed a notorious. out-dated law that imposed lengthy delays on the city before it could break ground on new bike lanes.

December 7, 2023

Dynamic! MTA Could Hike Congestion Pricing Toll 25% on Gridlock Alert Days

The MTA said it had that power, and modeled it in its environmental assessment (see footnote 2 below), but no one ever reported it, until Wednesday.

December 6, 2023

Judge Orders Trial for Hit-and-Run Driver Who Turned Down ‘Reasonable’ Sentencing Offer

Judge Brendan Lantry turns down driver's request for mere probation for killing a delivery worker in 2022. The trial will start in January.

December 6, 2023

Wednesday’s Headlines: Another Big Day at City Hall Edition

Today is going to be another busy day for the livable streets crowd. So get ready with today's headlines.

December 6, 2023
See all posts