The news this week has mostly been bad.  But MetroTrends bloggers offer reasons for optimism – evidence of policies and strategies that make life better in America’s metros:

• Rich Johnson describes community-based “villages” that allow elderly people to stay in their homes, even when they can’t manage daily tasks alone.

• Sue Popkin and Joe Parilla showcase positive news from Chicago’s public housing.

• John Roman argues that US cities aren’t likely to see the kind of riots that raged in England this week.

• College students  in the Urban Institute’s Academy for Public Policy Analysis and Research define urban challenges they’re investigating.

If you value this kind of fact-based commentary – whether it offers good news or bad – please pass our MetroTrends blog along to friends and colleagues. And come back next week!