Urban Studies Commons^™

Understanding Film Tax Credits In Nevada And Nationally, Michael J. Brown, David F. Damore, William E. Brown Jr.

Policy Briefs and Reports

This policy primer provides an overview of Nevada’s transferable tax credit program for film and other productions and reviews articles, reports, audits, and studies of film tax credits as a tool for economic development in the United States. This review considers a significant body of work analyzing the use of film tax credits in support of economic development. Studies and state audits often show that because film tax credits do not create the number and quality of full-time jobs necessary to merit their costs and do little to stimulate other related industries, they are a poor financial choice for state …

Realizing Innovation And Sustainability: A Case Study Of Macau Sar’S Smart City Development Capabilities, Yujia He, Felix Ter Chian Tan, Carmen Leong, Jingbo Huang, Don Rodney Junio

Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce Faculty Publications

The emergence of digital technologies has transformed organizational innovation with important implications for a city, its economy and policymaking. Despite this, research on how capabilities underpin innovation through smart city initiatives is still lacking. To address this gap, we conduct an empirical investigation of smart city initiatives in Macau, a former Portuguese colony and now special administrative region (SAR) of China. The case study adopts a qualitative approach, using data collected through fieldwork observations and in-depth interviews with stakeholders, and analysis of secondary documents. The study develops a stage-based assessment of innovation capabilities related to the use of technologies in …

American Rescue Plan Act (Arpa): City And County Budget Allocations In The Mountain West, Katie M. Gilbertson, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Economic Development & Workforce

This fact sheet details how city and county governments within the Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah allocated funds from the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (SLFRF) portion of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Brookings Metro in partnership with the National League of Cities and the National Association of Counties created the “Local Government ARPA Investment Tracker” to display how communities across the country allocate this financial resource. This interactive site allows budget information from cities and counties to be added as such decisions are made.

America's Best Small Cities In The Mountain West, Katie M. Gilbertson, Kelliann Beavers, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr., Fatma Nasoz

Cities & Metros

This fact sheet reports the rankings of small cities in the Mountain West, based on perceived desirability for living, visiting, and investment. Resonance Consultancy’s “America’s Best Small Cities 2020,” report examines six key metrics: “People,” “Place,” “Product,” “Programming,” “Promotion,” and “Prosperity.” 11 small cities in the Mountain West are ranked within the top 100 in the United States.

Webinar: Economic And Business Outcomes Of Bicycle And Pedestrian Improvements, Jenny H. Liu

TREC Webinar Series

The National Street Improvements Study, conducted by PSU in conjunction with PeopleForBikes and consulting firm Bennett Midland, researched the economic effects of bicycle infrastructure on 14 corridors across six cities — Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Memphis, Minneapolis and Indianapolis. The study found that improvements such as bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure had either positive or non-significant impacts on the local economy as measured through sales and employment. In this webinar, lead researcher Jenny Liu will share the results of the investigation and the unique methodology for investigating these economic outcomes.

This webinar is based on a study funded by the …

Metro Monitor 2020: Las Vegas & Reno, Elia Del Carmen Solano-Patricio, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Economic Development & Workforce

This Fact Sheet presents changes in indicators of economic health for the State of Nevada using data provided by the Brookings Institution’s Metro Monitor analysis. Looking beyond gross domestic product (GDP) and job growth, researchers at Brookings’ Metropolitan Policy Program measure various indicators of economic well-being across 192 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) for a 1-year period (from 2017-2018) and a 10-year period (from 2008-2018). Metro areas are classified by size: midsized metros (with populations between 250,000 and 500,000), large metros (with populations between 500,000 and 1 million), and very large metros (with populations over 1 million). For the purpose of …

Understanding Economic And Business Impacts Of Street Improvements For Bicycle And Mobility – A Multicity Multiapproach Exploration, Jenny H. Liu, Wei Shi

TREC Final Reports

Many cities across the country, as part of Complete Streets initiatives or to promote community livability and environmental sustainability, have engaged in street improvement or transportation infrastructure upgrade projects that increase access and mobility for pedestrians and bicyclists through a reduction of on-street parking or traffic lanes. With various transportation modes competing for scarce resources (including right-of-way and transportation funding), city planners and transportation agencies often struggle with how to justify these infrastructure investments for non-motorized modes such as bicycling and walking, particularly when driving is still the predominant mode of transportation in most cities. There is a vital need …

Job Density In The Mountain West, Ember Smith, Caitlin Saladino, William E. Brown

Economic Development & Workforce

This Fact Sheet highlights the job density patterns in large metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in the Mountain West states (Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado) using the findings of Where Jobs are Concentrating and Why it Matters to Cities and Regions, a report by Chad Shearer, Jennifer S. Vey, and Joanne Kim of the Brookings Institution.

