A recent report from The Brookings Institution examines unemployment trends in the urban and suburban areas of the top 100 metropolitan areas in the U.S., mainly by looking at the demand for "safety net" services.
The analysis was based on changes in claims for unemployment assistance and food stamps over the past 20 months of the economic recession. The study finds that unemployment rates in urban areas is about the same as suburban areas.
"Understanding how different metropolitan areas have been affected by the recession is a critical step toward shaping appropriate regional public- and private-sector responses to promote recovery. Of course, metropolitan areas are collections of communities that may also be experiencing the downturn to varying degrees, especially now that more than half of America's metropolitan poor live in suburbia. Intra-metropolitan patterns of unemployment and need should thus additionally inform efforts to put metropolitan workers and firms on the road to recovery."
Read the full story: The Landscape of Recession: Unemployment and Safety Net Services Across Urban and Suburban America
The Best and Worst U.S. Cities to Find Jobs
This infographic from Good shows how unemployment numbers compare in various metros in the country.
Lithium mines leech water from surrounding communities. Soon, they’ll run dry
Researchers concluded that most lithium mines won't have enough water to meet industry demands by 2050.
Are Regional Governments the Answer to the Housing Crisis?
A never-realized model of regional governance once proposed in California could help ease the housing crunch and create more housing in suburbs and peripheral areas.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
Malls are becoming the midtowns of the future
Mall and office park redevelopments are a generational opportunity to create new nodes of urbanity.
Officials claim feds 'rushed' Amtrak environmental review
Amtrak plans to move their Chicago maintenance facility from an industrial area to a residential one.
NYC breaks ground on anti-flooding infrastructure project
New York City's new system will reduce stormwater flows to local sewers by 90%.
One Kentucky town’s secret to affordable housing
The Smoketown Community Land Trust has already built seven affordable homes for community members.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority