Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

Pandemic-Related Housing Assistance, July 2021, Iryna V. Lendel, Molly Schnoke, Scott A. Corsi

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

On 12/27/2020, the Consolidated Appropriations Act was passed, providing $900 billion in stimulus relief. Another 1.4 trillion in spending helped plan the 2021 federal fiscal year. On 3/11/2021, the American Rescue Plan passed providing an additional $1.9 trillion in economic stimulus to further aid the country through the ongoing pandemic. The pandemic has damaged not only health systems, but social and economic systems as well. One effect of COVID-19 has been mass housing instability, which is predominantly due to evictions. Many people have lost their jobs, in part or altogether, due to COVID-19, leaving residents with little income to pay …

Pandemic-Related Business Assistance, February 2021, Iryna V. Lendel, Molly Schnoke, Erica Henrichsen

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

The pandemic has caused an unprecedented increase in unemployment, the closing or suspension of operations for many businesses, a drastic reduction in the capacity to produce many goods and services, and a significant reduction of disposable household income. To assist with these economic emergencies, federal, state, and local governments have passed legislation to aid households and businesses, including some programs for nonprofits. This brief groups the actions of all levels of government into four categories: general business support, small business support, industry-specific support, and unemployment benefits for individuals. The subsequent sections offer a summary of each program and a link …

Urbanization Policy And Economic Development: A Quantitative Analysis Of China's Differential Hukou Reforms, Wen-Tai Hsu, Lin Ma

Research Collection School Of Economics

The household registration system (hukou system) in China has hampered rural-urban migration by posing large migration friction. The system has been gradually relaxed in the past few decades, but the reforms have been differential in city size and by the coastal-inland divide. We find a striking contrast in the migration patterns between years 2005 and 2015; rural people tended to move more to the coastal urban region in 2005, but more to the inland urban region in 2015. We calibrate a spatial quantitative model to the world economy in both years with China being divided into the rural, coastal urban, …

Pandemic Related Housing Assistance, December 2020, Iryna V. Lendel, Molly Schnoke, Erica Henrichsen

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

The COVID-19 disease has resulted in a worldwide pandemic. Over 85 million worldwide confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported in a single year (2020) with more than 1.8 million of those cases resulting in death. The United States reported over 20 million confirmed cases in 2020 with over 300,000 deaths. This is a public health crisis that has resulted in widespread government response including event cancellations/prohibitions, stay-at-homes orders, the closure of nonessential businesses, and more. Governor Mike DeWine of Ohio declared a state of emergency on 3/9/2020 immediately following the first case reported in the state. On 3/13/2020, President …

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 …

Jobless Pandemic: Geography Of Layoffs And Opportunity Zones, Georgina Figueroa, Matthew Ellerbrock, Iryna V. Lendel

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act is a law designed to protect workers against employment losses. Employers are required to provide employees with a 60-day notice in the event of plant closings and mass layoffs. Under normal conditions, WARNs are required in the event of a) Plants closing or stopping operation either permanently or temporarily affecting 50 or more workers; b) Layoffs of 500 or more employees during a 30-day-period or when these layoffs constitute at least a third of the company’s workforce; and c) Temporary layoffs expected to exceed six months, in this case, when a temporary …

Can The Eitc And Unemployment Insurance Replace Lost Wages?, Megan Hatch, Chloe G. White

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant effect on all aspects of social, economic, and political life worldwide. In the United States, millions of people have tested positive for COVID-19, and over 200,000 people have died from the virus. While Ohio’s governor and director of public health have been credited for their quick decision-making in response to the pandemic, Ohio’s communities still suffered, with well over 100,000 cases and thousands of COVID-19-related deaths statewide.

Policymakers aiming to reduce the spread of COVID-19 were forced to make difficult tradeoffs between public health and the economy. On March 23, 2020, Governor Mike …

Moving Cleveland Above The Trend: Benchmarking Regional Performance (Presentation), Iryna V. Lendel

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

About the Study

Model for understanding and predicting economic growth in U.S. mid-sized regional economies similar to Cleveland and NEO

Analyzed structural and policy-based factors and looked for outperformers - what can Cleveland learn about their public policies and programs?

