Brookings: Experts - Jennifer S. Vey

Provide a Federal Life Line for America's Destabilized Neighborhoods

Alan Mallach and Jennifer S. Vey — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 15:30:00 -0500

In the years since America’s housing market collapsed under the weight of subprime loans, foreclosures, and the housing bubble, the nation has seen a series of efforts—mostly too little, too late—to help impacted homeowners, creating a new alphabet soup of HERA, HARP, HAMP and HHF. Meanwhile, millions of words have been written, mostly focused on assigning blame to Wall Street greed, homebuyer negligence, and/or regulatory failure.

This wave of collective fingerpointing, however justified, has largely distracted policy makers, and much of the public at large, from realizing how the vitality of many of our cities and neighborhoods has been eaten away by the housing sector’s calamitous fall. After over five years of elevated mortgage foreclosures and collapsing house prices, one city after another is battling a wave of neighborhood destabilization that has turned thousands of once-valued homes and apartments into empty shells. As this has happened, neighborhood housing values have plummeted, deterring investment by developers and prospective homebuyers, discouraging the remaining homeowners from making repairs and improvements, and causing residents to despair for their community’s future. While the housing market in many parts of the country has begun to stabilize, and even improve, far too many areas are still mired in long-term instability and decline.

The scale of this problem is far too great, and the market failures too deeply rooted, for these distressed neighborhoods to recover on their own. Nor do individual cities and states have the resources needed to help rebuild their markets. As Brookings argues in a recent policy brief, these neighborhoods need a lifeline that only the federal government can provide.

More specifically, the brief calls on Congress to establish a new multifaceted Strategic Neighborhood Investment Program that includes both a Qualified Neighborhood Investment Bond program, and a multi-part Neighborhood Investment Tax Credit program. In contrast to many past programs, including the short-lived Neighborhood Stabilization Program, the new Strategic Neighborhood Investment Program is designed explicitly and directly to leverage private investment in rebuilding neighborhood markets.

The Qualified Neighborhood Investment Bond program would authorize $8 billion in qualified state and local bonding authority that could be used for demolition, property acquisition, and rehabilitation, as well as related uses such as improvements to vacant lots. Simultaneously, the Neighborhood Investment Tax Credit program would leverage targeted investment in designated destabilized but still vital neighborhoods. The tax credit program would have three components:

neighborhood investment pools funded by passive investors who would receive a tax credit for investing in the neighborhood
a tax credit for households that buy and restore vacant homes for owner-occupancy, or that buy a home from a developer who has restored it
a special FHA mortgage program for homebuyers

Such a program would be modest in cost, with the potential to leverage four to six dollars in private sector investment for every dollar in federal tax credits. While we project it will fuel the rehabilitation of over 180,000 vacant homes and remove some 400,000 blighting abandoned structures, it will do far more than that by stabilizing the neighborhoods and rebuilding the markets of communities where millions of American families live.

Authors

Image Source: © Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

@ Brookings Podcast: Baltimore as a Case Study in Metro Economic Recovery

Jennifer S. Vey — Fri, 04 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Baltimore provides a prime example of how metropolitan areas around the nation are turning to clean, green industries as a source of vibrant, sustainable growth. Expert Jennifer Vey outlines how such communities can identify their assets and capitalize on them to revitalize their economies.

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Image Source: © Rebecca Cook / Reuters

Building From Strength: Creating Opportunity in Greater Baltimore's Next Economy

Jennifer S. Vey — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0400

According to many broad economic indicators, the Baltimore metropolitan area is doing better than fine. In 2010, the median household income for the region was nearly $15,000 higher than for the country at large, and over the 10 years prior, real incomes rose in the metro, if slowly, even while incomes nationally shrank by more than 7 percent. Employment grew from 2000 to 2010 while declining nationwide, and during the economic downturn, the area’s unemployment rate was consistently lower than the majority of its metropolitan peers.

Yet anyone who lives and works in greater Baltimore knows the region is also home to many families and neighborhoods challenged by varying levels of economic and social distress. Although only about 10 percent of the region’s residents are considered poor, nearly a quarter are low-income, meaning they are part of a family with a total income that is below 200 percent of the federal poverty line. Yet the regional economy hums along, baring the somewhat disquieting truth that a good economy for most can be had even while many aren’t reaping its benefits. Efforts and ideas to change this paradigm abound. The public, non-profit, and philanthropic sectors— in Baltimore and throughout the country— spend billions each year trying to help fill the gap between what a household can afford and what it actually takes to pay for basic needs. As critical as these interventions are, however, they are not targeted at expanding opportunity—that is, making greater numbers of middle-wage jobs available and accessible to those who want to get ahead—as much as trying to compensate for the fact that there isn’t enough of it. This report proposes a different approach, one simultaneously focused on investing in efforts to grow a more opportunity-rich “next economy” and helping low-income residents gain the education, skills, and other capacities needed to participate in it. To this end, it advances three primary messages:

Greater Baltimore is not generating enough quality jobs, and low-income people aren’t accessing them.

Greater Baltimore has significant assets on which to build a more opportunity-rich next economy, but they aren't being fully exploited.

Greater Baltimore needs to focus both on investing in the next economy and ensuring low-income people are connected to it.

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The Greater Baltimore Economy

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Jennifer S. Vey

Image Source: istockphoto/Jeremy Edwards

Providing Economic Opportunity in Greater Baltimore

Jennifer S. Vey — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Last week, Brookings published a paper by my colleague, Jonathan Rothwell, focused on the extent to which low-income kids are concentrated in low-performing schools, as measured by test scores. The paper puts rigorous analysis and hard numbers behind what people living in metro areas like Bridgeport, Buffalo, and Baltimore already know: If you’re poor, and especially if you’re poor and black, you likely aren’t getting the education you’re going need to get a decent job or even to qualify to train for a one.

This isn’t just an issue of equity; it’s also about opportunity and economic security for families, communities, and the nation as a whole.

A new report focused on Baltimore homes in on this point, examining how education and skills barriers keep residents in low-wage jobs, which in turn helps keep them from reaching the coveted middle class. Indeed, about three-quarters of the Baltimore metro’s low-income workers are employed in just handful of industries, including healthcare, social, and educational services, arts and entertainment, and accommodation and food services. These industries don’t pay uniformly low wages, but they are big regional employers, with large numbers of low-wage occupations.

