Critics of urban economic development often complain that municipal officials are too cozy with developers – giving away the subsidy candy store for projects in burgeoning urban real estate markets.

Home Depot is spending $2.4 million on a Wichita, Kansas store that won’t ever open. The struggling home-improvement retailer announced last month that it is closing 15 stores and canceling plans to open 50 new ones – including the Wichita location.

Our friends at the Partnership for Working Families (PWF) and its affiliate organizations do amazing work. So it’s not surprising they are winning big victories – most recently in Pittsburgh and San Francisco, and hopefully another in San Jose this fall.

As gas prices soar, American workers are increasingly choosing to commute via public transit – good news for environmentalists and smart growth wonks everywhere! But high fuel costs are also crippling the budgets of many transit agencies that paid 44 percent more for fuel this year than last.

Frustrated by years of “go-it-alone” interregional competition for jobs and economic development, mayors from the 16-county Northeast Ohio region (including Cleveland) voted recently to pursue a new regional agenda.