Used a multi-stage process collecting 43 variables associated with regional growth, including educational attainment, business composition, regional assets, and quality of life

The mid-sized regional economies analyzed encompass 135 metro areas, and includes populations spanning from 352,823 to 3.9 million

Used factor analysis as a data-reduction technique to identify factors influencing growth in mid-sized regional economies:

*Innovation and Talent
*Entrepreneurship …

Moving Cleveland Above The Trend: Benchmarking Regional Performance (Report), Iryna V. Lendel, Merissa Piazza, Molly Schnoke, Jinhee Yun, Nora Walsh

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

When analyzing economic development, we must consider both the factors that can be changed through policy and those that cannot. This report includes our model for understanding and predicting economic growth in U.S. mid-sized regional economies to analyze structural and policy-based factors among similar regional economies. Our research used a multi-stage process that involved collecting 43 variables on a variety of topics that are associated with regional growth, such as educational attainment, business composition, regional assets, and quality of life. In total, our mid-sized regional economies encompass 135 metro areas, and includes populations spanning from 352,823 to 3.9 million. We …

A Return To State-Led Integrated Regional Planning? Emerging Approaches From Three U.S. States, Timothy Green, Donovan Finn

School of Marine & Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

After decades of neglect, several U.S. states have increased support for regional development planning, creating new programs, organizations, and funding streams to support it. Analysis of programs in three states (New York, Michigan, and Indiana) shows similarities among them as well as contrasts with prior episodes of state-led regional planning. The new programs deliberately sidestep older regional planning organizations like COGs and RPCs in favor of new organizations with larger roles for the private sector and greater access to public funds. The resulting plans focus on individual projects within a pro-development agenda, but still have potential to coordinate action at …

Food-Based Businesses And The Creative Class In New England's Post-Industrial Cities, Francesca Cigliano

Masters Theses

This master’s thesis examines how the density of food-based businesses in New England’s post-industrial urban neighborhoods relates to neighborhood demographic characteristics. The relationship between food-based businesses and demographic change has been examined in larger metropolitan areas like New York City and Chicago and has found that younger, wealthier, and more highly educated residents tend to live where there are greater densities of food businesses. However, there has been little research on the topic in New England’s post-industrial cities that have historically struggled to attract highly sought knowledge workers. I find that food business density and the share of residents employed …

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 …

Worker-Owned Cooperatives As Urban Economic Development., Nick Conder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the topic of urban policies relating to worker-owned cooperatives, and the political conditions surrounding worker-owned cooperatives in American cities. The topic is studied through a comparison between two case study cities: Cleveland, Ohio and Jackson, Mississippi. Through the collection of public records and interviews with policymakers, analysts, and community activists, this study details the current policy status towards worker-owned cooperatives and the political context for the worker-ownership movement in each city. The study also offers preliminary assessments of existing worker-owned cooperatives and explores the obstacles facing worker-owned enterprises in the selected cities. The findings of the case …

Oil And Gas As A Driver Of The Regional Economy: Updates, Iryna Lendel

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

The economic trends in Northeast Ohio (NEO) over the last 20 years are typical of the Midwest region, with a positive increase in output outpaced by the state of Ohio, and the United States. The double recessions of 2001 and 2007-2009 show a deeper output decline in NEO than in comparable Midwest regions and the United States. Traditionally, industries with high regional specialization that have a competitive advantage and drive regional economies are called economic base industries. Groups of Regional Industry Drivers (GRIDs) are part of the economic base of a region. The Oil & Gas GRID accounts for less …

Planning For Industrial Land And Industrial Jobs: An Evaluation Of New York City's Industrial Business Zone Program, Jennifer Davis

Masters Theses

In recent years, industrial preservation policies, which aim to preserve urban industrial activity and industrial employment often through the preservation of industrial land, have emerged as a flashpoint in cities across the country that have implemented these policies. While critics contend that industrial preservation policies amount to smokestack chasing in “post-industrial” cities like New York City, industrial preservationists argue that such policies help to preserve well-paying, middle-class jobs and thus represent a tool to mitigate rising income inequalities in cities. Despite considerable attention to these policies, minimal research has evaluated the effectiveness of industrial preservation policies as land use and …

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.