That low-income people tend to work in low-paying jobs seems a pretty obvious point. But what’s a more than a little disconcerting about this fact is that it’s the lowest-wage industries in the metro that have been growing the fastest over the past few decades. What’s worse, real wages in some of these industries—like food service and drinking establishments, as well as social assistance—have actually dropped. The opposite is true for high-paying, wage-growing sectors like manufacturing, which have seen their job numbers plummet.

The big takeaway here is that creating better opportunities for more people requires not only a better system of educating kids and connecting them with job opportunities, but a better approach to regional economic growth and development. If you want to raise opportunity and incomes, in other words, you have to increase the number of higher-paying jobs that low-income people have the chance to access. In Greater Baltimore, these jobs can be found in next economy sectors like manufacturing, information technology, bioscience, transportation and logistics, as well as the “clean” economy. In fact, compared to the metro economy as a whole, each of these sectors has a greater share of workers earning a decent living with some training or credential, but without having completed a four-year degree.

A regional economy is a big ship to turn. In the meantime, the education system will keep churning out more kids each year, many of whom will flounder: In 2010, 21 percent of young adults in Baltimore City weren’t attending school, weren’t working, and had no degree past high school. This brings me back to Jonathan’s paper. His research provides more heaping evidence that we need to close educational disparities and ensure that all students leave school with a strong set of basic skills. But we also need to find better ways to engage students in the type of skill-based learning that can help them succeed in a changing economy. In short, Baltimore’s leaders—and metro leaders nationwide—need to focus both on growing a stronger next economy, and ensuring that kids are given the classroom and on-the-job exposure needed to understand and experience the opportunities it presents to them.

Authors

Jennifer S. Vey

Publication: The Avenue, The New Republic

Image Source: © Adam Hunger / Reuters

Building Baltimore's Next Economy

Jennifer S. Vey — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0400

The region is doing better than most, but it needs to work harder at aligning workers' skills with economic opportunities.

By several measures, metropolitan Baltimore's economy is doing better than fine.

In 2010, median household income was nearly $15,000 higher than the national average, and during the last decade, real incomes grew even as they shrank nationally. Metro employment increased, while it declined across the country, and when the economy went south, the region's unemployment rate remained lower than that of most if its metropolitan peers.

But as legitimately rosy as these numbers are, they mask — as averages will do — the steep opportunity challenges facing many of the region's residents. While only about 10 percent of metro-area residents would be considered poor by the standard measures, nearly a quarter are low-income, meaning they are part of a family whose yearly income is below 200 percent of the federal poverty line, or less than $47,000 for a family of four.

The problem is that for years, the Baltimore region has been creating too few good-paying jobs that too few low-income people have the skills and other capacities to access. In fact, three-quarters of our area's low-income workers are employed in just a handful of industries, such as health care and educational services, retail, and accommodation and food services. These industries don't pay uniformly low wages, but they include large numbers of low-wage occupations.

The fact that low-income people are concentrated in low-paying jobs is not news. However, we should be more than a little concerned that it is the lowest-wage industries in the metro area that have been growing the fastest over the past few decades. What's worse, average annual wages in some of these industries — such as food service and drinking establishments and social assistance — have actually dropped. The opposite is true for well-paying sectors like manufacturing, which have seen their job numbers plummet even as wages have grown.

So what can we do to grow an economy that provides greater opportunities for greater numbers of our residents? This Thursday, we at the Brookings Institution are releasing a new study, "Building From Strength: Creating Opportunity in Greater Baltimore's Next Economy," that focuses on the creation of quality jobs and preparing our workforce to fill them.

As the report highlights, the Baltimore metro area has an awful lot of good things going for it, including an enviable network of colleges and universities; several world-class hospital systems; close proximity to the nation's capital; and, importantly, sophisticated firms, skilled talent and formidable research capacity. These assets should allow us to grow and excel in areas like manufacturing, bioscience, information technology, transportation and logistics, and the "clean" economy — all sectors that, compared to the metro economy as a whole, have a greater share of workers earning a middle-income wage or better without having completed a four-year degree.

But we aren't anywhere near taking full advantage of all our strengths.

To do so, we need to be strategic and intentional. We need to build a stronger export economy and provide greater support for innovation and entrepreneurship in all industries. We should do more to support the commercialization of technologies, and help small- and mid-sized manufacturers stay on the cutting edge.

At the same time, we need to do more to help both young and experienced workers get the education and training needed for the types of jobs we want to create. Education, workforce and business leaders need to work more closely together to match curricula with needed skills and to create bridges to opportunities like apprenticeships, mentoring programs and on-the-job experiences. Without this kind of cooperative approach, the education system will keep churning out young people who will founder in an economy already full of workers who can't get ahead.

Finally, we need to make sure that people, once they're ready to work, can get there. We have to better align land-use, transportation and infrastructure investments with residential and business development so that it's easier and more affordable for people to get to their jobs. And we should work to make existing public transportation systems better connect people to locations where jobs are concentrated and growing.

Greater Baltimore has the economic assets and institutional capacity needed to create a more opportunity-rich regional economy. We must build on those strengths with a bold vision of the possible, and the collective will to achieve it.

This article was originally posted in The Baltimore Sun.

Authors

Jennifer S. Vey

Publication: The Baltimore Sun

Image Source: © Reuters Photographer / Reuters

Recapturing Land for Economic and Fiscal Growth

Alan Mallach and Jennifer S. Vey — Tue, 03 May 2011 00:00:00 -0400

Vacant land and abandoned properties challenge both older industrial metros struggling with the effects of long-term population decline and metros that were booming until the foreclosure crisis and the recession wrought havoc on their economies. These properties are a significant drag on local economic and fiscal health, exacerbating already intense fiscal stress for local governments. Yet they are also major potential assets for business growth, job creation, and neighborhood revitalization.

Unfortunately, weak and antiquated state laws governing tax foreclosure, land banking, code enforcement, and other areas make it difficult for local governments to address vacancy and abandonment, and prevent them from unlocking properties’ productive potential. To give municipalities the tools the need to repurpose distressed land and buildings, states should:

Reform inefficient tax foreclosure laws
Create clear paths to public control of vacant and abandoned properties
Empower effective code enforcement and nuisance abatement
Enhance local government’s power to mitigate the harm created by mortgage foreclosure

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Cities Struggle with Not So Pretty Vacancy

Jennifer S. Vey — Tue, 03 May 2011 14:09:00 -0400

Have you ever wondered why someone doesn’t just do something about that big weedy lot on the edge of downtown, or the house up the street that’s been boarded up for years? You might ask your state legislator--though they probably won’t have a good answer.

