Cities
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The Impact of Gentrification on Homeowners
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When wealthy new residents move into lower-income neighborhoods, they often renovate homes and open upscale businesses. This drives up property values, property taxes, and rent. This chain of events may force current lower-income residents to move out. Gentrification is a major issue nationwide, and cities are searching for the “magic”…
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University of Chicago’s Interdisciplinary Conference on Violence
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Violence may be a complex, wicked problem. Solutions to it are not necessarily true or false, just good or bad. It is a symptom and cause of other wicked problems like poverty, unemployment, education and social inequality—the topics worthy of “policies.” To solve wicked problems, policymakers and practitioners are increasingly…
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New Evidence on the Effectiveness of Early Interventions for Children With Lead Poisoning
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Early childhood lead poisoning has been linked to detrimental effects on cognition, academic performance, IQ, high school graduation, and even adult earnings. In many countries, laws prohibiting the use of leaded gasoline have reduced lead exposure, but many children continue to be exposed to lead from deteriorating paint in older…
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Should Cities Compete? The Case Against Federal Contracts
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With stagnating wages and declining entrepreneurship across the United States, state and local governments are under increasing pressure to deliver economic good news. Cities are in constant competition, dedicating considerable time and resources to business incentives and vying for federal grants and contracts. Historically, the full extent to which these…
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Can Variable Transit Fares Increase Equity?
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Campaigns to introduce what activists call “fair fares” on mass transit systems have recently taken root in U.S. cities. The idea behind these initiatives is to introduce a pricing system that is less regressive in order to promote equity for low-income riders. Most major U.S. public transit systems, including New…
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As Police Engage with Military Equipment, Citizens Disengage with Each Other
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The Cougar 4×4 Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle weighs 20 tons, can reach speeds of up to 65 miles per hour, and has a range of 420 miles. With a unique V-shaped hull, it was designed to endure explosions from improvised explosive devices in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now many of…
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Does Rent Control Work? Evidence from San Francisco
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Housing affordability has become a hot-button issue in many communities in the United States, particularly in urban neighborhoods, due to rapidly rising rents. In response, some housing activists have advocated for imposing rent control policies in order to protect community members from financial hardship and displacement. For example, in November…
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Examining the Impact of Minimum Wage and EITC on Criminal Recidivism
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Recidivism, a person’s relapse into criminal behavior, is a fundamental challenge in criminal justice. While the issue is widely discussed, few solutions have been shown to keep previous offenders from returning to criminal behavior. Part of the issue is the sheer scope of the problem: A 2005 study tracked approximately…
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Building Better Housing Vouchers Without Breaking the Bank
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The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8) is designed to help low-income families, as well as the elderly and disabled, cover the cost of “decent, safe, and sanitary housing.” Participants pay a fraction of their net household income for rent, with a…
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How body cameras may result in a more proactive and community-engaged police force
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On October 5, 2018, Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke was convicted of second degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery for the 2014 shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. While activists and Chicago community leaders have welcomed this conviction as an important step towards increasing police accountability, others have…
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A Snapshot of Attitudes Toward Body-Worn Cameras
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Public discontent with police behavior has crested in the wake of recent high-profile civilian deaths due to the excessive use of force. To address this issue, some have advocated the adoption of body-worn cameras (BWC) that officers wear as part of their uniforms. These cameras capture audio and video of…