Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

Broadband Equity, Access, And Deployment In Nevada, Brad Wimmer

Policy Briefs and Reports

The $45.45 billion Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program’s primary objective is to extend broadband service to all unserved and underserved locations in the U.S. and its territories. Several industry studies predict that the BEAD program can meet its goal of providing universal access to broadband service if eligible entities execute their grant programs well. My review of the BEAD program indicates that policy makers can enhance the likelihood of program success by designing competitive grant programs that give applicants the incentive to undercut the subsidies proposed by their rivals and provide applicants the flexibility to design networks that …

Manufactured Homes In Nevada Counties, Joshua Padilla, Annie Vong, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Housing & Real Estate

This fact sheet presents data on the share of manufactured homes in each of Nevada’s 17 counties, as reported in the June 2022 The Daily Yonder article, “With Housing Shortage Still Ongoing, Manufactured Homes are Gaining Ground,” by Kristi Eaton. The original report includes data made available by the Housing Assistance Council (HAC) for each county in the United States from 2009 and 2018.

The Evolution Of The Southern Nevada Healthcare Economy: Building The Unlv Academic Health Center, The Lincy Institute

Lincy Institute Events

With the successful launch of the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV and the completion of its medical education building, Southern Nevada is positioned to expand its healthcare infrastructure - and its healthcare economy - to create a comprehensive, integrated healthcare system to serve our fast-growing community. As UNLV moves forward with the development of an integrated academic health center within the Las Vegas Medical District, understanding the economic and social benefits of such a transformational project is important to stakeholders throughout the region.

The Lincy Institute hosted representatives of Tripp Umbach - the nation's leading consultant on community …

Executive Summary: Driving The Southern Nevada Health Economy Forward, Tripp Umbach

Policy Briefs and Reports

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) plans to develop an integrated academic health center within the Las Vegas Medical District (LVMD).1 The academic health center includes UNLV’s five health science schools and mental and behavioral health, which is distributed among several colleges (medicine, liberal arts, urban affairs, and education) in the university. University Medical Center (UMC), a major teaching hospital, will also be an important driver of the academic health center. For the purposes of this report, UNLV’s medical and health science entities along with UMC are referred to collectively as the UNLV Academic Health Center.

Driving The Southern Nevada Health Economy Forward: Benefits Of A Transformational Unlv Academic Health Center, Tripp Umbach

Policy Briefs and Reports

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) plans to develop an integrated academic health center within the Las Vegas Medical District (LVMD). The academic health center includes UNLV’s five health science schools and mental and behavioral health, which is distributed among several colleges (medicine, liberal arts, urban affairs, and education) in the university. University Medical Center (UMC), a major teaching hospital, will also be an important driver of the academic health center. For the purposes of this report, UNLV’s medical and health science entities along with UMC are referred to collectively as the UNLV Academic Health Center. Additional academic health …

Nevada Economic Development And Public Policy 2022-2026: A Sustainable Future For All Nevadans, The Lincy Institute, Brookings Mountain West

Policy Briefs and Reports

This report evaluates economic development efforts in the State of Nevada since the 2011 publication of Unify, Regionalize, Diversify: An Economic Development Agenda for Nevada; assesses demographic and economic trends for Nevada and its regions; examines how state and federal actions since the onset of COVID-19 can position Nevada and its regions to address long-standing economic, educational, and social deficits; and offers policy recommendations to be implemented in the next four years to facilitate a sustainable future for all Nevadans.

A 2020 Census Portrait Of America’S Largest Metro Areas: Population Growth, Diversity, Segregation, And Youth, William Frey

Policy Briefs and Reports

The nation’s major metropolitan areas—those with populations exceeding 1 million, which are home to nearly six in 10 Americans—have been a focal point of the nation’s economic vibrancy, politics, and racial and ethnic diversity. The 2020 census provides an opportunity to see how they fared in the 2010-2020 decade. Unlike the previous decade, major metro areas grew more sharply than their smaller-sized counterparts, and their cities showed growth surges even in a decade when the nation’s population registered historically low growth. Moreover, the increased racial and ethnic diversity that characterized the nation is especially concentrated in major metro areas and, …

Top Boomtowns In The Mountain West, Ally M. Beckwith, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Cities & Metros

This fact sheet highlights data on the top boomtowns in the Mountain West region in 2019 and 2021. The original SmartAsset report includes data on the rapid economic growth and prosperity in boomtown cities through new employment opportunities and residents.