All over the country, cities grapple with vacant and abandoned land and buildings. The issue is particularly problematic in places--think Detroit, Cleveland, and Buffalo--that have lost a large portion of their residents and jobs over the decades, but it’s also a growing challenge in parts of the South and West, where the bursting of the real estate bubble has driven up foreclosures and owner “walkaways” in cities and once-booming suburbs alike. Even relatively healthy cities have some neighborhoods where low demand yields high numbers of vacant properties.

Though seemingly a purely local issue, Alan Mallach and I describe in a new brief how weak and antiquated state laws--on tax foreclosure, land banking, code enforcement, and other areas--can have huge influence on what properties get redeveloped (or at least mowed) under what time horizons.

While many of these laws may seem trifling or arcane, they can be a huge burden for the municipalities governed by them, as they can hamstring local leaders’ ability to minimize distressed properties’ costs--their drag on property values and their ongoing need for basic maintenance--as well as their ability to repurpose them for tax generating development or other uses.

For example, excessively long periods during which tax delinquent owners can redeem their properties by paying the back taxes--as many as five years in some states--and other procedural obstacles to responsible reuse mean that vacant properties can spend years in limbo with unclear, unmarketable title, while others pass from hand to hand through a revolving door of neglect. Even when a property has been long since abandoned by its owners, state laws can make local governments’ ability to acquire and/or dispose of it time-consuming, complicated, and expensive.

As state leaders continue to dig under their figurative couch cushions for spare change and cut the fat, and then some, out of their budgets, they should also look for ways to help their local (and thus ultimately state) economies through legal and policy reforms that don’t need to cost a dime. In economics, remember, land is one of the key factors--along with labor, capital, and for some, entrepreneurship--in the production of wealth.

States should start treating it accordingly.

Authors

Jennifer S. Vey

Publication: The Avenue, The New Republic

Image Source: © ERIC THAYER / Reuters

Cyclical and Structural State Budget Deficits in California and the Intermountain West

Sue Clark-Johnson, Mark Muro, Matthew Murray and Jennifer S. Vey — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0500

As state legislatures reconvene this month, numerous states are contending with substantial budgetary turmoil, aggravated by the recent Great Recession and slow recovery. Such turmoil has visited substantial hardship on citizens and threatens to weaken many states’ ability to provide basic services and make in vestments for their long-term economic vitality.

This brief takes a careful look at the fiscal situation in Arizona, California, Colorado, and Nevada and examines the states’ serious cyclical budget shortfalls—those resulting from the recession and its aftermath—as well as the critical longer-term structural imbalances between revenues and expenditures that have developed in Arizona, California, and, to a lesser extent, Nevada. Along these lines, the study—produced by Brookings Mountain West in partnership with the Morrison Institute for Public Policy at Arizona State University— uses a unique methodology to estimate the size of the states’ structural deficits (or, in Colorado, the surplus) and explores the mix of forces, particularly the policy choices, that created them. After that, the authors highlight the dramatic impacts these states’ fiscal challenges, and government responses to them, are having on service delivery as well as local governments. The brief concludes by suggesting some of the steps state policymakers must take to close their budget gaps over the short and longer term. Accompanying the brief is a special single-state drill-down on the particularly dire situation in Arizona.

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Authors

Sue Clark-Johnson
Mark Muro
Matthew Murray
Jennifer S. Vey

Publication: The Brookings Institution and the Morrison Institute for Public Policy, Arizona State University

Image Source: © Max Whittaker / Reuters

The Next Economy: Economic Recovery and Transformation in the Great Lakes Region

John C. Austin, Jennifer Bradley and Jennifer S. Vey — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 00:00:00 -0400

As the American economy works its way slowly out of the Great Recession, a consensus is developing among public and private-sector stakeholders that simply re-constructing our old economy, one based on highly-leveraged domestic consumption, would be a serious mistake. The nation must instead focus on building the next economy, one that is oriented towards greater exporting, powered by a low-carbon energy strategy, driven by innovation, and that creates opportunities for all.

The Great Lakes region, too long tagged with the misleading nickname, The Rust Belt, could show the rest of the country the way forward to the next economy. Although battered by decades of declining economic health, and particularly by the recession, the nation’s heartland still has many of the fundamental resources—top-ranked universities, companies with deep experience in global trade, and emerging centers of clean energy research to name just a few—necessary to create a better, more sustainable, economic model.

This is not to disregard the region’s challenges. Its major metros have neither the economic development strategies nor the transportation infrastructure in place to fully take advantage of their export generating capacity. Many have inefficient physical development patterns, hollowed out urban neighborhoods, and concentrations of energy-intensive industries, and thus remain the epicenters of the nation’s fossil fuel-reliant economy. They lack the early-stage capital and other supports needed to strengthen existing firms and encourage start-up enterprises. And many suffer from deep, entrenched poverty, and have low educational attainment levels compared with their peers nationwide.

With both the strengths and challenges clearly in mind, this report provides a roadmap to economic recovery and transformation in the Great Lakes region, powered by its metropolitan areas. It describes how federal, state, and local stakeholders can leverage the region’s substantial assets to create a more productive, sustainable, and inclusive economic future.

