Lab Report: When Growth Goes Wrong

The downside of growth: This week’s Census numbers brought cheers in Phoenix as the city climbed back up to the fifth-largest city in the U.S., displacing Philadelphia. A Seattle Times columnist explores the metro area’s troubled relationship with growth, which it simultaneously covets and can’t quite plan for:

What’s holding Dems back: How are Democratic candidates finding any footing in deep-red special elections to Congress? Politico Magazine makes the case that it’s all about gun control, and that the party might fare better in midterm elections if it learns to avoid the issue altogether.