An online tool released three weeks ago by the Chicago Federal Reserve allows a more nuanced comparison between peer cities.
Pete Saunders is spreading the news about a new tool from the Community Development and Policy Studies department of the Chicago Federal Reserve, which "allows policymakers, planners and researchers to truly identify cities facing similar challenges, and in the process find the ones that may have developed appropriate policy responses."
According to Saunders, the new tool will help improve commonly understudied and under-analyzed comparisons between cities. So, for instance, "[t]he cities of Detroit, Washington, Boston and Portland are nearly identical in population, with fewer than 30,000 people separating them. Does that make them similar? Nashville and Memphis are similarly sized and located within the same state, but they're vastly different cities in terms of economy, demographic composition, age, education, housing, and other factors."
The Peer City Identification Tool, as it's called, organizes comparisons into four categories: equity, resilience (in this case, a labor concern), housing, and outlook.
FULL STORY: A New, Powerful Data Tool For Cities
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Texas A&M AgriLife Extension
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Harvard Graduate School of Design Executive Education
Harvard Graduate School of Design Executive Education
City of Apache Junction
City of Helena
Gallatin County, Montana
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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.
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