Public Works

How Governments Can Find ‘Hidden Workers’

Public sector agencies can do more targeted outreach and take other steps to fill their growing number of staff openings, one report says.

  • By Andre Claudio

The Country’s Most Cost-Effective Highway Systems

North Dakota’s highways are in the best condition for the least amount of money, according to an annual report released this month.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

As Trash Pickup Problems Mount, One Local Government Steps In, Then Out

COMMENTARY | A suburban subdivision’s struggle with garbage collection. 

  • By Tom Shoop

How Public Health Took Part in Its Own Downfall

COMMENTARY | The field’s future lies in reclaiming parts of its past that it willingly abandoned.

  • By Ed Yong, The Atlantic

Public Works Agencies Hit by Rising Prices and Supply Delays

That’s on top of longer standing troubles filling jobs. The trio of challenges is stacking up at a pivotal moment for infrastructure spending in the U.S.

  • By Bill Lucia

One City’s Inventive Plan to Spark Employee Collaboration, Loyalty and Retention

Each of the five analysts hired as a team in San Rafael, California, will be based in a different department, but they’ll train and work together on special projects.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

The States Where The Most Confederate Symbols Were Removed Last Year

The Southern Poverty Law Center says nationwide over 160 monuments and other symbols came down from public spaces.

  • By Brent Woodie

An Initiative to Improve Street Safety through Public Art

Officials used street murals and planters to transform a hazardous intersection in Kansas City, Missouri, tapping grant funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies' Asphalt Art Initiative.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

Sleek, Silver and Stuffed With Litter: San Francisco Settles on Three Finalists for New Trash Can Design

The city's public works department is revamping its public trash can design to better contain garbage and, maybe, look nice on the street.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

‘If You Elect to Be on the Roads, You Must Make Good Choices’

STATE AND LOCAL ROUNDUP | Florida governor’s teacher bonus proposal … Louisville pension worries … and Pittsburgh’s mayor has an evening hobby.

  • By Michael Grass

Another Locality Cuts Back on Recycling Amid Industry-Wide Disruption

STATE AND LOCAL ROUNDUP | Powerful Chicago alderman indicted … Maine governor signs Medicaid executive order … and Texas county’s new district attorney fires 15 people.

  • By Michael Grass

The Geography of Street Resurfacing in Chicago

As Rahm Emanuel prepares to leave City Hall next year, this map helps cement his transportation legacy in the nation’s third-largest city.

  • By Michael Grass
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Washington, D.C., Brings Art to Its Recycling Trucks

The District of Columbia began debuting the newly wrapped trucks in July.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

A Georgia City's Tech Fix for Water Cost Savings

Water usage and costs have decreased between 55 and 57 percent in Roswell, located north of Atlanta.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

Drones Can Fix Problems on the Ground

COMMENTARY | Expediting adoption will save lives—and possibly our failing national infrastructure.

  • By Joe Rinzel

Dangerous Gases in Dayton’s Sewers

STATE AND LOCAL ROUNDUP | Arizona’s wrong-way driver detection system … what lurks in Delaware’s warming coastal waters … and fare enforcement reform in Seattle.

  • By Michael Grass

Senators Want to Double Funding for Putting Commercial Drones in the Air

A bipartisan amendment would double 2019 funding for FAA’s efforts to integrate drones into national airspace.

  • By Aaron Boyd

Gone, But Not Forgotten: Wisconsin City's Snow Pile Finally Melts

A snow pile in Appleton, Wisconsin lasted until July 9, attracting attention from residents and local media.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

Water Infrastructure Legislation Gushes Ahead in Congress

A House committee passed its Water Resources Development Act legislation unanimously on Wednesday.

  • By Bill Lucia

Why We Need a National Infrastructure Map

Setting priorities is hindered by the lack of systematic information available on the nation’s inventory of infrastructure assets, their location and condition.

  • By Teresa W. Gerton, Christopher K. Tucker, Wayne A. Crew and Jonathan Koppell

New Signs of Trouble Ahead for Colorado River Basin Water Managers

A warm winter and weak snowpack suggests that this “is the kind of drought we will have to deal with in the future.”

  • By Allen Best