Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Should Las Vegas Bet On Homeownership? Trends In Housing Affordability And Homeownership, Jenny Schuetz

Brookings Mountain West Publications

In many parts of the U.S., rents and housing prices are rising faster than household incomes. Low-income families have always been stretched to pay for housing without sacrificing other necessities. In recent years, housing costs have become a larger source of financial stress for middle-income families. While homeownership has been the primary channel for wealth building in the U.S., two recent trends raise questions about whether this is a viable strategy. First, many homeowners suffered severe financial losses due to housing price declines during the Great Recession (2007-2009). Second, homeownership rates for Black and Latino families lag those of white …

Making A Middle Class: Colleges And Cities In The Mountain West, Richard Reeves

Brookings Mountain West Publications

A stronger middle class is important for the economic and political future of both cities and nations. Analyses focusing on the size of the middle class can be misleading, providing information on income inequality or temporary economic conditions. More important than the size of the middle class is the quality of life of the middle class. Higher education can serve students from middle-class backgrounds, helping them sustain a middle-class standard of living and rise up the economic ladder, as well as providing “on ramps” to the middle class for those from low-income backgrounds. We show that middle class wage earners …

The 2018 Midterms In The Mountain West, Molly Reynolds

Brookings Mountain West Publications

The 116^th Congress has begun with a bang, with a protracted government shutdown and promises of aggressive oversight from the new Democratic House majority. To understand how we got to this point—and where we might be going in 2020—a look back at the 2018 elections is valuable. As a region, the Mountain West—Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah—provides useful insights into broader national political dynamics across all levels of government, from Congress to state legislatures.

The Growing Need For Diverse Teachers In The Mountain West, Michael Hansen, Diana Quintero

Brookings Mountain West Publications

This policy brief examines the racial and ethnic diversity of the public teacher workforce in five Mountain West states, drawing on survey data from 1993 to 2016. We find increases in student diversity are generally outpacing teacher diversity in the region, though important differences in teacher-student parity and access to nonwhite teachers across states are also evident. In addition, we demonstrate the recruitment and retention of nonwhite teachers in these states lag considerably behind the rest of the U.S. This brief concludes with recommendations to help Mountain West states and districts promote greater racial and ethnic diversity among their teacher …

Upward Mobility In The American Mountain West, Richard Reeves

Brookings Mountain West Publications

Upward economic and social mobility is an intrinsic element of American society. Data from the Equality of Opportunity Project (EOP) demonstrates that upward mobility is a critical issue for our nation’s metros. An analysis of Mountain West metros and the performances of colleges and universities in this region reveal how the differing economic, demographic, and social characteristics affect mobility. This brief explores upward mobility rates, measures of diversity, levels of domestic and foreign migration, and students’ family household income and their eventual individual incomes. The comparison of postsecondary institutions in Mountain West metros serves as a microcosm to better understand …

Smarter Food Policies Are Needed To Make Significant Progress Towards Eradicating Food Insecurity In America, Dawn Matusz

Brookings Mountain West Publications

Speaking of malnutrition conjures images of starving African children as presented by the media and humanitarian organizations. We think about famine ridden lands, places where emaciated victims who have very little access to food. Malnutrition does not conjure images of obese youth and financially struggling families living amidst excessive consumption in America. Although an alarming paradox, malnutrition can and does exist in what some would call the wealthiest and most powerful nation on Earth, but yet it does exist.

Comparison Of Research Universities: Mississippi And Nevada, 2017, The Lincy Institute And Brookings Mountain West

Brookings Mountain West Publications

This Fact Sheet looks at state economic and university expenditures to display how research institutions in Nevada differ from those in Mississippi.

The End Of The Democratic Blue Wall?, Robert E. Lang, David F. Damore

Brookings Mountain West Publications

Heading into the 2016 presidential election, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton had multiple paths to secure the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the presidency. In contrast, Republican nominee Donald Trump’s path to the White House necessitated winning a number of large swing states and securing victories in states that had been reliably Democratic. Building from a prior Brookings Mountain West brief (Damore and Lang 2016), we consider how the Trump campaign, despite being vastly outspent, was able to use targeted online messages to activate “white identify politics”—long a staple of Republican politics in the South— in the non-metro areas …

Nevada’S Net Energy Metering Experience: The Making Of A Policy Eclipse?, Sanya Carley, Lincoln L. Davies

Brookings Mountain West Publications

Developments in Nevada pose important questions about the future of solar power and net metering in the United States. What information and processes led to Nevada’s decision? Was the information that decision-makers considered consistent with best practices and with the information relied on by other states? How does Nevada’s decision compare with other states evaluating changes to their net metering policies?