Appetite For Growth: Challenges To Scale For Food And Beverage Makers In Three Us Cities, Greg Schrock, Marc Doussard, Laura Wolf-Powers, Steven Marotta, Max Eisenburger

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Food and beverage (FaB) manufacturing represents a promising opportunity for small-scale “makers” and local economic development. The growth of entrepreneurial maker businesses can be understood in terms of segmentation of market demand, emergence of new intermediaries, and availability of affordable production infrastructure. Yet the ease of starting maker businesses stands in contrast with the challenges of achieving growth and scale as a manufacturer. Through semistructured interviews with 31 FaB makers in Chicago, New York City, and Portland, Oregon, the authors analyze the challenges facing maker–entrepreneurs in this sector. The authors find that the everyday character of food and the relative …

Professional Sports, Hurricane Katrina, And The Economic Redevelopment Of New Orleans: Revisited, Victor Matheson, Robert Baade, Callan Henderschott

Economics Department Working Papers

Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans in late August 2005, resulting in damage to much of the city’s sports infrastructure and the temporary departure of both of New Orleans’ major league professional sports teams, the National Football League Saints and the National Basketball Association Hornets. The city spent over $500 million restoring the sports infrastructure in New Orleans, and both teams subsequently returned to the city. In addition, New Orleans has since hosted numerous mega-sporting events including the Super Bowl, NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four, and several college football national championships. This paper examines the economic impact of …

The Intentional City: Shaping London’S Urban Future, Zack Taylor

Centre for Urban Policy and Local Governance – Publications

Summary of remarks made at a public roundtable celebrating the launch of the Centre of Urban Policy and Local Governance held at Western University on November 23, 2018. Participants included Pierre Filion, Professor in the School of Planning at the University of Waterloo and an expert in mid-sized cities; Arielle Kayabaga, Councillor-Elect for City of London’s downtown Ward 13; Michelle Baldwin, Executive Director of London’s Pillar Nonprofit Network and Co-Founder of Innovation Works; John Fleming, Managing Director of Planning and City Planner for the City of London; and Neil Bradford, Professor and Chair of the …

The Intentional City: Shaping London’S Urban Future (Event Transcript), Zack Taylor

Centre for Urban Policy and Local Governance – Publications

Edited transcript of remarks made at a public roundtable celebrating the launch of the Centre of Urban Policy and Local Governance held at Western University on November 23, 2018. Participants included Pierre Filion, Professor in the School of Planning at the University of Waterloo and an expert in mid-sized cities; Arielle Kayabaga, Councillor-Elect for City of London’s downtown Ward 13; Michelle Baldwin, Executive Director of London’s Pillar Nonprofit Network and Co-Founder of Innovation Works; John Fleming, Managing Director of Planning and City Planner for the City of London; and Neil Bradford, Professor and Chair of …

The French Metropole: How It Gained Legal Status As A Metropolis, Janice Griffith

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

France’s long history of centralized governance has generated debates as to what powers should remain with the State and what powers should devolve to sub-national governments. To ameliorate the fragmentation resulting from the small size of France’s 36,000 plus municipalities, called communes, the State authorized the creation of general-purpose, inter-communal public institutions to perform municipal functions on behalf of the communes on a greater economy of scale. The article examines the trajectory that led to the creation in 2010 of the métropole, or metropolis, the most recent of these inter-communal bodies that is designed to undertake public functions in large …

The Politics Of Gentrification In Charlotte, Nc: A New South City Meets The Urban Realities Of 21st Century Prosperity., David Cole

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Excerpt from Introduction

In the Fall of 2017, Amazon Inc. opened an unprecedented nationwide bidding competition.[1] The huge online retailer was seeking a home for its second headquarters, dubbed “HQ2,” which could potentially include 50,000 high-paying jobs and billions of dollars of investment into a local economy.[2] The company completed a request for proposal (RFP) that detailed the baseline amenities that cities applying for the headquarters must have. This included Interstate access, a metropolitan population of over 1 million, an international airport, and the presence of a research university.[3]

Economic Growth Or Economic Development? An Examination Of Local Government Objectives Through Citizen Well-Being Framework., Mohd Mobin Khan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Economic development is considered one of the key functions and responsibilities of Federal, State, and local governments in the United States. However, most of the policies and strategies related to economic development, regardless of their focus or funding, have a strong role of municipalities for their implementation. Within local governments, economic development efforts often seem to not truly focus on the aspects of ‘development,’ but can rather be characterized as focused on economic ‘growth’ and measured in terms of economic activity generated. Job creation and the enhancement of tax base or revenue are considered two of the most important goals …

The Economic Impact Of City-County Consolidations: A Synthetic Control Approach, Joshua Hall, Josh Matti, Yang Zhou

