‘Best of’ City Lists are Bunk

Milwaukee Skyline. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Every day at The Overhead Wire we sort through over 1,500 news items about cities and share the best ones with our email list. Each week, we take some of the most popular stories and share them with Urban Milwaukee readers. They are national (or international) links, sometimes entertaining and sometimes absurd, but hopefully useful.

Cleaner air from electric cars: New research using satellite data and remote sensing finds that the increase in electric cars in California has noticeably improved nitrogen pollution levels in neighborhoods. The study looked at 1,687 neighborhoods and found that the addition of 200 more zero emission vehicles in a neighborhood reduced emissions 1.1%. Data from the satellites was double checked using ground monitors as well. (Brian Silvestro | The Autopian)

No safe streets under fascist occupation: ICE operations in the Twin Cities are hollowing out cultural corridors as people try to avoid coming into contact with federal agents that could detain them. Residents of Minneapolis and St. Paul have been organizing rapid response groups to spot these operations and alert residents they may be near, but the damage to neighborhoods and businesses from the spread of fear could be permanent if the occupation continues. (Jeremy Winter | Streets.mn)

City lists are bunk: Websites and businesses looking for easy media attention often create ranking lists such as “most livable city” or “safest”. These lists are often created using unlabeled data sources and suspect rating systems that don’t past a smell test. A better way of rating cities is using consistent datasets that allow for measuring a city against itself over the long term. (Jeff Asher | Jeff-alytics)

USDOT testing artificial intelligence for regulation writing: The Trump administration is hoping to rewrite regulations as fast as they can at USDOT using Google’s Gemini AI. Officials seemed more excited about the quantity of regulations that could be changed rather than the quality of changes. Opponents of using AI for work tied to safety regulations wonder why officials would leave such important decisions up to notoriously buggy technology that often gets things wrong. (Jesse Coburn | ProPublica)

LA Metro doesn’t want more riders: LA Metro’s board is opposing the implementation of SB 79, a new state law that if implemented would allow taller buildings near transit hubs. Metro staff and the board are afraid that NIMBYs will use the law to oppose new transit expansion projects. But advocates for the law believe the agency’s opposition to the law is self defeating as greater density around transit stations leads to greater ridership and support for system maintenance and expansion. (Damien Newton | Streetsblog LA)

Quote of the Day

“The cities weren’t really solving them, the states weren’t solving them, the federal government wasn’t doing anything, and people needed more and better housing… I was really interested in the ways in which people started working together to make a difference when governments and markets were failing.”

Boston College Law Professor Lisa Alexander in BC Law Magazine discussing her work on tiny villages for homeless populations.

This week on the Talking Headways podcast, Anna Zivarts guest hosts the show and guides a panel of elected officials and advocates (including Kai Hall) to talk about the impacts of the Week Without Driving. They look back at 2025’s activities and look forward to this year’s version.