Initiative on Cities - Research Reports
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Item Policing and the punitive politics of local homelessness policy(Boston University Initiative on Cities, 2023-05-31) Dewald, Alisa; Einstein, Katherine; Willison, CharleyAdvocates and researchers agree that solutions to homelessness must address the root causes. Communities need to increase access to quality, affordable permanent housing and provide the necessary social and medical services to support unhoused people remaining stably housed. Yet, local governments may not always follow these evidence-based housing policy programs, instead pursuing punitive policing or the criminalization of homelessness. Such policies do not end homelessness and may actually promote cycles of homelessness. This policy brief investigates the involvement of the police in responses to homelessness in cities across the country. The authors amass a wide array of data, including a novel survey of mayors and details of Homeless Outreach Teams from the nation’s 100 largest cities. They find that the police are highly influential in city homelessness policymaking and are frequently involved in implementing homelessness policy.Item 2022 Menino Survey of Mayors: economic opportunity, poverty & well-being(Boston University Initiative on Cities, 2023-04-04) Einstein, Katherine; Glick, David; Palmer, MaxwellThe 2022 Menino Survey of Mayors represents the ninth nationally representative survey of American mayors and is based on interviews with 118 sitting mayors from 38 states. The 2022 Survey explores mayoral views on climate and energy, poverty and rising costs of living, and health and safety. The second and final set of findings, released in April 2023, analyzes mayors’ views on key economic challenges – including poverty and the rising cost of living – and tools they can use at the local level. It also investigates what mayors perceive to be the main public health and public safety challenges in their communities. The 2022 Survey continues with the support of The Rockefeller Foundation.Item 2022 Menino Survey of Mayors: mayors and the climate crisis(Boston University Initiative on Cities, 2023-01-17) Glick, David; Einstein, Katherine; Palmer, Maxwell; Fox, StacyThe 2022 Menino Survey of Mayors represents the ninth nationally representative survey of American mayors and is based on interviews with 118 sitting mayors from 38 states. The 2022 Survey explores mayoral views on climate and energy, poverty and rising costs of living, and health and safety. The first set of findings, released in January 2023, delves into mayors’ current views on local climate action, focusing on their beliefs about the underlying issues and threats, their sense of the tools they have at their disposal, and their enthusiasm for using them. The 2022 Survey continues with the support of The Rockefeller Foundation.Item Cities, zoning, and the fragmented response to homelessness(Boston University Initiative on Cities, Community Solutions, and Cornell University, 2023-01-18) Einstein, Katherine; Willison, CharleyAmerica’s cities are facing a pressing homelessness crisis, with insufficient affordable housing as the chief cause. Local governments are critical policy partners in addressing and ending homelessness through their control over land use policy, what housing gets built in a community, and where it can be built. This policy brief explores the fact that there is little coordination of cities’ homelessness and zoning/land use planning policies.Item On the use of ‘cool roofs’ to reduce residential heat exposure disparities in Boston, MA(Boston University Initiative on Cities, 2022-11-08) Smith, Ian A.; Lusk, Katharine; Hutyra, Lucy R.A “cool roofs” program targeted to the hottest, most vulnerable neighborhoods in Boston has the potential to significantly reduce urban heat islands and heat exposure disparities. Boston’s hottest neighborhoods have the highest proportion of flat black roofs, such as those on our famous triple deckers, which absorb rather than reflect heat. Because of the proportion of this type of roof and housing stock in Boston, a targeted program to whiten or lighten residential rooftops would have a measurable impact on reducing extreme heat, improving thermal comfort, and reducing energy use in summer. A similar program has recently been piloted in Louisville, KY, offering lessons for potential implementation in Boston. While Boston’s recent Heat Resilience Plan (City of Boston 2022) already highlights the need for a cool roof program, the focus is on commercial or city-owned property such as schools, and the intervention calls for grants to nonprofits rather than integration with Boston’s existing residential programs. Boston has an opportunity to invest in a more focused program targeting the hottest, most vulnerable residential blocks.Item Gaps and opportunities: supporting Boston’s BIPOC small businesses(Boston University Initiative on Cities, 2022-07-20) Glick, David; Lusk, Katharine; Fox, Stacy; Webster, Madeline; Lei, ChenyueThis