Zoning laws determine what can be built—and where—in every American community

Charting the rise of the American McMansion

US homes are growing larger and more luxurious, with Census Bureau data revealing a rise in four-bedroom houses equipped with air conditioning. Experts say the trend of elevated home prices is expected to continue.

American local government comes in five distinct forms

Counties, municipalities, townships, special districts, and school districts are each created for a different purpose, operating under different rules, and answerable to the state in different ways. Special districts, the least known of the group, are created for specific purposes, such as transit or fire protection.

Two doctrines of local governance determine how much power cities actually have

Under what is known as "Dillon's Rule," local governments can only exercise powers explicitly granted by the state. Under "home rule," cities have broader self-governing authority—but the balance between the two depends entirely on state law.

US housing costs have risen by roughly 175% between 1991 and 2026—but a growing number of Gen Zers are becoming homeowners anyway. In 2025, 4% of homebuyers were Gen Z, up from 3% the year before.

Construction of small, affordable starter homes has decreased 75% since the 1970s

Rising costs aren’t the only thing stopping first-time homebuyers from buying real estate—only 9% of recent new construction is for starter homes. The majority of new housing construction focuses on higher-end buyers due to the increased cost of land, labor, and resources.

How parking infrastructure reveals a region's values

As cars became more popular, the need for city parking increased. In Europe, well-established cities with limited space generally opted for more expensive underground parking beneath public spaces to preserve aesthetics. Available land and decentralized planning in the US saw more parking lots and garages built. These decisions reveal broader policy realities for these regions.

Roughly 10% of US apartments were owned by private equity firms as of 2025

Almost half of those apartments were purchased after 2021. However, local community groups across the country are experimenting with ways to put residential and commercial real estate in the hands of community members.

The symbol of the American lawn

Trimmed, pure green lawns are the norm in US yards and require regular mowing, fertilizing, and weed whacking to keep in order. They are cherished for their simple aesthetic and as a soft area for walking or playing near the house. Still, they are also so-called monoculture zones with only one plant species, lacking biodiverse resilience. This article traces the history of the lawn in America and the contemporary debates over its future.

America's most expensive ZIP codes

Real estate brokerage Clever evaluated home prices using Zillow and listed the top 10 priciest ZIP codes. Eight of the top 10 regions are located in California. Check out the full list here.

45% of Americans have no access to public transit

Most US transit was built on a monocentric design, funneling riders into a downtown center. But today's most common commute is from suburb to suburb, meaning the system is built for a work pattern that no longer exists.

Real estate is grouped into broad categories: residential, commercial and industrial

Other categories of real estate include raw land and “special use” real estate, which includes cemeteries. Technically speaking, real estate is considered an alternative investment.

Many issues facing urban environments cannot be solved by smart technologies

Although connecting systems to the Internet of Things can provide improved efficiency in municipal systems, problems such as limited affordable housing are driven by larger socioeconomic factors. Some experts suggest that local governments should focus resources on practical solutions to these issues rather than investing in smart technologies.

City structures cause localized heat zones hotter than nearby rural areas

Urban materials like asphalt and concrete trap heat, while cities lack cooling features like trees and water. Due to hot runoff, urban streams can heat up by as much as 18°F more than forested streams.

A third of Americans now live in wildfire risk zones

Climate change and human development into fire-prone regions have extended the wildfire season, with some areas experiencing fire conditions year-round. Extreme conditions, poor compensation, and exposure to carcinogens have complicated firefighter recruitment, further exacerbating wildfire risks.

Why Kansas is giving away cheap land

In Lincoln, Kansas, a housing renaissance is underway, driven by affordable real estate prices and a lower cost of living, in stark contrast to high-priced urban centers. Bradley Roberts, who previously lived in San Francisco, moved to Lincoln and...

Location is the most important factor for profitability in real estate investing

“Location, location, location” is a saying for a reason. From the neighborhood’s status to its proximity to its tax implications, location is among the most important factors for real estate investors to consider in transactions.

The 'Strong Towns' podcast explores how American cities can become financially resilient

This weekly podcast examines why the way America has built its cities since World War II has left some communities financially fragile—and what local governments can do differently moving forward.

Redistricting reshapes political boundaries, usually once a decade after the census

Every 10 years, states redraw congressional and legislative districts based on census data to ensure equal population. Legislatures usually control the process, though some states use independent commissions to curb partisan influence.

Public school districts are subsidizing housing for their teachers

In the face of stagnant wages and a widespread teacher shortage, some public school districts are offering subsidized housing for teachers, hoping the benefit will attract and retain highly qualified educators. California has been at the forefront since 2016, with housing complexes constructed in expensive areas like San Francisco and Daly City.

