When Barack Obama took the oath of office Tuesday, he tried to strike a delicate balance between the soaring rhetoric he is famous for and an almost dour message about how much work and sacrifice will be required to put America back on its feet. Nowhere will that balance be more difficult to strike – or more important – than in the vast combination of federal policies that help to drive growth and development patterns around the country.

Even the weather itself seemed to suggest the dichotomy in Obama's approach. His inauguration took place on a cold and somewhat cloudy day in Washington, D.C., but the clouds lifted to reveal warm sunshine while he was giving his inaugural address. Later, as the crowds dispersed from the mall, the clouds set in again, accompanied by a cold wind, as if Obama's brief sunny moment had already passed.

Obama has laid out an enormous domestic policy agenda, most of which will have a significant impact on growth issues. The economic stimulus package will push lots of money into infrastructure. He will have to attack global warming with a new climate change bill. The federal transportation funding system is both broken and broke, and Obama will have to create a new one almost from scratch. And he has promised to revamp urban and metropolitan policy, partly from the new White House Office of Urban Policy and partly at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Whether Obama can marry bold action with both change and restraint remains to be seen.

– Bill Fulton