The report finds:

First—The Great Lakes region, particularly its metropolitan areas, has significant resources essential to creating the next economy:

Global Trade Networks —These networks, developed in large part by the auto industry, are critical to an export economy. Seven Great Lakes metros—Dayton, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Toledo, and Youngstown—are already among the country’s top 20 metro areas in terms of the share of their metro output that is exported. In particular, Great Lakes metros can capitalize on the growth potential of knowledge exports, as they have a concentration of top universities and associated medical complexes.
Clean Energy/Low Carbon Capacity — Industries and universities in Great Lakes metros have created the research capacity and manufacturing prowess needed to build a clean energy, low-carbon economy. They have an outsized ability to lead on wind and solar renewable component manufacturing, and to capitalize on the “green-blue” potential of the Great Lakes and their waterways. The region’s research and innovation infrastructure is already spurring the development of new products and processes: Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois are among the top states in terms of green tech patenting, focused on new technologies in battery power, hybrid systems, and fuel cells.
Innovation Infrastructure — Great Lakes metros have the industrial and institutional infrastructure necessary to power an innovation economy. The 21 largest Great Lakes metros alone are home to 32 major public and private research universities, which attract substantial federal research investment. The region produces approximately 36 percent of America’s science and engineering degrees each year. Between 2001 and 2007, an average of nearly one-third of the country’s patents each year were awarded to the Great Lakes states.
Opportunities — Like innovation, opportunities grow in the presence of a robust educational network, such as the one that exists in the Great Lakes region. In addition to its public and land grant universities—the latter created in the 19^th century to promote agriculture, science, and engineering—the region is also dotted with community colleges, which help the region’s workers develop skills and credentials necessary to secure jobs in the region’s industries, and in so doing maintain a pool of skilled employees to attract and support them.

Second — To realize the promise of the next economy, federal, state, and metropolitan leaders should join with the private and philanthropic sector to:

Invest in the assets that matter: innovation, infrastructure, and human capital
Devise new public-private institutions that are market-oriented and performance-driven.
Reimagine metros’ form and governance structures to set the right conditions for economic growth

Voices from the Region
As part of this project, a number of scholars, practitioners, and policy experts from Great Lakes metros, and beyond, contributed their recommendations for how the federal government could support the region’s transition to the next economy. These recommendations, discussed in a series of briefs, focus on a range of issues including workforce policy, manufacturing, higher education, transportation, and water policy.

The Federal Role in Helping Incumbent and Dislocated Workers Adjust to the New Economy » (PDF)
Randall Eberts and George Erickcek

Strengthening American Manufacturing: A New Federal Approach » (PDF)
Susan Helper and Howard Wial

The Federal Role in Leveraging America’s Community Colleges » (PDF)
James Jacobs

The Federal Role in Supporting Auto Sector Innovation » (PDF)
Thomas Klier and Christopher Sands

The Federal Role in Supporting Public Universities’ Global Missions » (PDF)
Lou Anna K. Simon, Richard M. Foster, and John C. Austin

Developing a National Strategy for Goods Movement » (PDF)
Robert Puentes

Leveraging the Great Lakes Region’s Water Assets for Economic Growth » (PDF))
G. Allen Burton, Don Scavia, Samuel N. Luoma, Nancy G. Love and John C. Austin

Additional Resources
Hubs of Transformation: Leveraging the Great Lakes Research Complex for Energy Innovation »
James J. Duderstadt, Mark Muro, and Sarah Rahman

Turning Up the Heat: How Venture Capital Can Help Fuel the Economic Transformation of the Great Lakes Region »
Frank Samuel

Facing the Urban Challenge: Reimagining Land Use in America's Distressed Older Cities—The Federal Policy Role »
Alan Mallach

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Authors

Publication: Brookings Institution

The Great Lakes: Mid-America’s Might

John C. Austin and Jennifer S. Vey — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 13:42:00 -0400

As seen here on the Avenue, our colleagues have been hammering on the fact that, just as the nation’s metropolitan areas went into the Great Recession carrying their own unique economic baggage, so too, are they are emerging from it differentially equipped to participate in the economy to come.

The metros of Great Lakes, region, for example, did not enter the crisis on the housing and finance-fueled bubble that “popped” the economies of many metros in the south and west. Rather, many of these communities were hit by a one-two punch: a financial crisis that froze already struggling credit-dependent auto and manufacturing sectors and a broader housing market and economic collapse that crushed already stressed workers and families. All told, since the second quarter of 2007, the 21 largest metros in the region have lost a combined 1.3 million jobs.

The severity of these issues nudged the administration to provide special aid to the region, through the stimulus, the bailout of Chrysler and GM, and the establishment of the White House Council on Auto Communities and Workers—efforts that together helped staunch some of the bleeding. But Washington’s ability to help has largely run its course. With budget concerns significantly curbing the nation’s appetite for big federal moves, innovation will necessarily come from new (and perhaps existing) governors and their public and private sector counterparts in the region’s metros.

These leaders have a daunting job in the face of state and local budget freefalls, and will need to demonstrate both pragmatism and creativity under conditions of continuing scarcity and uncertainty. But the region, driven by its metropolitan areas, has a bevy of strengths they can exploit to gain real traction in the next economy—an economy that will, by necessity, be export-led, low carbon, and innovation-fueled, and which will provide better opportunities for larger numbers of people. Our new work takes stock of these assets, including:

global trade networks and relationships that will enable it to expand the volume of goods and services sold overseas, creating new jobs at home and helping the nation meets its goal of doubling exports
firms and universities that have the research horsepower and manufacturing know-how to be leaders in the invention and production of clean technologies and processes
the industrial and institutional infrastructure that can help spur economy-building innovations, and ultimately convert them into new businesses, new products, and new jobs
And a robust network of community colleges and public universities that can help provide the education and training residents need to move up the opportunity ladder

Seizing the opportunities afforded by the next economy is not for the faint of heart, however. Tempting though it may be to try to hunker down against the winds of dramatic economic change, leaders in the Great Lakes region must instead push it to be at the vanguard of even more disruption and change. Hard hit by globalization, the region needs to be the most globally-oriented in the country, building on its export base to create even more innovative products and services for global consumers. Creator of the high-carbon American lifestyle of the last century, the region must pivot to become the source for low-carbon technologies, and new, greener urban infrastructures and communities. And lulled into complacency by an economic structure that didn’t require, and therefore didn’t value, education, the region must become an example of how to create an economy that offers opportunity for all to gain the knowledge and skills they need to compete.

Crisis, in short, must be used to spur innovation and renewal.

To be sure, the federal government still has to take on some macroeconomic fundamentals: trade, currency, carbon pricing strategies, and investment in the nation’s infrastructure and education systems. But our report argues that state and metro leaders need to put forth their own set of smart reforms and investments, from developing cluster-based strategies to boost metropolitan exports, to developing tough, merit-based approaches to funding transportation projects, to creating land banks that would allow them to better manage land for long-term planning and economic development.