The Rise Of Southern Nevada As A Cluster For Metropolitan Transit Technology Innovations, Arthur C. Nelson

Policy Briefs and Reports

Southern Nevada is emerging as the nation’s leader in private sector-driven innovations in transportation technologies. From the humble beginnings of a monorail system serving a portion of major hotel and gaming venues along the Las Vegas Strip, now supplemented by an array of people movers, Southern Nevada continues to attract transit innovations in tunneling, Hyperloop, and driverless vehicle delivery technologies. The region may soon anchor a high-speed rail system connecting Southern Nevada to Los Angeles. The purpose of this briefing paper is to frame the nature of this emerging transportation cluster and the opportunities this creates for Southern Nevada to …

The Desert Southwest: Population Growth 2010-2020, Kelliann Beavers, Joshua Padilla, Katie M. Gilbertson, William E. Brown Jr.

Demography

In 2021 the United States Census Bureau identified the Desert Southwest as one of the fastest growing regions in the country. The Desert Southwest encompasses portions of five states (Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas) including forty counties and ten metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs). Using data from the Census Bureau, this fact sheet showcases population growth within Desert Southwest counties and metropolitan statistical areas from 2010 to 2020.

2020 Most Dynamic Micropolitans In The Mountain West, Kelliann Beavers, Katie M. Gilbertson, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Cities & Metros

This fact sheet draws from the “Most Dynamic Micropolitans 2020” report released by Heartland Forward, “an institute for economic renewal […] with a mission to improve economic performance in the center of the United States.” In this report, Heartland Forward offers the Most Dynamic Micropolitan Index to analyze the economies of smaller communities for a total of 515 micropolitan areas nationally. This fact sheet includes information on job growth, annual pay growth, and personal income growth for micropolitan areas in the Mountain West region.

Las Vegas And Reno, Nevada Renter Migration, Peter Grema, Caitlin Saladino, William E. Brown

Demography

This Fact Sheet summarizes and expands upon the findings of Apartment List’s Renter Migration Report. The data presented herein focuses on renter search inquiries (both inbound and outbound) regarding Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada.

Income Inequality In Nevada And The Southwest Megapolitan Triangle, Yanneli Llamas, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown

Economic Development & Workforce

This Fact Sheet highlights income inequality in Nevada at both the county and metropolitan level. The Tables that follow report disparities in income across 16 Nevada counties, as well as 9 metropolitan areas in the state, as identified by the Economic Policy Institute. To offer a complete comparison, we also present income disparities between the components of the Southwest Megapolitan Triangle: Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV; Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA; and Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ.

Exploring The Community Factor Of Economic Resiliency, Al G. Gourrier

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)

Resilience takes on many different meanings, but when we speak of the resilience of a market we are generally referencing the capability of that market’s capacity to respond, regroup and move forward, usually after an event or series of events that impede or encumber a market’s economic sustainability. The outcomes of a stable and performing market are indicated by its economic performance. Using economic indicators as a base, this study analyzes three markets as they recover from destabilizing events and attempt to respond, regroup and move forward. The study analyzes the Las Vegas, New Orleans and Detroit markets from an …

Game Change: What Have We Learned? Pt. 1, William J. Antholis, Robert E. Lang, William E. Brown, David F. Damore, Helen R. Neill, Bradley S. Wimmer

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

Who We Are, What We Do, Where Are We Going

Brookings Mountain West is a partnership between UNLV and the Washington, D.C.-based Brookings Institution.

Goals and Objectives

Create high-quality, independent, impactful programs, publications, and activities that address issues of critical importance to greater Las Vegas and the Intermountain West region.

Serve as a platform to bring ideas and expertise together and facilitate local, metropolitan, and state discussions about the West’s future.

Enhance local, regional, and state research and public policy discussions.

Socioeconomic Effect On Crime In The Southwest United States Pre- And Post-Great Recession, Kristina Donathan, Jaewon Lim

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)

Facing the Great Recession, the Southwest megapolitan cluster in the United States including Las Vegas, Southern California and Sun Corridor in Arizona had a massive negative economic shock. Skyrocketing unemployment, massive foreclosures and other socioeconomic factors may negatively affect our safe environment with changing patterns in crime. This study aims to investigate the impacts of socioeconomic factors on different types of crimes committed in the megapolitan cluster of the Southwest United States. Using annual crime datasets, we look at the three years before the Great Recession and subsequent three years (2005-2010). The metropolitan areas, Los Angeles, CA, Las Vegas, NV, …

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 …

Understanding Urban Sustainability And Quality Of Life: A System Dynamics Approach, Abby Elizabeth Beck

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

For an urban area to be sustainable, its resources cannot be depleted faster than they can replenish. If an urban area is to provide a high quality of life (QOL), it must offer and maintain an amenity package that satisfies its resident's preferences. Past studies on these topics all have a common thread: sustainability and QOL both pertain to people's relationship to capital. Capital is something that can accumulate and add value to a person or society. If sustainability and QOL are a function of people's relationship with capital, how they use it, deplete it, replenish it and transform it …

The Potential Of Downtown Las Vegas Becoming A Creative Milieu, Ana Magdalena Barragan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The city of Las Vegas is attempting to revitalize downtown through a creative economy by bringing cultural and experiential activities to the area in a mixed use arrangement with residential, business and civic uses. This study looks at the possibility of not only revitalizing downtown, but on it becoming a true creative milieu - a place that fosters creativity and innovation. It does so by first identifying three major forces working upon the realization of these goals: 1) the regional socio-economic conditions, 2) the government strategies, and 3) the creative population's participation.

