Newgeography.com - Economic, demographic, and political commentary about places

It’s no secret that loneliness is a problem for many people, and that many are aching to find real friendship and community.  read more »

Over the past few weeks, however, lunchbucket Joe from Scranton has been unceremoniously dumped by the Golden State elite — Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff, George Clooney and a passel of tech oligarchs — to be replaced with one of their own, Vice President Kamala Harris. But given the chances of a GOP win this year, the Californians have another favorite in the wings, Governor Gavin Newsom, for 2028.  read more »

Several years ago, when the sex scandals were rocking the Catholic Church, I talked to a local parish priest about the decline in the church’s credibility. He listened patiently. He didn’t argue about the scandal or the church’s other problems. Instead, he said, “Remember, the church is not Rome.”  read more »

Like counterparts around the world, Canada’s youth are struggling, victims of a weak economy and a rising cost of living crisis. Whereas boomers rode an unprecedented wave of prosperity and higher living standards, younger Canadians, particularly those under 30, are now more pessimistic about the future than older generations.  read more »

Artificial intelligence (AI) has significant potential and I have been pleased to use it frequently, over the past year or so since it first became generally available.  read more »

I grew up among people who worshipped the key pillars of the twentieth century Democratic Party: the New Deal, Franklin Roosevelt, and the great public works project known as New York City. The Democrats then were the party of progress—of new roads, bridges, ports, factories, and laboratories.  read more »

Electricity is the world’s most important and fastest-growing form of energy. More proof for that assertion came a few days ago when the International Energy Agency  read more »

Europe may be fading from global relevance, but its influence is expanding within the US Democratic Party. Today, the party’s core beliefs echo those espoused by the European Union  read more »

Last weekend there was a debate taking place on a very small corner of the Internet. It was about the Midwest’s culture and its impact on growth and development prospects.  read more »

Transit ridership dropped sharply with the onset of the COVID pandemic in 2020. The slow rebound in the years that followed has prompted discussion, sometimes in hushed tones, as to whether transit had entered a “death spiral.” That ominous description refers to a situation where a decrease in ridership leads to lower farebox revenue, which in turn leads to service cuts, which further reduces ridership, and so on in a vicious downward cycle.  read more »