The region’s leaders may very well be up to the task. Governors and mayors of both parties, backed by shrewd business, civic, philanthropic, and labor allies, can often be more courageous and innovative than those trapped within the Beltway. As such, they can help the region create a new and improved narrative about itself, one based not on how it failed to adapt to the economy we just left behind, but on the important role it will play in the one that lies ahead.

Authors

Publication: The Avenue, The New Republic

Image Source: © Rebecca Cook / Reuters

Revitalizing Older Industrial Cities: Capitol Hill Summit

Jennifer S. Vey — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Once thriving centers of business and commerce, growth, and prosperity, decades of deindustrialization and demographic change have left America’s older industrial metro areas still struggling against slow population growth, lagging productivity, urban disinvestment, and sprawl. This presentation at the Revitalizing Older Cities Capitol Hill Summit offers a set of federal policies that could help spur innovation, boost human capital, improve infrastructure, and nurture the growth of quality places in these historic communities.

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Jennifer S. Vey

Publication: The Northeast-Midwest Institute

Retooling for Growth in America’s Older Industrial Areas

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 16:30:00 -0400

Event Information

April 8, 2008
4:30 PM - 6:00 PM EDT

Saul/Zilkha Rooms
The Brookings Institution
1775 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Many older cities, particularly in the Northeast and Midwest, are struggling to find their place in the new global economy. Once the country’s industrial powerhouses, these areas are grappling with challenges—slow job growth, declining home values, a diminishing tax base, concentrated poverty—which undermine their ability to attract and retain the skilled workforce and new growth industries needed to create a better economic future. Yet for all their problems, America’s older industrial areas have a large number of economic, physical, and cultural assets that haven’t been fully leveraged. How can these regions capitalize on their strengths to create robust growth and shared prosperity?

On April 8, the American Assembly and the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings held a forum to discuss how the nation’s government, business, civic and community leaders can develop and implement new policies to revitalize older industrial areas. The strategies were based on the findings of the Brookings Institution Press book Retooling for Growth: Building a 21st Century Economy in America’s Older Industrial Areas.

David Mortimer, president and trustee at the American Assembly provided introductory remarks. The editors of the book, Richard M. McGahey, program officer at the Ford Foundation, and Jennifer S. Vey, fellow in the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings, offered an overview of the findings and recommendations. The Hon. Chris Doherty, Mayor of the City of Scranton; Mark Turner, President & CEO of Optimal Solutions Group LLC; and Michael Fleming, President & CEO of The American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) participated on the panel discussion. Paul Brophy, nonresident senior fellow at Brookings, moderated the discussion.

After the program, panelists took audience questions.

Transcript

Transcript (.pdf)

Event Materials

0408_industrial_areas

Participants

Moderator

Panelists

David Mortimer

President and Trustee, The American Assembly

Richard M. McGahey

Program Officer, Ford Foundation

The Honorable Chris Doherty

Mayor, City of Scranton

Mark Turner

President and CEO, Optimal Solutions Group LLC

Michael Fleming

President and CEO, The American Chamber of Commerce Executives

Retooling for Growth : Building a 21st Century Economy in America's Older Industrial Areas

Jennifer S. Vey and Richard M. McGahey, eds. — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Brookings Institution Press 2008 437pp.

Slow job growth, declining home values, a diminishing tax base, and concentrated poverty are but a few of the growing obstacles for well-established but struggling cities. Challenged by decades of globalization, technological change, and dramatic demographic shifts away from the urban core, these former industrial powerhouses—particularly in the Northeast and Midwest—have been eclipsed by burgeoning American cities with a viable niche in the new economy.

In Retooling for Growth, experts present new frameworks, cutting-edge analysis, and innovative policy solutions through which the nation's government, business, civic, and community leaders can sculpt a sustainable and supportable economy for older industrial areas. The unique focus on rehabilitating weak market cities outlines ideas for reshaping the role of public agencies, the workforce, business organizations, and technology. Implementation of these measures addresses challenges such as fostering entrepreneurship, reducing poverty and inequality, and maintaining and augmenting the number of skilled professionals who reside and work in a community, among others.

This collection of essays offers practical, achievable strategies for revitalizing industrial areas and building upon the potential of existing but overlooked resources of economic, physical, and cultural significance. In this important volume, leading authorities provide a thought-provoking analysis of healthy economic development practices for both public and private sectors.

"The future health of our older industrial cities will be determined by their ability to adapt to these changes, reshaping local, state, and federal policies and harnessing the power of private investment to boost global competitiveness." From the Foreword by Bank of America chairman and CEO Kenneth Lewis and Governor Edward Rendell of Pennsylvania

Contributors: Chris Benne (University of California-Davis), Angela Glover Blackwell (PolicyLink), Pamela Blumenthal (George Washington University), Andres Cruz (Optimal Solutions Group), Laurel Davis (Optimal Solutions Group), Jeff Finkle (International Economic Development Council), Mick Fleming (American Chamber of Commerce Executives), Radhika Fox (PolicyLink), Kimberly Furdell (George Washington University), Shari Garmise (International Economic Development Council), Edward W. Hill (Cleveland State University), Pauline O. Hovey (Greene Education Foundation), Richard Kazis (Jobs for the Future), Randall Kempner (Council on Competitiveness), Kenneth Lewis (Chairman and CEO, Bank of America), Daniel Luria (Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center), Ann Markusen (University of Minnesota), Stephen Moret (Baton Rouge Area Chamber of Commerce), Shari Nourick (Nourick & Associates), Jeremy Nowak (The Reinvestment Fund), Manuel Pastor (University of Southern California), Edward Rendell (Governor, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania), Joel Rogers (University of Wisconsin), Marlene Seltzer (Jobs for the Future), Greg Schrock (University of Illinois-Chicago), Mark Turner (Optimal Solutions Group), Rachel Weber (University of Illinois-Chicago), Harold Wolman (George Washington University and Brookings Institution).

ABOUT THE EDITORS

Jennifer S. Vey

Richard M. McGahey

Richard M. McGahey is a program officer in the Economic Development Unit at the Ford Foundation.

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The Goal for Ohio Metros: 43,000 residents

Bruce Katz and Jennifer S. Vey — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 00:00:00 -0400

We studied 302 cities and found Canton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dayton, Mansfield, Springfield, Warren and Youngstown among 65 cities that are underperforming compared to their peers nationwide. Most of these cities - and their metropolitan areas - are struggling to make a successful transition from an economy based on routine manufacturing to one based on more knowledge-oriented activities.