The study conducts a quantitative assessments of each, …

Nevada 2.0 Program And Speakers, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

Nevada 2.0

Nevada 2.0: New Economies for a Sustainable Future was held on January 7, 2011, to explore opportunities to diversify Nevada’s economy by examining similar efforts in nearby states. It included presentations by guest speakers from Salt Lake City, Denver, Phoenix, and Dallas, as well as interactive panel discussions with Nevada business and political leaders to hone in on the next steps Nevada should take to move forward on new business expansion. For years, Nevadans have understood the need to diversify the state’s economy beyond tourism, construction, and mining. Yet, Nevada enjoyed an extended boom from simply enlarging its base economy. …

Mountain Monitor-3rd Quarter 2010, Jonathan Rothwell, Kenan Fikri

Mountain Monitor Quarterly

One year after the Mountain Monitor began tracking recession and recovery in the Intermountain West, the Southern Nevada economy has yet to turn around. The rate of slippage across a range of indicators has slowed measurably, but evidence of a nascent recovery eludes. Las Vegas' poor relative performance over the past year can be attributed not only to the legacy of a particularly devastating initial wave of economic distress, but also to a continued struggle to slow and reverse the downward trend.

Mountain Monitor-2nd Quarter 2010, Jonathan Rothwell, Kenan Fikri

Mountain Monitor Quarterly

The Intermountain West exemplifies the peculiarities of the Great Recession and its subsequently fragile and protracted recovery. Where pre-recession growth in employment and housing prices was fastest, employment losses and housing price declines have been the most severe—in Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Boise most starkly. The profundity of the recession and sluggishness of the recovery have ensured that no metro in the region escaped unscathed, however, and in the second quarter even the best performers fell on some indicators. Perhaps most significantly for the region, housing prices are unlikely to keep falling much further. An analysis by Howard Wial and …

Export West: How Mountain West Metros Can Lead National Export Growth And Boost Competitiveness, Mark Muro, Emilia Instrate, Jonathan Rothwell

Brookings Mountain West Publications

In the beginning of 2010, with U.S. output growth modest and job growth nonexistent, President Obama devoted a portion of his State of the Union Address to “fi xing the problems that are hampering our growth.” One of these problems, according to the president, was a lack of international export sales. The president linked an increase in exports to an increase in jobs, and pledged to double the nation’s exports over the next five years.2 Since then, export growth has emerged as a key tenet of numerous economic visions including those of the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution …

The Next Las Vegas Boom, Robert E. Lang

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

The Great Recession—Where are We Now?

- U.S. Employment

- U.S. GDP by Type

- U.S. Household Net Worth

- U.S Retail Sales

Concurrent Panel Session 1: Challenges Of Economic Growth & Diversification & Labor Preparation In Las Vegas, Maggie Arias-Petrel, Cedric Crear, Somer Hollingsworth, Mike Majewski, John Restrepo, Mary Riddel, Keith Schwer, Dina Titus

Shaping the Future of Southern Nevada: Economic, Environmental, and Social Sustainability

Moderator: Dr. Mel Jameson, UNLV College of Business Scribe: Angela Moor, UNLV Department of History Conference white paper & Full summary of panel session, 6 pages

Evaluation Of The Hud Elder Cottage Housing Opportunity (Echo) Program, C Theodore Koebel, Julia Beamish, Karen A. Danielsen, Virginia Polytechnic Institute And State University

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Publications

ECHO housing was introduced in the United States in the 1980s based on a program started in Australia in 1975. An ECHO unit is a small house in which an elderly person resides and which is placed near the home of a host (either relatives or close friends of the elderly person). The purpose of this arrangement is to make it convenient and efficient for the occupants of the host family dwelling to provide assistance to the elderly person residing in the smaller ECHO house.

Although ECHO housing provides a means for keeping an elderly resident close to family and …

What Does Smart Growth Mean For Housing?, Karen A. Danielsen, Robert E. Lang, William Fulton

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Publications

Barely noticed amid the returns from the 1998 midterm elections was a quiet revolution that goes to the heart of how and where Americans live. While most news accounts focused on the high-profile candidate elections, voters across the nation-in Democratic and Republican areas alike-approved more than 160 state and local ballot measures intended to preserve open space and limit urban sprawl.

The coalition forming around the idea of limiting sprawl includes environmentalists, farmers, big-city mayors, and some developers. But perhaps most important, the so-called "smart growth" movement also includes many suburban voters who are fed up with growth. For example, …