Cities increasingly are creating incentives to attract businesses to their area. In this competitive environment, cities are committing valuable resources to these efforts. But city officials do not know for certain what causes a business to move.
Three new reports address various aspects of the business location decisionmaking process. In the first, Business Location Decision-Making and the Cities: Bringing Companies Back, Natalie Cohen at the Brookings Institution draws on data directly from business decisionmakers to determine why businesses choose to locate in one place rather than another. A second new report, Cautionary Notes for Competitive Cities, assembles findings from a number of sources to look at the effectiveness of four strategies cities currently use to attract businesses and fuel economic growth. In this paper, Amy Ellen Schwartz and Ingrid Gould Ellen of New York Universitys Wagner School warn cities thinking about investing in infrastructure, lowering taxes, stimulating high-tech enclaves, or promoting tourism to consider the drawbacks as well as the advantages.In the final report, Bidding for Business: The Efficacy of Local Economic Development Incentives in a Metropolitan Area, John E. Anderson and Robert W. Wassmer of the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research use regression analysis to look closely at one tool cities frequently rely on to compete for businesses. Their findings indicate that local fiscal incentives might not give cities the edge they are seeking.
Thanks to Chris Steins
FULL STORY: Listen Up Cities�This Is What Businesses Really Want

Good Planning Under Bad Leadership
Planners must sometimes work under bad leadership. Here are suggestions for responsive planning in challenging political environments.

Amtrak Cascades Line Breaks Ridership Record
The route linking Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver, BC served nearly one million riders in 2024.

Legendary Parking Guru Donald Shoup Dies at 86
Urbanists are mourning the loss of a dynamic voice for parking reform and walkable cities.

Over 71K Office-to-Apartment Units in the Pipeline for 2025
Adaptive reuse projects are continuing to bring thousands of new housing units onto the market as demand for office space remains low.

How Houston Can Be a Model for Housing Reform
The city builds more new housing than almost any other and has dramatically reduced homelessness, yet low-income families struggle to find affordable housing.

Delivering for America Plan Will Downgrade Mail Service in at Least 49.5 Percent of Zip Codes
Republican and Democrat lawmakers criticize the plan for its disproportionate negative impact on rural communities.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Brookings
City of White Salmon
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
City of Cambridge, Maryland