Brookings Metro

Through office-to-residential (O2R) conversions, can American cities reduce residential segregation? The Brookings Institution’s Tracy Hadden Loh simulated the demographic outcomes of hypothetical O2R conversion scenarios in six cities and found that in certain markets, such as Pittsburgh, it could be a viable strategy. Based on her findings, Loh argues it is critical that local decisionmakers who want to affirmatively further fair housing, as is required under the Fair Housing Act, understand their city’s market context before investing in O2R conversion as a strategy.   Read more about the Pittsburgh simulation, as well as the simulations of Los Angeles; Winston-Salem, N.C.; Houston; St. Louis; and Stamford, Conn.: https://lnkd.in/e2-Km88g  #FairHousing #OfficeToResidentialConversions #O2R #HousingDiscrimination #Downtowns #Placemaking #Cities #LegacyCities 

In a new The Brookings Institution report, Tonantzin Carmona says rapid policy changes to the federal lending and contracting systems are creating new barriers to reliably accessing capital, competing for contracts, and building durable businesses—all of which are hurting small and minority-owned businesses most.  Carmona details how the tightening of federal lending rules, including stricter underwriting requirements and reduced lender discretion, is reshaping how small businesses access federal credit. At the same time, she says a series of policy and administrative changes to the federal procurement system are weakening one of the federal government’s most important pathways for small firms to grow, stabilize revenue, and build wealth.  To address these issues, Carmona says the task is not to restore what existed before, but to build a more stable, competitive, and inclusive foundation for small business growth in America. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eSq6ewPf #FederalLending #FederalContracting #Capital #Contracts #MinorityOwnedBusinesses #FederalCredit #FederalProcurement #LatinoOwnedBusinesses 

In a new The Brookings Institution report, Tracy Hadden Loh examines how office-residential conversions can increase housing supply in six cities: Los Angeles, Winston-Salem, N.C., Pittsburgh, Houston, St. Louis, and Stamford, Conn.   Based on her spatial analysis, Loh details several findings, including:  1️⃣ In Pittsburgh, O2R conversion could produce a supply of housing comparable to 30% of the housing built citywide over the last 10 years.  2️⃣ In Pittsburgh and Houston, O2R conversion could potentially double the number of housing units downtown.  3️⃣ In St. Louis, where the housing stock contracted by 323 units over the last decade, O2R conversion could add approximately 5,000 new residents.     Read more: https://lnkd.in/efFTtuEQ #HousingSegregation #Pittsburgh #Houston #SaintLouis #Housing

In the last decade, immigrants have strengthened the U.S. economy rather than damaged it, and a new The Brookings Institution analysis shows in this timeframe, metros with increases in the foreign-born share of their working-age population saw stronger growth in key economic prosperity metrics such as productivity and wage growth. Glencora Haskins and Joe Parilla’s analysis—which accompanies this year’s update of Metro Monitor, a data interactive that displays almost 200 U.S. metro areas’ economic performance in the last ten years— reveals the association between economic prosperity and an increasing share of immigrants in an area.  The metro areas with the largest increases in their foreign-born population share were geographically diverse, and included several high-growth Sun Belt metro areas (such as Raleigh, N.C.; Charlotte, N.C.; and Cape Coral, Fla.), but also select midsized metro areas across the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains (such as Sioux Falls, S.D., and Fort Collins, Colo.) There was comparatively weaker growth seen across other parts of the Northeast and Midwest, where many metro areas continue to struggle with the impacts of deindustrialization and face slow growth regardless of immigration trends. With ramping up immigration enforcement, both the U.S. workforce and the U.S. GDP stand to shrink. With a decline in immigration, the economic prosperity associated with it may also disappear. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eReDXYsX #MetroMonitor #SunBelt #Northeast #Midwest #Outmigration #Immigration #Prosperity 

Climate adaptation practices often create disparities between those who can adapt to changing landscapes and climate conditions, and those who lose everything to hazards such as flooding and wildfires. But Zachary Lamb, Linda Shi, and Robert Olshansky say innovations in how U.S. communities govern land can help reduce social disparities and promote adaptation that is more effective, efficient, and equitable. In their new The Brookings Institution piece, the authors offer strategies for building the legal and financial capacity of state and local governments to support equitable and sustainable adaptation: ▪️ Catalyze: Encourage the creation and expansion of limited equity shared ownership models that can help low- and moderate-income communities adapt  ▪️ Equip: Support existing homeowners’ associations, condo associations, and other shared equity communities with financing and technical assistance to adapt shared spaces and infrastructure  ▪️ Learn: Build institutional capacity to enable, test, and coordinate property and development transitions Read more: https://lnkd.in/ePK-REEt 