Nothing new, right? Well, not quite.

The new Brookings Institution study, "Restoring Prosperity: The State Role in Revitalizing America's Older Industrial Cities," also found that broad demographic and market forces are repositioning the economies of urban areas and revaluing their assets for a wide range of consumers, businesses and cultural institutions. Diversity, authenticity, institutions of knowledge, waterfronts, downtowns and the urban form - "cityness" in a word - matter again to a growing and diverse set of families and firms. Urban densities and the transportation alternatives that come with them are also increasingly being recognized as important antidotes to climate change.

Given these trends, the time is now for state officials and other stakeholders to recognize the inherent value of cities and create new policies to build on their assets and unleash their full potential - in short, to restore the core. They can't afford not to: To compete in today's innovative, knowledge-based economy, states and metros need strong and vital cities and older suburbs that create a critical mass of highly educated residents and workers, enterprise, urban amenities and vibrant public space.

Our report is a playbook for revitalizing older industrial communities by fixing the basics (public safety and schools), building on economic and physical assets and creating strong neighborhoods and families.

Here's one practical idea for Ohio: Strive to attract at least 2 percent of each metropolitan area's population to live in traditional downtowns.

This is a challenge, no doubt. After World War II, Ohio cities were vibrant urban centers, catalysts of America's postwar boom and home to innovative industrial giants like Goodrich and Rubbermaid. Today, many of these once-proud cities are caught in a spiral of economic and demographic decline. Cleveland's core population is less than half of what it was when Harry Truman was president. The decline has in turn created an economic centrifuge, spreading development further away. In the Cleveland metro area, for instance, more than 100,000 acres of rural land were developed for suburban or urban use between 1980 and 2000 - a loss of 31.6 percent of the metro's total rural land. Comparatively, the 100 largest metro areas averaged a 12.1 percent rural land loss over the same period. Left behind in the urban cores are the vacant homes and industrial sites that serve as stark remnants of what was - and reminders of what could once again be.

Imagine the economic, fiscal and psychological impacts of housing 43,000 residents in downtown Cleveland, 40,000 residents in downtown Cincinnati and 17,000 residents in downtown Dayton - substantial jumps from their current populations. The critical massing of people would attract amenities that lure businesses and jobs for downtown and metro-area residents, shoppers and tourists, and help stem the exodus of young workers. And appealing new housing with street-level cafes and shops would bring life and a virtuous cycle of growth to metropolitan hubs.

So how does Ohio achieve a "2 percent" goal?

First, research has shown that the physical clustering of talented people is critical for economic growth. Targeted fiscal incentives such as homeowners' and employer-assisted housing tax credits encourage employers to help their workers with down payments. Tax credits also create incentives for home buyers, businesses and developers to locate in, preserve and redevelop historic urban centers. In Cleveland, this targeting would build on an earlier generation of state, regional and local investments. The entertainment bets of the past several decades - Playhouse Square, Jacobs Field, Gund Arena, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, just to name a few - are finally poised to pay off, if state and metropolitan policies are aligned to support a new generation of residential, retail and business growth.

A second, complementary way to convert older cities to innovative economies is to locate new college and university campuses in downtown centers. This has already begun in Cleveland with the extension of Cleveland State University's campus to the Playhouse Square area. Some 50 four- and two-year colleges are located in the eight Ohio cities highlighted by our report and should be encouraged to develop downtown satellite campuses. Higher education institutions are not only major employers but incubators of new, creative businesses and jobs. As low-wage service-sector jobs replace industrial jobs, encouraging the expansion of tech ventures and health care facilities is essential to expanding the number of Ohio residents earning a good living in reborn downtowns.

Finally, transformative investments in infrastructure - waterfront redevelopment, the teardown of obsolete highways, investment in large urban parks - can be critical to downtown success. Cleveland's Waterfront District Plan, which includes the conversion of the Shoreway into a boulevard, is designed to reconnect city residents to the water, and ultimately "shape the lakefront as the most vital element in the transformation of Cleveland as a place to live, work and play." The state should help accelerate this effort, while working with other Ohio cities to identify and invest in projects with similar potential catalytic effects.

These are ambitious ideas that will trigger concern and consternation in many quarters. Will they work?

Even a cursory visit to Europe's older industrial cities - Bilbao, Spain; Torino, Italy; Manchester or Sheffield, England - reveals the market-shaping, investment-generating impact of restoring the core. These cities endured the same economic shocks as American cities. But they responded not by distending their regions with sprawl-inducing subsidies, but by targeting their resources toward the reclamation of industrial land and historic buildings in the center. They prepared their places, in short, for the innovative economy of the future.

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Publication: The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH)

Cities Must Lead Way Back to Prosperity

Bruce Katz and Jennifer S. Vey — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 00:00:00 -0400

For all of Connecticut's affluence, its economic performance in recent years has been lackluster at best. According to a recent report by the Connecticut Economic Resource Center, the state has fallen far behind in job growth and entrepreneurialism, population growth is slow and young professionals are leaving. Given its research findings, this same report is adamant that "dynamic and vibrant cities" are vital to sustainable economic growth in the state.

We couldn't agree more.

Last month, The Brookings Institution released "Restoring Prosperity: The State Role in Revitalizing America's Older Industrial Cities." The study looked at 302 U.S. cities on eight indicators of economic health and residential well-being, and found Bridgeport, Hartford and New Haven among 65 cities that are underperforming compared with their peers nationwide. Most of these cities - and their regions - are still struggling to make a successful transition from an economy based on routine manufacturing to one based on more knowledge-oriented activities.

But the report is emphatic that the moment is ripe for the revival of these urban economies. For all their challenges, demographic trends - growing numbers of immigrants, an aging population, young people delaying marriage and having fewer children - are having a profound influence on how and where people choose to live, to the benefit of many urban areas. At the same time, globalization, technological advances and growing concerns about climate change are causing a renewed appreciation for the density and diversity that sets older cores apart from the expanding suburban fringe.

Good things are already happening: Witness, for example, the Hartford 21 project in this city's downtown, the Urban Green Builders development in Bridgeport, and the surge of economic activity Yale has helped stimulate in the New Haven region. But on the whole these cities remain beset by job and business losses, low incomes, high unemployment and deep concentrations of poverty.