Economics Faculty Working Papers Series

Although more rapid development is a primary motivation behind city-county consolidations, few empirical studies explore the impact of consolidation on economic development. No studies look at government consolidation in the United States using modern causal inference methods. We use the synthetic control method (SCM) to examine the long-term impact of city-county consolidations on per capita income, population, and employment. The results from the three cases explored indicate that consolidation does not guarantee development and actually can have negative effects. Additionally, consolidation can deepen the urban-rural divide by accelerating the decline of rural populations relative to those of urban areas. The …

The Unmaking Of An Embargo: How Policy Entrepreneurs At The Individual, State, And National Levels Are Creating New Paths For Policy Change In Modern United States-Cuba Relations, Kyle C. Griffith

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Throughout the Cold War antagonisms of the twentieth century, the United States (US) championed greater global economic cooperation and an embrace of free market principles to encourage economic growth. Post World War II, passage of the Bretton Woods Agreement institutionalized this political agenda effectively establishing the rules of global commerce. The result has been increased economic participation and trade liberalization. One of the last remaining vestiges of Cold War hostility and impediments to trade is the US economic embargo of Cuba, in place since 1960. Increasingly seen as a policy failure, the US has taken steps in the past two …

The Metropolitan Revolution Comes To Greater Las Vegas, Robert E. Lang

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

No abstract provided.

The Other O: Comparing Las Vegas To A Successful Mid-Sized, Midwestern Metropolitan Area, Robert E. Lang

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

No abstract provided.

The Advanced Industry Economy In The Mountain West: Finding The Next Silicon Valley, Robert E. Lang

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

No abstract provided.

Is Las Vegas The Next Silicon Valley? A First Look At Brookings Top 100 Metro Data On Advanced Industries, Robert E. Lang

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

No abstract provided.

Louisiana's Water Innovation Cluster: Is It Ready For Global Competition?, Stephen C. Picou

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The rapid growth of Louisiana's coastal restoration science and technology assets is paralleled by the growth of business resources to fulfill myriad project needs. Many institutions and organizations in Louisiana seek to further develop the state's research, education, engineering and related restoration assets into a globally competitive set of industries with exportable expertise and products that help the state capitalize on its water challenges. Globally, similar efforts are identified (and often branded) as water technology innovation clusters (or more simply water clusters). This paper explores the phenomenon of the development of water clusters by public-private partnerships and initiatives, nationally and …

The “Community Entertainment District” Designation As A Tool For Urban Redevelopment In Cincinnati, Ohio, Whitney Mcintyre Miller, Julie Cencula Olberding

Education Faculty Articles and Research

Many urban neighborhoods in the United States have experienced an exodus of businesses. Their Main Streets—once consisting of bustling restaurants and stores—are now marked by “for rent” signs and boarded windows. Some community leaders have given up, but others are actively trying to bring businesses back. In Cincinnati, Ohio, several neighborhoods are starting to use the community entertainment district (CED) designation to attract entertainment and arts establishments. This paper presents an evaluation of the implementation and early impacts of the CED in one neighborhood, which may be insightful to leaders in other urban areas in Ohio and beyond.

Connecting People And Place Prosperity: Workforce Development And Urban Planning In Scholarship And Practice, Greg Schrock

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

In recent years, the field of workforce development has emerged as a distinct area of policy and practice. While planning scholars have begun to engage with the workforce development field, its relevance and points of connection to planning scholarship remain underexplored. This article attempts to define the workforce development field by articulating its core concerns as well as its domains of practice and scholarship outside the planning field. The article locates workforce development within three stands of planning scholarship, concluding that workforce development represents an important bridge for planners between “place” and “people” prosperity within communities.

The State Of Ohio's Steel Industry, Edward W. Hill, Iryna Lendel, Fran Stewart

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

No abstract provided.

The Nasa Glenn Research Center: An Economic Impact Study Fiscal Year 2011, Iryna Lendel, Sunjoo Park

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

No abstract provided.

2011 Economic Impact Of Jumpstart Inc. Portfolio And Client Companies, Ziona Austrian, Candice Clouse

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

No abstract provided.

The Ohio Bioscience Sector, 2000-2010, Matthew Hrubey, Candice Clouse, Ziona Austrian

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

No abstract provided.

Minority Participation In Technology Based Growth Industries In Northeast Ohio, Merissa Piazza, Elorm Tsegah, Ziona Austrian, Ellen Cyran

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

No abstract provided.

Detroit Regional Analysis: Demographics, Economy, Entrepreneurship And Innovation, Merissa Piazza, Joan Chase, Chang-Shik Song, Elorm Tsegah, Ziona Austrian

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

No abstract provided.