Frustration is surging among the low-wage workers who make up the backbone of the nursing home industry, as tens of thousands of their colleagues call out sick with covid-19, inflaming shortages that already were at crisis levels. Hailed as “heroes”... More
Urban Matters
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Cities love to use Tax Increment Financing to boost development. Should they?
February 19, 2022Tax Increment Financing. Local governments often hail this tool as a way to revitalize investment-deprived neighborhoods, fix dilapidated roads, clean up polluted waters, revamp blighted property, and foster commercial activity and job creation. It’s often poorly understood by city taxpayers, but it... More
Five Low Cost Ideas to Make Your City Wealthier
February 19, 2022What we have not figured out—and what we won’t figure out with another flood of federal infrastructure spending—is how to translate maintenance into growth. How do we go out and fill potholes and fix leaking pipes and have that result... More
Public Transit Is a Public Good. It’s Time to Fund It That Way.
September 5, 2021This is the year we almost let public transportation die. The cuts that cash-strapped transit agencies proposed before being bailed out by Congress—eliminating 40 percent of New York City’s subway service, a fifth of the DC region’s Metro stations, two-thirds of Atlanta’s... More
There Is Enough Food, Just Not Enough Food Access
September 5, 2021The problem is not only an economic one, or one of food scarcity, but also of food accessibility. More
A simple housing reform that will supercharge neighborhood investment (and costs nothing)
September 5, 2021The eastern 20% of this country is filled with historic neighborhoods that have survived our post World War II development experiment. Many of these are thriving, but a high percent are struggling. These are mature places with three, four and greater... More
MapLab: The High Cost of Wide Streets
June 13, 2021Among the most visible changes in the built environment from the pandemic are reimagined streets. During lockdowns, cities all over the world turned residential and commercial corridors into slow (or no) vehicle zones for pedestrians, cyclists, cafe seating, parklets and... More
The case for building $1,500 parks
June 13, 2021A groundbreaking new study shows that access to “greened” vacant lots reduced feelings of worthlessness and depression, especially in low-resource neighborhoods. More
How the Pandemic is Accelerating Workforce Training
June 13, 2021For decades, manufacturers in the United States have warned of a massive skills gap: that there are not enough new workers with the skills needed to make up for older ones who are retiring. President Biden has proposed $100 billion... More
How structural racism is magnifying the public health crisis
July 26, 2020As coronavirus cases disproportionately impact communities of color, several local and state officials have declared racism a public health crisis. More
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