Hartford and its counterparts have a chance to leverage their assets and build on positive trends, but they can't go it alone: To truly catalyze citywide revitalization, the state needs to engage, on multiple fronts.

The state has already taken some positive steps toward re-energizing its urban cores. In 2006, it established an Office of Brownfield Remediation and Development to provide a centralized resource for brownfield funding and information. It is working to strengthen crucial rail corridors to increase capacity and reduce service delays caused by aging rail infrastructure. And with one of the strongest minimum wage laws in the country, it is helping to grow the middle class in cities and elsewhere.

It is time to build on these efforts and help create the innovative, competitive cities Connecticut needs to ensure that all its residents have the choices and opportunities needed to thrive. Our report spells out a playbook for how states can help cities fix the basics (for example, public safety and schools), build on their economic and physical assets, and create strong neighborhoods and families. Here are three specific ideas that Connecticut's leaders should consider for the near term:

First, the state should develop a strategy to better target its market-shaping resources (infrastructure, economic development) toward existing commerce centers - the established cities and towns still struggling to find their way in an economy that has for years rendered them obsolete.

A more strategic focus of existing resources would go a long way in helping to foster private investment and development in these communities, while at the same time helping to curb sprawl and preserve rural areas.

Imagine, for example, the economic, fiscal and psychological impacts of revitalizing Connecticut's downtown cores such that they became home to 2 percent of their respective metropolitan areas' residents. This equates to about 23,000 residents in downtown Hartford, almost 16,500 in downtown New Haven, and nearly 18,000 in downtown Bridgeport - numbers that would bring life, vitality and a virtuous cycle of growth to these important metropolitan hubs.

Second, Connecticut needs to provide a new funding stream dedicated specifically to redevelopment activities in ailing commercial cores.

To this end, the state should establish a Regional Reinvestment Fund - modeled after a similar fund proposed for counties in northeast Ohio - that would be used to make investments in land assembly and infrastructure improvements in urban areas. This low-risk fund would be capitalized by a state-backed revenue bond, to be repaid with a real estate transfer tax on new land acquired with money from the fund. It would then operate in perpetuity, with municipalities taking half of the property tax revenue generated by the resulting new development, and putting the other half back into the fund so it can continue to be used for new projects.

Finally, the state should implement the recommendations of the Task Force on Brownfields Strategies, which calls for a new package of programs dedicated to the cleanup and development of contaminated sites, most of which are in the state's cities. Modeled in large part after similar programs in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, this effort would provide more flexible financing tools - including loans, grants and tax incentives - to put blighted properties back into productive use and help stimulate new investment in their surrounding urban neighborhoods.

For the first time in many decades, there is reason to be optimistic about the future of Connecticut's older industrial cities. Advancing beyond hope, however, requires a vision of the possible, and the will to achieve it. Is Connecticut up to the task?

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Publication: The Hartford Courant

Calling the Commonwealth: Revitalizing Pittsburgh

Bruce Katz and Jennifer S. Vey — Sun, 27 May 2007 00:00:00 -0400

State governments must get more involved and provide more support to revitalize cities like Pittsburgh.

Places Rated Almanac's recent designation of Pittsburgh as "America's Most Livable City" spurred a small flurry among area journalists and bloggers— with some touting the rating as confirmation of the qualities locals know and love, and others deriding it as little more than a nice bit of puff that discounts the city's systemic problems.

Both views are right, of course.

This past week The Brookings Institution released "Restoring Prosperity: The State Role in Revitalizing America's Older Industrial Cities." The study looked at 302 U.S. cities on eight indicators of economic health and residential well-being, and found that Pittsburgh is among 65 cities still underperforming compared to their peers nationwide.

Most of these cities, and their regions, are still struggling to make a successful transition from an economy based on routine manufacturing to one based on more knowledge-oriented activities. But the report is emphatic that the moment is ripe for the revival of these urban economies—if state and local leaders focus not only on leveraging cities' "livability" but also on the economic assets that can fuel their long-term competitiveness.

To be sure, Pittsburgh has a wide range of attributes and resources—affordable, walkable neighborhoods, reasonable commute times, historic buildings, a slew of recreational amenities—that make it a good place in which to buy a home and raise a family. But these assets haven't been enough to keep and attract residents and jobs. At least not yet.

Luckily, demographic and economic trends are giving Pittsburgh and other distressed cities the best chance for a comeback in decades.

Major demographic shifts—including a rise in the number of immigrants, an aging population and shrinking household sizes—are having a profound influence on how and where people choose to live, to the benefit of many cities. Urban areas from Chicago to Chattanooga are becoming more attractive to empty nester baby-boomers, young professionals and others seeking a city lifestyle. These urbanites are sparking a resurgence in downtowns and inner-city neighborhoods and offering hope to those places—like Pittsburgh—that are starting to catch the wave.

At the same time, globalization, technological advances and other economic trends are causing a renewed appreciation for the density and diversity that sets urban areas apart from the suburban fringe. The role and function of higher education and medical facilities in economic development, meanwhile, is growing—a potential boon to the Pittsburgh area, which boasts nearly two dozen four-year and two-year colleges and universities, as well as nearly 20 hospitals and medical facilities.

But to capitalize on these trends, older industrial cities need a new strategy—one that moves beyond policies and programs aimed at managing fiscal distress and urban decline and instead includes integrated policies and practices aimed at improving city-wide market performance. Local leaders need to articulate their own vision of success and a strategy by which to achieve it. But they can't go it alone: To truly catalyze city revitalization, state governments need to engage on multiple fronts.

In the past several years, the commonwealth of Pennsylvania has begun to make reinvestment in the state's cities and towns a priority. But more needs to be done. Pittsburgh and other Pennsylvania cities must continue to lean on state leaders to enact a true reform agenda for urban areas and to insist on more support in their efforts to develop innovative, competitive economies that are attractive to new firms and workers.

In Pittsburgh, the priorities should be pretty clear. Harrisburg needs to work with local governments and civic and business leaders to build on Pittsburgh's existing economic strengths—by investing in Downtown and fueling innovative economic growth, particularly through the region's remarkable concentration of academic institutions and cutting-edge research centers.