Beyond Density & Diversity: Understanding The Socio-Cultural Geography Of Contemporary Presidential Elections, David F. Damore, Robert E. Lang

Brookings Mountain West Publications

In the aftermath of the 2012 presidential election, a good deal of commentary held that President Obama’s reelection resulted from the country’s changing demography and his overwhelming support among nonwhite voters residing in the country’s urban spaces. Less discussed was the fact that Republican Mitt Romney also carried many urbanized states with ethnically and racially diverse populations and that President Obama would not have been reelected without securing the Electoral Votes of a number of rural states with large white populations. In this paper, we argue that the combination of educated populations and a socio-cultural construct we call northernness allow …

The End Of The Road: The State Of Urban Elevated Expressways In The United States, Daniel Waqar

Brookings Mountain West Publications

In a January 2016 meeting, the Clark County Commission heard a proposal from the County Public Works Department about a $200 million plan to build two urban elevated expressways constructed above existing roadways, potentially linking McCarran International Airport with the Las Vegas Strip’s resort corridor. Commissioners lauded the project with a “high degree of confidence” for funding sources and praised the “magnificent way of moving traffic” and “out of the box thinking” of these urban elevated expressways. Yet the positive feedback that County Commissioners showered on this proposal flies in the face of decades of history on urban elevated expressways. …

Consumer Protection And Cybersecurity: The Consumer Education Gap, David Serabian

Brookings Mountain West Publications

Consumer cyber protection as it relates to the threat of cyber insecurity is an increasingly critical issue with cyberattacks on major businesses such as Target and Sony. Over 100 million Americans to date have had their financial information compromised, and in the ten-year history of Verizon’s Payment Card Industry investigations no companies were compliant with Payment Card Industry standards at the time of the attack. In March 2015, the FCC fined AT&T $25 million for failing to adequately provide cybersecurity that resulted in almost 300,000 people having their personal and financial information compromised. It was the largest in FCC history …

Nevada Should Opt-In To Organ Policy Changes, Alex Velto

Brookings Mountain West Publications

Organ donation shortages are a problem in Nevada. A shift in policy towards an opt-out system could more than double the number of registered organ donors in Nevada. A Libertarian Paternalistic strategy would allow potential donors to express their preference for organ donations more accurately. Currently Nevada abides by an opt-in policy where people are only organ donors if they explicitly request to become donors. Under an opt-out policy, people would be presumed organ donors unless they requested not to be donors. Policy changes during the 2015 Legislative session were a good start but failed to fully utilize behavioral economics …

Comparison Of Research Universities: Mississippi And Nevada, 2015, Brookings Mountain West And The Lincy Institute

Brookings Mountain West Publications

This Fact Sheet looks at state economic and university expenditures to display how research institutions in Nevada differ from those in Mississippi.

2014 And 2015 National Science Foundation (Nsf) Rankings By Total R&D Expenditures ($ Million), Brookings Mountain West And The Lincy Institute

Brookings Mountain West Publications

This Fact Sheet provides data from the National Science Foundation (NSF) that compares UNLV and UNR (combined) research funding to individual research universities across the nation.

Do Gasoline Prices Affect Residential Property Values?, Adele C. Morris, Helen R. Neill

Brookings Mountain West Publications

This paper estimates the effect of gasoline prices on home values and explores the degree to which the relationship varies across a city. Using data from 930,702 home sales in Clark County, Nevada, from 1976 through 2010, we find that gasoline prices have significantly different effects on the sales price of homes in different neighborhoods. A ten percent increase in gasoline prices is associated with changes in location-specific average home values that span a range of over $13,000. This suggests that energy policies may affect household housing wealth via gasoline prices, a heretofore unrecognized distributional outcome.

