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Begin New Search Topic Demographics Political Geography America Content Type Working Paper Publishing Institution The Brookings Institution

1. Saluting Urban Market Pathfinders

Author:
Alyssa Stewart Lee
Publication Date:
05-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
While many developers and investors intuitively believe in the potential for profitable returns in American cities, there is a lack of visibility into what works and what does not work in urban markets. This week the Urban Markets Initiative at the Brookings Institution honors Urban Market Pathfinders who have demonstrated excellence capturing market potential by investing in communities.
Topic:
Civil Society, Demographics, Development, and Markets
Political Geography:
America

2. Give Credit Where Credit is Due

Author:
Patrick D. Walker, Robin Varghese, Ann Schnare, Alyssa Stewart Lee, and Michael A. Turner
Publication Date:
12-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
Despite the vast accomplishments of the American credit system, approximately 35 million to 54 million Americans remain outside the credit system. For a variety of reasons, mainstream lenders have too little information on them to evaluate risk and thereby extend credit. As a result, those in most need of credit often turn to check cashing services and payday loan providers, with effective interest rates as high as 500 percent. The lack of reliable credit places them at a great disadvantage in building assets (such as homes, small businesses, or loans for education) and thereby improving their lives.
Topic:
Demographics, Economics, Government, and Poverty
Political Geography:
America

3. Two Steps Back: City and Suburban Poverty Trends 1999-2005

Author:
Elizabeth Kneebone and Alan Berube
Publication Date:
12-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
The first half of the current decade brought economic uncertainty and hardship for many Americans. In stark contrast to the late 1990s, when employment and wages were growing at historic rates, the 2000s have been marked by an economic recession, stagnant wages for many workers, and job losses followed by what some have termed a “jobless recovery.”
Topic:
Civil Society, Demographics, Economics, and Poverty
Political Geography:
America

4. Measuring the Informal Economy - One Neighborhood at a Time

Author:
Yusef Freeman, John Talmage, and Jamie Alderslade
Publication Date:
09-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
The study of the urban informal economy has expanded in the last thirty years, challenging researchers to find more accurate methods of quantifying its activity. This paper examines recent works that focused on the urban informal economy in particular, and evaluates different definitions and techniques for measuring it. Methods discussed include indirect estimation methods, such as currency demand, electricity consumption, and labor force statistical profiles, as well as direct estimation measures such as labor force and household surveys. This paper discusses the prospects for applying these largely macro-level methods to more micro-market analysis and speculates on the avail ability and usefulness of existing data sources in the United States. It concludes by suggesting that there is much room for further research on the size, determinants and implications of the informal economy in American cities and calls for new efforts to align different methods of measuring the inform al economy so they can be increasingly used to support decision-making processes in the public and private sectors.
Topic:
Demographics, Economics, and Markets
Political Geography:
United States and America

5. From Traditional to Reformed: A Review of the Land Use Regulations in the Nation's 50 largest Metropolitan Areas

Author:
Jonathan Martin, Robert Puentes, and Rolf Pendall
Publication Date:
08-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
A key component of the struggle for prosperity in American metropolitan areas is development patterns, which define everything from density to the socioeconomic make up of residents. Development patterns are partly a consequence of decisions by local governments—often with very little coordination, oversight, or even guidance from state or regional entities—about the physical character of new growth. Among the most important of these decisions is how to regulate land; a prerogative that local governments guard jealously.
Topic:
Demographics, Development, and Environment
Political Geography:
United States and America

6. Where Did They Go? The Decline of Middle-Income Neighborhoods in Metropolitan America

Author:
George Galster, Jackie Cutsinger, and Jason C. Booza
Publication Date:
06-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
Middle-income families, the icon of the American Dream, have become a somewhat less prominent part of the American demographic profile over the last quartercentury. Numerous researchers have documented how growing economic inequality in the U.S., characterized by an increasing bifurcation of the income distribution, has slowed the growth of a once-broad American middle class.
Topic:
Demographics, Economics, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
United States and America