The Nasa Glenn Research Center: An Economic Impact Study Fiscal Year 2018, Iryna Lendel, Jinhee Yun

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

Economic impact estimates the benefits within the regional economy generated by an economic activity of an entity for an affected region. This study uses an input-output (I-O) model to estimate the effect of NASA Glenn Research Center’s spending on the economies of Northeast Ohio (NEO) and Ohio. This model measures economic impact in terms of growth in output (sales), value added (output less intermediary goods), number of new and supported jobs, labor income, and tax revenues.

This year’s study uses the same methodology to measure NASA Glenn’s impact on the economies of Northeast Ohio and Ohio as was used for …

Coastal Fortresses: A Cross-Case Analysis Of Water, Policy, And Tourism Development In Three Gulf Coast Communities, Kimberly A. Krupa

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

As a result of development pressures and water resource struggles, once rural, spatially segregated coastal commercial fishing villages along the U.S. portion of the Gulf of Mexico are increasingly tourist frontiers for elites and the emergent businesses that cater to them. Over the course of the twentieth century, water events, from coastal land loss to hurricane destruction to natural disaster, have fast-tracked development projects that have allowed for the expansion of the tourism sector, and relaxed policies to encourage bold new economic development initiatives that often put poor coastal communities and their environment in jeopardy. This outcome is not universal …

Disruptive Growth Through Co-Working Industry: Economic Impact Of Potential Real Estate Market Intervention In Cleveland, Iryna Lendel, Merissa Piazza, Iryna Demko, Nick Zingale

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

This report reviews the current state of the co-working industry and its potential for growth according to current supply-demand relationships as it relates to larger economic movements and to the regional market for Cleveland, Ohio, and the surrounding area. The report analyzes factors that influence co-working growth and uptake and projects the likely state of the industry in coming years. The report provides a comprehensive assessment of the nature and scope of co-working supply and demand and develops a typology that can identify benefits and approaches for distinct types of co-workers and co-working stakeholders.

Northeast Ohio Front Runners: Groups Of Regional Industry Drivers (Grids) Research Brief, Iryna Lendel, Merissa Piazza, Iryna Demko

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

Wealth-creating industries are the backbone of the regional economy; they contribute to economic growth, personal wealth, and regional competitive advantage. For an economy to stay vibrant and competitive, it is essential to identify these industries so that strategic policies can foster and support regional growth. Three regional groups of drivers were identified in Northeast Ohio (NEO): Professional Services, Growing Legacy Manufacturing, and Oil and Gas. These groups, known as Groups of Regional Driver Industries (GRIDs) were identified using statistical analyses and data-driven insights for 2013 to 2017. GRIDs had strong regional specialization, growing output, rising productivity, and local competitive advantage. …

Analysis Of Spirit Of Charity Innovation District: Community Engagement, Development & Planning, Michelle M. Thompson Phd, Gisp, Adriana Bennett, Ashley Goodrich, Hoang Tao

Planning and Urban Studies Reports and Presentations

The purpose of this project is to give an overview of history, background, planning process of the Spirit of Charity Innovation District and the upcoming development of the former Charity Hospital Building.

Purpose of content analysis is to evaluate all forms of documents and articles available to see what major themes are discussed and carried out to get a sense of what qualities are the most important in the SCID.