Amid mass deportations, new The Brookings Institution analysis shows that anti-immigration policy risks dampening or reversing the significant economic progress that the nation’s largest metropolitan areas have achieved over the past decade.   In the latest installment of our Metro Monitor, an annually updated data interactive and accompanying analysis, Glencora Haskins and Joe Parilla explore the relationship between immigration and regional economic performance across 196 metro areas over the past decade.   Key findings:   1️⃣ Between 2014 and 2024, employment rates in metro areas with the largest increases in their foreign-born workforce share were nearly 3 percentage points higher for both native-born and foreign-born workers than in metro areas with the smallest foreign-born workforce share increases.  2️⃣ Metropolitan economies with larger increases in the foreign-born share of their working-age population consistently recorded higher median earnings for both native-born and foreign-born workers between 2014 and 2024.    3️⃣ In 2024, the typical native-born worker in metro areas with larger increases in the foreign-born share of their working-age population earned about $3,000 more than a comparable worker in metro areas with lower increases in the foreign-born share of their working-age population (after adjusting for cost of living). 4️⃣ Sustaining the growth and opportunity metropolitan economies generate will require federal and regional leaders to recognize immigration as a key driver of economic vitality—and to pursue policies that strengthen, rather than restrict, the flow of talent that helps fuel growth and expand prosperity. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eReDXYsX #MetroMonitor #Immigration #ForeignBornWorkers #NativeBornWorkers #Metros #Economics #EconomicProsperity #Employment #JobGrowth 

Artificial intelligence’s impact on work and workers is attracting attention—and concern—across the country. But built environment occupations, such as electricians, plumbers, and construction managers, provide greater flexibility and opportunity for long-term career growth amid AI disruption. In fact, new The Brookings Institution research explores an enormous segment of the labor market that is more AI-durable, meaning they are less exposed to AI. Joe Kane and Megan Wright analyzed 17.3 million workers across 148 built environment occupations and found that, of these workers, 83.6%, or 14.5 million workers, are employed in occupations with less AI exposure. In their analysis of built environment workers’ AI exposure and how the technology may complement their work, Kane and Wright also find that: 1️⃣ Three-quarters of the built environment workforce has higher AI complementarity compared to the entire US workforce 2️⃣ Wages tend to be higher in built environment occupations with greater AI complementarity 3️⃣ The 10 largest occupations with below-average AI exposure account for almost half of total built environment employment  4️⃣ The median annual wage of the 115 built environment occupations less exposed to AI is $58,153—a figure influenced heavily by large occupations such as carpenters and welders Read more of their findings: https://lnkd.in/eznW-Jhh #BuiltEnvironment #Workforce #AI #AIExposure #AIDurability

Struggles around affordability are mounting across the country, and The Brookings Institution’s Charles Lane and Joe Kane say that the increased electricity costs associated with data centers are only adding stress to people’s budgets.  For example, Northern Virginia has long maintained the title of the largest data center market in the world, and as the number of data centers has increased, the rise in load has coincided with more residential disconnections of utility services. Virginia has taken actions that represent a starting effort to address the huge and evolving challenge data centers present to the energy grid. But there remain many other outstanding needs for utilities, policymakers, tech firms, and other leaders—with broader national resonance, including: ✅ Utilities need to provide clearer and timelier data on data centers. ✅ Policymakers—from the national to local level—need to establish more robust and responsive affordability assistance.   ✅ Local leaders should feel empowered to take the reins during the dealmaking process.   ✅ Municipal and state decisionmakers should coordinate (and negotiate) broader economic objectives with tech firms. Read more: https://lnkd.in/e75DCUeP #DataCenters #Affordability #Utilities #NorthernVirginia #Energy #Disconnection 

New The Brookings Institution research shows that in 2023 alone, Black-owned employer firms generated a cumulative $249 billion in revenue, supplied more than 1.8 million jobs, and paid out $69.8 billion in salaries. Yet despite these historic gains, recent federal government actions and policies threaten to derail this progress and weaken a critical pillar of the national economy. On Wednesday, March 18, join Brookings Metro and the Center for Community Uplift for a virtual event that will explore these findings and insights into the state of Black-owned employer businesses in the U.S. Andre M. Perry will present highlights from the report, followed by a panel discussion led by Tynesia Boyea-Robinson and featuring Stacey Bowers, Alphonso David, Tonantzin Carmona, and Angela Randolph. Vice President and Director of Brookings Metro Robert Puentes will provide closing remarks. Register now: https://lnkd.in/eje3pP3J