Two Heinz Endowments initiatives—Downtown Now and the Innovation Economy Program—focus on a range of strategies aimed at spurring development in Pittsburgh's urban core, as well as advancing the region's capacity to commercialize new technologies and to create and attract high-quality jobs. The state can build on such programs by making transformative investments in Downtown infrastructure; by creating incentives for home buyers, businesses and developers to locate in, preserve and redevelop historic buildings, and by making regional cluster development the major tenet of its economic-development policies.

Second, the commonwealth needs to help the city and metropolis realize the potential of a state-of-the-art mass transit system. Transit has become a competitive necessity for American metro areas, a generator of smart development and a vehicle to achieve important environmental and social objectives. The state should secure a dedicated source of public revenue for the Port Authority and other transit agencies, end the transit systems' annual budget crises and allow Pittsburgh to plan for regional transit extensions rather than service reductions and fare hikes. The state also should expand incentives for redeveloping and revitalizing communities around existing transit facilities.

Finally, Pittsburgh—and all cities, boroughs and townships in the commonwealth—need more latitude and support to collaborate across the arcane labyrinth of municipal boundaries that, aside from being absurdly inefficient, also undercut the competitiveness of the entire state. With hundreds of counties, cities, boroughs and townships competing for businesses and jobs, they all engage in a race to the bottom that no one can possibly win—a fact well-recognized by groups like the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, which has made the structural and functional consolidation of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County one of its focal issues.

The Rendell administration's revival of the once defunct State Planning Board is a first step toward substantial governance reform in the state. Local leaders now need to urge the General Assembly to enact the legal changes necessary to facilitate the consolidation of the city and county governments and to provide incentives for voluntary collaboration among other local governments. These changes are needed to ward off fiscal distress, save money, better manage development and build the regional economy.

For the first time in several decades, there is reason to be truly optimistic about Pittsburgh's future. Advancing beyond hope, however, requires a vision of the possible—and the will of the commonwealth to help the city achieve it.

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Publication: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Restoring Prosperity: The State Role in Revitalizing America's Older Industrial Cities

Jennifer S. Vey — Tue, 01 May 2007 00:00:00 -0400

With over 16 million people and nearly 8.6 million jobs, America's older industrial cities remain a vital-if undervalued-part of the economy, particularly in states where they are heavily concentrated, such as Ohio and Pennsylvania. They also have a range of other physical, economic, and cultural assets that, if fully leveraged, can serve as a platform for their renewal.

Read the Executive Summary »

Across the country, cities today are becoming more attractive to certain segments of society. Meanwhile, economic trends-globalization, the demand for educated workers, the increasing role of universities-are providing cities with an unprecedented chance to capitalize upon their economic advantages and regain their competitive edge.

Many cities have exploited these assets to their advantage; the moment is ripe for older industrial cities to follow suit. But to do so, these cities need thoughtful and broad-based approaches to foster prosperity.

"Restoring Prosperity" aims to mobilize governors and legislative leaders, as well as local constituencies, behind an asset-oriented agenda for reinvigorating the market in the nation's older industrial cities. The report begins with identifications and descriptions of these cities-and the economic, demographic, and policy "drivers" behind their current condition-then makes a case for why the moment is ripe for advancing urban reform, and offers a five-part agenda and organizing plan to achieve it.

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Jennifer S. Vey

The Federal Housing Policy Dilemma for Older Communities

Jennifer S. Vey and Robert Puentes — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Often the biggest challenge for older cities and close-in suburbs is not a lack of affordable housing but a need to grow, hold, and attract middle-income households and to foster mixed-income neighborhoods. This creates a policy dilemma: While federal policymakers target limited federal housing assistance to persons with the greatest needs, doing so can create concentrations of poverty within already challenged cities and suburbs. This approach also can set limits that hinder efforts to create the middle-income and mixed-income areas needed for revitalization in older communities.

The metro program hosts and participates in a variety of public forums. To view a complete list of these events, please visit the metro program's Research and Commentary page which provides copies of major speeches, PowerPoint presentations, event transcripts, and event summaries.

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Publication: Capitol Hill Briefing

Organizing for Success: A Call to Action for the Kansas City Region

Jennifer S. Vey — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 00:00:00 -0400

Though possessing much economic strength, the Kansas City region faces stark barriers to its long term competitiveness, including a limited capacity for innovation, unfocused growth, and wide racial disparities. This paper—in conjunction with two companion papers delving into the region's economic assets and its life sciences economy—examines how Kansas City can overcome these challenges.

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Jennifer S. Vey

Higher Education In Pennsylvania: A Competitive Asset For Communities

Jennifer S. Vey — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 00:00:00 -0400

In this presentation at the Pennsylvania League of Cities and Municipalities Annual Convention, Jennifer Vey describes how Pennsylvania's higher education institutions are a major competitive asset for the state and its localities.

The metro program hosts and participates in a variety of public forums. To view a complete list of these events, please visit the metro program's Speeches and Events page which provides copies of major speeches, PowerPoint presentations, event transcripts, and event summaries.

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Publication: Pennsylvania League of Cities and Municipalities

Brookings: Experts - Jennifer S. Vey

Provide a Federal Life Line for America's Destabilized Neighborhoods

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@ Brookings Podcast: Baltimore as a Case Study in Metro Economic Recovery

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Building From Strength: Creating Opportunity in Greater Baltimore's Next Economy

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Providing Economic Opportunity in Greater Baltimore

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Building Baltimore's Next Economy

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Recapturing Land for Economic and Fiscal Growth

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Cities Struggle with Not So Pretty Vacancy

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Cyclical and Structural State Budget Deficits in California and the Intermountain West

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The Next Economy: Economic Recovery and Transformation in the Great Lakes Region

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The Great Lakes: Mid-America’s Might

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Revitalizing Older Industrial Cities: Capitol Hill Summit

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Retooling for Growth in America’s Older Industrial Areas

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Retooling for Growth : Building a 21st Century Economy in America's Older Industrial Areas

ABOUT THE EDITORS

Jennifer S. Vey

Richard M. McGahey

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The Goal for Ohio Metros: 43,000 residents

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Cities Must Lead Way Back to Prosperity

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Calling the Commonwealth: Revitalizing Pittsburgh

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Restoring Prosperity: The State Role in Revitalizing America's Older Industrial Cities

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The Federal Housing Policy Dilemma for Older Communities

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Organizing for Success: A Call to Action for the Kansas City Region

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Higher Education In Pennsylvania: A Competitive Asset For Communities

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