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 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 …

Feasibility Analysis: Borderlight International Theatre Festival, Merissa Piazza, Molly Schnoke, Nick F. Zingale, Iryna Lendel

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

BorderLight International Theater Festival is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit established to launch a summer festival of contemporary international theater in Cleveland beginning in July 2019. Co-directors Dale Heinen and Jeffrey Pence have spearheaded BorderLight’s inception and programming. BorderLight is conceptualized in its debut form as a four-day international theater festival located in Cleveland, Ohio.1 It will include curated performances by international, national, and local artists—as well as an independent fringe festival—and will focus on engagement with underserved audiences and communities.2 This makes BorderLight a bifurcated theater festival, which is a combination of a curated and uncurated festival whereby some content is …

Can Local Actors Foster A More Inclusive And Sustainable Model Of Economic Development? The Role Of Business Improvement Areas In The “New” Industrial Policy, Matias De Dovitiis, Juan Gomez, Rafael Gomez

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

A growing body of evidence links differing managerial practices, specifically ones addressing environmental sustainability and the management of people, to variations in performance observed across firms and countries. Firms (and by extension jurisdictions) that invest in better environmental policies (sustainability) and that empower workers (inclusivity) tend to outperform, over the long run, those that do not. Despite the gains associated with these inclusive and sustainable management techniques, large differences in the adoption of even the most basic management practices persist. We premise this article on an institution that can lower the costs of gaining best practice knowledge and help in …

Center For Population Dynamics Quarterly Brief October 2015: A Reason To Be- The "Upskilling" Of Cleveland's Workforce, Richey Piiparinen, Jim Russell, Charlie Post

Richey Piiparinen

Not having a reason to be is the human crisis. Developing worth is the cure. Such is the case not just for people, but for cities. Cities without uses become ghost towns, with a midway existence called “the shrinking city”. Cleveland, like many Rust Belt cities, is a so-called shrinking city. For decades now the region has fought against the anticipation of disappearing. This fight is called “economic development”. Often, development policies are more instinctive than strategic. Cleveland has lost jobs, mostly manufacturing jobs. The solution, then, is to simply go get those jobs back. But manufacturing as a share …

Staging Cleveland: A Theater Industry Study, Iryna Lendel, Candi Clouse, Merissa Piazza, Ellen Cyran, Simon Husted, Nichole Laird, Luke Seaberg, Jinhee Yun

Ellen Cyran

The impact of theater is traditionally discussed in the emotion someone feels from seeing a live show on stage or the nostalgia of remembering the experience of seeing one’s favorite movie come to life for the first time. Theaters are one of a city’s most beautiful treasures, often constructed with high levels of architectural appeal which can take audiences out of their normal life and lead them into the world of the performance. However, besides beautiful buildings and fond memories, what is the impact of the theater sector on a region? This study uses a quantitative framework to examine the …

Staging Cleveland: A Theater Industry Study, Iryna Lendel, Candi Clouse, Merissa Piazza, Ellen Cyran, Simon Husted, Nichole Laird, Luke Seaberg, Jinhee Yun

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

The impact of theater is traditionally discussed in the emotion someone feels from seeing a live show on stage or the nostalgia of remembering the experience of seeing one’s favorite movie come to life for the first time. Theaters are one of a city’s most beautiful treasures, often constructed with high levels of architectural appeal which can take audiences out of their normal life and lead them into the world of the performance. However, besides beautiful buildings and fond memories, what is the impact of the theater sector on a region?

This study uses a quantitative framework to examine the …

Policy Recommendations: Cultivating A Local Foodscape Rooted In A Just Economy, Ryan Thayer

Ryan Thayer

Regional Industry Analysis: An Approach For Economies Large And Smaller, Susan G. Mason, Pengyu Zhu, Jon Van Dyke

Urban Studies and Community Development Faculty Publications and Presentations

Interest in cluster analysis for economic development in regions has been significant over the years. Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of a community’s industry clusters or economic agglomerations can provide regions with resilience to economic changes. Large and smaller economies that are able to identify their industry clusters and know their competitive strengths and weaknesses may be more adaptable and able to thwart the negative effects of economic change. One example of the value of knowing about the strengths and weaknesses of an economy and the potential to shift to new areas of production and service in a local economy …