Citiwire.net -- 5/7 -- Neal Peirce and Alex Marshall

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Date: May 7th 2009

“Welcome to Citiwire.net! Rail’s turning into the Obama administration’s “New Deal” for transportation–an incredible turnaround from the studied indifference (and myopia) of the Bush administration, and if truth be told, Clinton’s too. (Maybe the difference among the two Democrats is that Clinton came from Hope, Ark., and Obama from Chicago.) In any event, my column focuses on what to expect from the first billions in federal “high speed” rail aid, with a special focus on the Midwest, which has worked hard to prepare itself for this day. Alex Marshall, in his column on Mike Dukakis, portrays a fervid rail advocate who never gave up. ” -- Neal Peirce

High-Speed Rail — And Us

By Neal Peirce

For Release Sunday, May 10, 2009
© 2009 Washington Post Writers Group

What could we expect of an America that offers serious train service–high speed rail, regular passenger rail, links to downtowns, airports, public transit systems?

Until this winter, the very thought was chimerical. But President Obama is making it clear he’s deadly serious about a radical shift from the 20th century pattern of short-shrifting rail in favor of almost total, relentless auto, truck (and air) dominance.

“My high-speed rail proposal,” he’s arguing, “will lead to innovations that change the way we travel in America. We must start developing clean, energy-efficient transportation that will define our regions for centuries to come.”

Listening to Dukakis About Train Time

By Alex Marshall

For Release Sunday, May 10, 2009
Citiwire.net

If you’re one of my graduate students–or, I suspect, any American under 40–you’re unlikely to recognize the name of Michael Dukakis.

But Dukakis was the 1988 Democratic nominee for the presidency. And a lot more. He was twice elected governor of Massachusetts. Most governors had usually “presided,” letting their cabinet officers go their separate ways; Dukakis by contrast was the first governor ever to form a development cabinet focused on specific goals, led by revival of historic Lowell and all the Bay State’s declining older industrial cities.

Many political observers scoff at Dukakis, noting only how he frittered away a strong early lead against George H.W. Bush in his presidential bid.

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Our mission... to reflect a new American narrative. From a 20th century of cheap energy, endless automobility, burgeoning suburbs, threatened cities. To a challenge-packed 21st century: resurgence in our cities, but fast-rising energy costs, perilous carbon emissions, deepening have-have not divisions. The weekly release includes Neal Peirce’s column for the Washington Post Writers Group, as well as a guest column by one of the seasoned urban professionals in the Citistates Group.

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Welcome to Citiwire.net! It's about America's cities today -- opportunities, challenges, including Neal Peirce's weekly column for the Washington Post Writers Group and a parallel commentary by one of his valued Citistates Group colleagues.