Mapping hearing loss in the US

Nearly 10% of Americans suffer from some degree of hearing loss, measured as the inability to hear sounds lower than 25 decibels. The incidence of hearing loss increases with age and is typically higher among men. Recent analysis produced a puzzling observation researchers can't quite explain: There's a larger incidence of hearing loss among rural populations than in urban centers. Explore the data with this map and explainer.

A guide to single-use plastic bans across the US

Over 100 cities and municipalities in the US have banned Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) in government facilities including New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Diego and Miami Beach, Florida. Here, maps illustrate what US states have bans in place.

Agricultural land remains mostly unchanged after wind projects

From 2012 to 2020, less than 0.05% of available US farmland had commercial wind turbines installed. More than 95% of this land lacks wind farm structures such as turbine pads or roads, leaving most cropland and pasture-rangeland unchanged.

Learn how governments around the world restrict internet access for their citizens

Various countries around the world, including China, Russia, and Iran, control their local DNS infrastructure, allowing them to block access to online content by preventing the internet "phone book" from finding the IP addresses for specific URLs. Government-controlled internet service providers can also cut off access entirely or throttle specific traffic.

The Dawes Act of 1887 broke up communally held tribal lands

Sometimes called the General Allotment Act, the Dawes Act divided reservation land into individual plots assigned to Native Americans, while "surplus" land was sold to white settlers. The policy led to Native tribes losing roughly 90 million acres, about two-thirds of their remaining land.

Massive 3D printers have been used to build homes by stacking layers of 'concrete toothpaste,' a fire-resistant material that effectively insulates against outside noise.

National parks boost local economies, but they can also harm local land

Increased tourism and job creation are big wins for the small towns outside national parks, but the influx of visitors can also have negative effects, including wildlife destruction and overdevelopment.

Blue zones are regions with unusually high numbers of centenarians

Factors thought to contribute to longevity in these regions include diet and social connections, but their legitimacy is often questioned due to a lack of rigorous scientific methodology and potential record inaccuracies.

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

The US Constitution is widely regarded as the longest-standing written national constitution still in force—see how it has influenced rights worldwide.

See this overview of the firework rules across all 50 states, ranging from a complete ban on non-professional fireworks in Massachusetts to states with more lax rules like Indiana.

Calculate how much of your tax dollars go to each federal program based on your income, filing status, and number of children

Jimmy Carter signed a 1978 bill that legalized home brewing, a move credited with kick-starting the craft beer industry.

The story of Dollree Mapp, whose legal challenge over her 1957 conviction for possessing "obscene material" led to a major strengthening of the Fourth Amendment

Researchers believe the brain consolidates memories, processes emotions, and plans for the future during dream states

Explore fun facts from the USPS, including unique post office buildings, a stamp that traveled past Pluto, and more.

Discover the catastrophic consequences of a failure of the US electrical grid—something that is more likely than many Americans think.

70 years ago today, city officials in Santa Cruz, California, banned rock 'n' roll to protect its youth from corruption after witnessing a 'provocative' concert the night before.

20,000 letters to the advice columnist 'Dear Abby' provide insight into prevailing sex, religion, and LGBTQ fears, anxieties, and concerns from the 1950s onward.

Coral reefs get their colors from zooxanthellae—microorganisms that line corals' digestive tracts and provide them with sugars in exchange for a home within this protective tissue.

Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' is infamous for having some of the highest industrial pollution, toxic air emissions, and cancer risks in the US.

The rivalry between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson centered on federalism—the question of how much power the federal government should hold relative to the states.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace

Play the role of a student in a game where you try to navigate college and remain debt-free, selecting different income levels, high school experience, race, ethnicity, and more.

Netflix profits when you're not watching, and its movies are designed that way—read a detail-rich critical essay exposing lesser-known Netflix takes

When you complete a CAPTCHA on a website to prove you are human, you may be unknowingly training algorithms for self-driving cars, whose systems require training data to help identify crosswalks, bicycles, and other outdoor objects.

Astronauts have repaired genetic damage in space using CRISPR—a molecular tool that can make precise changes to DNA and is used in single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses.

See a 3D reconstruction of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital that was home to an estimated population of 200,000 to 400,000.

'Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone,' a work by American painter Thomas Moran, inspired Congress to establish Yellowstone National Park.

The boiling temperature of water decreases with increasing elevation because the molecules need less energy to overcome the lower atmospheric pressure associated with thinner air.

While the sun's gravity keeps the planets in orbit, their gravity also pulls on the sun, causing it and everything else in the solar system to orbit around a mutual balance point called the barycenter—the true center of the solar system.