Leverage Transit-Oriented Development Loan Programs to Accelerate Equitable Economic Recovery
Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the challenges faced by millions of Americans in accessing healthy, prosperous, and resilient neighborhoods. However, the ability for all Americans to afford to live, work, play in, and benefit from these neighborhoods, also known as Communities of Opportunity, has been in crisis for decades. Whether in urban, suburban or rural markets, demand for walkable and resilient communities with affordable housing and transportation options, great amenities, and a sense of place continues to outstrip supply. Despite broad recognition of the enormous economic and environmental benefits of walkable communities, particularly transit-oriented development (TOD), communities face many federal, state, and local barriers to meeting this demand.
To help communities meet the pent-up demand for affordable housing and businesses in walkable, resilient communities, and to accelerate an equitable economic recovery, the Administration should establish a national equitable transit-oriented development policy. The policy should promote and coordinate federal investments and action to support equitable transit-oriented development and community revitalization projects that lead to more mixed-income housing, new revenue streams for budget-constrained public transportation agencies, climate change mitigation and a stronger and sustainable post-COVID-19 economic recovery.
In an industry with such high fixed costs, the Chinese state’s subsidization gives such firms a great advantage and imperils U.S. competitiveness and national security. To curtail Chinese legacy chip dominance, the United States should weaponize its monopoly on electronic design automation software.
The technical advances fueled by leading-edge nodes are vital to our long-term competitiveness, but they too rely on legacy devices.
To tackle AI risks in grant spending, grant-making agencies should adopt trustworthy AI practices in their grant competitions and start enforcing them against reckless grantees.
As people become less able to distinguish between what is real and what is fake, it has become easier than ever to be misled by synthetic content, whether by accident or with malicious intent. This makes advancing alternative countermeasures, such as technical solutions, more vital than ever before.