Interstate Migration Among Latinos And The Foreign‐Born Latino Population In Nevada, 2007‐2011, Jaewon Lim, John P. Tuman, David F. Damore

Brookings Mountain West Publications

Over the past two decades, Nevada’s foreign‐born Latino population has grown dramatically. As a consequence, by the end of 2011, approximately 42% of Latinos residing in Nevada had emigrated from Latin America, with over three‐fourths of the foreign‐born Latino population originating from Mexico. In part, Nevada has been attractive to Latin American immigrants (and Latinos more generally) because of the relative abundance of jobs in the state that require relatively low levels of skill and educational attainment, as well as the state’s close proximity to Arizona and California. Prior to 2008, Latino employment was concentrated in Nevada’s hospitality, construction, and …

English Language Learners In Nevada, Robin Gonzales

Brookings Mountain West Publications

While leading the rest of the country in population growth, immigration, and increasing ethnic and linguistic diversity, Nevada’s mostly Latin American population experiences high poverty, low educational attainment, and high employment. As a result, Nevada has increasingly high numbers of English Language Learner students (ELLs) – students who speak a language other than English at home – and show low educational attainment compared to their English speaking counterparts. According to a 2013 report from the Lincy Institute of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, if the state wants to reverse its populations’ dismal educational attainment and poor national rankings in …

Cracking The Code On Stem: A People Strategy For Nevada's Economy, Jessica A. Lee, Mark Muro, Jonathan Rothwell, Scott Andes, Siddharth Kulkarni

Brookings Mountain West Publications

Nevada has in place a plausible economic diversification strategy—and it’s beginning to work. Now, the state and its regions need to craft a people strategy. Specifically, the state needs to boost the number of Nevadans who possess at least some postsecondary training in the fields of science, technology, engineering, or math—the so-called “STEM” disciplines (to which some leaders add arts and design to make it “STEAM”).

The moment is urgent—and only heightened by the projected worker needs of Tesla Motors’ planned “gigafactory” for lithium-ion batteries in Storey County.

Even before the recent Tesla commitment, a number of the more high-tech …

Tax Reform In Nevada: Ideas For Creating A More Stable Revenue Structure, J. T. Creedon

Brookings Mountain West Publications

Recurring and fluctuating levels of economic activity known as the business cycle have a profound impact on state legislators trying to balance their finances. They result in higher unemployment, declines in revenues and a corresponding increase in the need for social welfare and public services. This makes state budgeting particularly complex during times of contraction when the state needs to do more with less. Nevada, with its limited tax base, biennial budget making, and overreliance on an industry that is highly volatile in response to economic fluctuations, experiences particularly dramatic upswings and shortfalls. Contractionary fiscal policies such as tax increases …

Cracking The Code On Stem: A People Strategy For Nevada's Economy Executive Summary, Jessica A. Lee, Mark Muro, Jonathan Rothwell, Scott Andes, Siddharth Kulkarni

Brookings Mountain West Publications

Nevada has in place a plausible economic diversification strategy—and it’s beginning to work. Now, the state and its regions need to craft a people strategy. Specifically, the state needs to boost the number of Nevadans who possess at least some postsecondary training in the fields of science, technology, engineering, or math—the so-called “STEM” disciplines (to which some leaders add arts and design to make it “STEAM”).

The moment is urgent—and only heightened by the projected worker needs of Tesla Motors’ planned “gigafactory” for lithium-ion batteries in Storey County.

Even before the recent Tesla commitment, a number of the more high-tech …

Advancing Southern Nevada’S Regional Priorities: Overview Of The 77th Session Of The Nevada Legislature, David F. Damore

Brookings Mountain West Publications

On January 10, 2013 the elected leadership of Southern Nevada met to discuss the region’s governance, K--‐12, higher education, infrastructure, economic development, and health care needs. From that bipartisan discussion emerged policy priorities for the 77^th Session of the Nevada Legislature. This report examines the degree to which the region’s elected senators and assembly members advanced these priorities and represented the interests of Southern Nevada in state government.

