HUD Releases Housing Regulation ‘Best Practices’ for State, Local Governments
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released a three‑page set of regulatory best practices aimed at state and local governments to reduce red tape and lower housing construction costs. The guidance, issued under a Trump administration executive order, advises capping permitting fees, adopting streamlined building codes, dropping certain green‑energy requirements, leveraging public land, and using AI and modular construction. HUD Secretary Scott Turner highlighted that bureaucratic costs add roughly $100,000 to new homes, and the report seeks to make homeownership more affordable for middle‑income Americans.
Cincinnati Is Turning a Blighted Former Landfill Into a Solar Energy Hub
Cincinnati broke ground on the $24 million Center Hill Solar Array, a 10‑megawatt photovoltaic project on a former landfill. The city will own 4.9 MW of capacity while Austin‑based UPower Energy will develop an equal share under a power‑purchase agreement. The solar...
House Committee Agrees to $580B Surface Transportation Legislation
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee reached a deal on a five‑year, $580 billion surface‑transportation reauthorization. It earmarks $65 billion for rail, lifts mass‑transit funding to $87.6 billion, and allocates $31.1 billion in Amtrak grants, while prohibiting federal aid to California’s high‑speed rail for...
The Journey to Low-Carbon Concrete
Concrete contributes up to 50% of building‑material greenhouse‑gas emissions, with Portland cement alone responsible for 80‑85% of that impact. In 2025, PCL Construction, together with Heidelberg Materials, field‑tested three low‑carbon concrete mixes in Seattle, including one blend that contains no...
Dallas Suburb Exits Regional Transit Agency
Highland Park, Texas, voted to withdraw from Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) in a May 2 special election, ending local bus, paratransit and on‑demand services. The town contributed roughly $6.3 million in sales‑tax revenue to DART and received $1.9 million in services for...
How AI Is Helping Municipal Clerks Speed up Public Records Reporting
AI‑driven clerkware is reshaping how U.S. municipalities record public meetings. In Long View, North Carolina, the HeyGov ClerkMinutes platform slashed transcription time from four‑to‑eight hours down to 30‑60 minutes while eliminating errors, especially in budget figures. The tool timestamps speakers,...
Archer, Joby Expect to Begin Commercial Air Taxi Flights in US Cities This Year
Archer Aviation and Joby Aviation announced they expect to launch commercial air‑taxi services in U.S. cities later this year, under the FAA’s eVTOL Integration Pilot Program. Archer has filed applications for about a dozen locations, while Joby is installing charging...
HUD Trims Environmental Reviews for Multifamily Projects
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has revised its Multifamily Accelerated Processing (MAP) Guide, trimming several environmental review requirements for FHA‑insured multifamily projects. The updates eliminate standalone railroad vibration assessments, restore prior policies for pressurized pipelines, and...
Illinois Cities Push Back on State Proposal to Bypass Local Zoning
Governor JB Pritzker’s proposal to preempt local zoning aims to speed Illinois housing construction, but municipal leaders argue it threatens local control. The Illinois Municipal League responded with a counter‑proposal offering tax relief while preserving municipal authority. Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Mayors...
DOJ Targets ‘Sanctuary’ Rules in Albuquerque, New Mexico
The U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit in New Mexico federal court challenging Albuquerque's Safer Community Places Ordinance, which bars the use of city resources for immigration enforcement and requires businesses to notify workers of immigration agents. The suit also...
Meeting the Demand for Resilient Construction
Cities nationwide are tightening building codes, offering mitigation grants and insurance incentives to boost resilient construction. A new national alliance between the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) and roofing giant GAF has broadened access to the Fortified...
Public-Sector AI Translation Has Saved Taxpayers More than $30 Million, Wordly Says
Wordly, an AI‑powered translation platform, reports that public‑sector use has saved U.S. taxpayers more than $30 million since its 2019 launch. Adoption by states, local governments and schools has surged fivefold in the past two years, driven by growing multilingual populations...
Surface Transportation Legislation in 2026: What We Know so Far
Congress is drafting the 2026 surface transportation bill to replace the expiring 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Stakeholders—including the American Public Transportation Association, local officials, and industry groups—are lobbying for sustained or increased funding, streamlined permitting, and greater community...
Governments Should Help Finance Infrastructure — Not Construct and Run It
Bob Hellman, CEO of American Infrastructure Partners, argues that the United States should stop building and operating megaprojects itself and instead act as a catalyst for private capital. He cites the Gateway Hudson Tunnel, California high‑speed rail, Boston’s Big Dig,...
AI Procurement Tool Evaluates Local Government Contract Solicitations Before They’re Sent
Euna Solutions introduced a new AI‑driven Solicitation Advisor within its procurement platform, designed to automatically review draft requests for proposals (RFPs) for local governments. The feature flags ambiguous language, conflicting criteria, and mismatches between evaluation standards and supplier information before...