The Impact Of The Great Recession On Nevada’S Latino Community, John P. Tuman, David F. Damore, Maria J.F. Agreda

Brookings Mountain West Publications

The emergence of the Great Recession of 2008 had a profound impact in Nevada. The economic downturn generated high unemployment levels and led to turbulence in many sectors, particularly residential home construction and the hospitality industry. In the wake of the crisis, median home prices in Nevada plunged, while the residential foreclosure rate increased and remains one of the highest rates in the country. By 2009, it was evident that a tightening of commercial bank lending for new mortgages, combined with the impact of rising joblessness and plunging housing values, was hampering recovery efforts in the housing sector and Nevada’s …

Immigration And The Contours Of Nevada’S Latino Population, John P. Tuman, David F. Damore, Maria J.F. Agreda

Brookings Mountain West Publications

Since the early 1980s, Nevada has experienced significant demographic change. In particular, the ethnic composition of the state has become considerably more diverse. Although growth in the Asian population is one of the sources of Nevada’s growing diversity, Nevada’s Latino population has also accounted for much recent demographic and social change. Except for brief periods following the emergence of the Great Recession of 2008, the Latino population of Nevada has experienced sustained annual growth over the past two decades. Perhaps more important, much of the growth in the Latino population has been associated with immigration, principally from Mexico and other …

Nevada Surface Transportation, The Lincy Institute And Brookings Mountain West

Brookings Mountain West Publications

This fact sheet examines how Federal funding is allocated between Nevada counties, while also comparing to other Mountain West states. Elements of major bridge, freeway, and bypass projects in northern and southern Nevada are also compared to show the discrepancies between major infrastructure project funding within the state.

A Political Profile Of Nevada’S Latino Population, David F. Damore, John P. Tuman, Maria J.F. Agreda

Brookings Mountain West Publications

Over the course of the past decade, Nevada’s Latino population has grown appreciably. Immigrants from Mexico and other parts of Latin America accounted for most of the growth in the state’s Latino population during this period. Nevertheless, the number of U.S.‐born and naturalized Latinos residing in Nevada has also increased, and this growth has altered the political landscape of the state. Indeed, the density of Latinos in the Nevada’s electorate expanded steadily between 2000 and 2010 (see Figure 3). Although recent studies have pointed to the potential significance of Nevada’s growing Latino electorate, the influences on Latino political participation in …

Solar Energy: A Media Analysis Of Las Vegas, Nv And Phoenix, Az, Jennifer Liese

Brookings Mountain West Publications

In recent years, large government-funded solar energy projects across the nation have received increasing media attention—especially with government funded solar projects going bankrupt. This study examines the evolution of media coverage on solar energy issues, including an analysis of political differences and the role they play within two western cities that sit at the epicenter of solar energy resources in the United States, Las Vegas and Phoenix. These cities are poised to compete for and collaborate on projects for millions of dollars in federal research funds and economic development incentives dedicated to the development of solar energy.

This study conducted …

2013 National Science Foundation (Nsf) Rankings By Total R&D Expenditures, Brookings Mountain West And The Lincy Institute

Brookings Mountain West Publications

This Fact Sheet provides data from the National Science Foundation (NSF) that compares UNLV and UNR (combined) research funding to individual research universities across the nation.

The Utah Model: Lessons For Regional Planning, Brenda C. Scheer

Brookings Mountain West Publications

Utah has become an unlikely leader in regional planning through a voluntary partnership of key leaders, agencies, local government, and the general public. Given that regional planning efforts around the nation have generally evoked strong reactions from residents concerned about losing local control, the success of Envision Utah—the organization that emerged as a key driver of regional planning in Utah—in building a consensus around regional growth management holds lessons for other regions.

Envision Utah adopted several strategies that have distinguished Utah’s regional planning efforts from other regions and given rise to what can be called the “Utah model” of collaborative …

Unify, Regionalize, Diversify: An Economic Development Agenda For Nevada, Mark Muro

Brookings Mountain West Publications

Nevada stands at a crossroads, yet it appears ready to remap its future.

Silver Staters sense that the current economic slump has not been just a temporary reversal but a challenge to the state’s traditional growth model—one that has revealed an economy over-dependent on consumption sectors, prone to booms and busts, and too little invested in innovation and economic diversification. And yet, for all that Nevadans have been early to recognize that the current slump will beget, in some places, innovation and renewal, and in other places erosion—and so requires action.

To that end, this report draws on an intense …