report captures small business service providers’ views on the most salient challenges confronting Boston’s Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) small business owners and entrepreneurs, and their priorities for the future. The report draws on 30 in-depth survey interviews, conducted between November 2021 and February 2022, with leaders from the ecosystem of organizations that are focused on supporting the growth of BIPOC small businesses. The report also juxtaposes the viewpoints and priorities of Boston’s ecosystem against America’s mayors using findings from the national Menino Survey of Mayors.Item Public Interest Technology University Network: understanding the state of the field(2022-05-31) Lusk, KatharineThe still nascent field of public interest technology is growing at a rapid clip in higher education. This report sheds light on the priorities of Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN) members, and opportunities for future growth. The report draws on both an in-depth member survey and a broad scan of related activities, academic programs and research initiatives underway at 43 academic institutions that made up the membership of PIT-UN as of the summer of 2021.Item 2021 Menino Survey of Mayors: Closing the racial wealth gap(Boston University Initiative on Cities, 2022-03-22) Einstein, Katherine; Glick, David; Palmer, MaxwellThe 2021 Menino Survey of Mayors represents the eighth nationally representative survey of American mayors and is based on interviews with 126 sitting mayors from 39 states. The 2021 Survey explores mayoral views on COVID-19 recovery, equity and small business, closing the racial wealth gap, and housing and homelessness. The third and final set of findings, released in March 2022, explores how mayors are approaching the racial wealth gap in their cities.Item 2021 Menino Survey of Mayors: Mayors and America's homelessness crisis(Boston University Initiative on Cities, 2022-01-18) Einstein, Katherine; Willison, CharleyThe 2021 Menino Survey of Mayors represents the eighth nationally representative survey of American mayors and is based on interviews with 126 sitting mayors from 39 states. The 2021 Survey explores mayoral views on COVID-19 recovery, equity and small business, closing the racial wealth gap, and housing and homelessness. The second set of findings, released with Community Solutions, delves into homelessness, including mayoral perspectives on roles, challenges, and opportunities for addressing the crisis in their cities. The 2021 Survey continues with the support of Citi and The Rockefeller Foundation.Item 2021 Menino Survey of Mayors: Building back better(Boston University Initiative on Cities, 2021-11-22) Glick, David; Einstein, Katherine; Palmer, MaxwellThe 2021 Menino Survey of Mayors represents the eighth nationally representative survey of American mayors and is based on interviews with 126 sitting mayors from 39 states. The 2021 Survey explores mayoral views on COVID-19 recovery, equity and small business, closing the racial wealth gap, and housing and homelessness. The first set of findings, released in November 2021, delves into the challenges mayors are facing in light of the ongoing pandemic—and the extent to which massive support from the federal government has helped to fill the gap.Item 2020 Menino Survey of Mayors: Urban parks and the public realm: equity & access in post-COVID cities(Boston University Initiative on Cities, 2021-03-31) Lusk, Katharine; Einstein, Katherine; Glick, David; Palmer, Maxwell; Park, Songhyun; Fox, StacyItem 2020 Menino Survey of Mayors: policing and protests(Boston University Initiative on Cities, 2021-01-27) Glick, David; Einstein, Katherine; Palmer, MaxwellThe 2020 Menino Survey of Mayors represents the seventh nationally representative survey of American mayors and is based on interviews with 130 sitting mayors from 38 states. The 2020 Survey explores mayoral views on COVID-19 recovery, policing and protests, parks and greenspace, and the 2020 Census. The third set of findings, released in January 2021, explores mayors’ recognition of racial inequality, their roles during protests in their communities, and how they hope to reform their police departments. The 2020 Survey continues with the support of Citi and The Rockefeller Foundation.Item 2020 Menino Survey of Mayors: COVID-19 recovery and the future of cities(Boston University Initiative on Cities, 2020-12-03) Glick, David; Einstein, Katherine Levine; Palmer, Maxwell; Fox, StacyThe 2020 Menino Survey of Mayors details insights and perspectives shared by a representative sample of 130 mayors leading U.S. cities with populations of more than 75,000 residents. This year’s Survey explores mayoral views on COVID-19 recovery and implications, policing and protests, parks and greenspace, and the 2020 Census. This report focuses on the COVD-19 related findings and outlines mayors’ responses to the global pandemic, perceptions of its impact, and expectations for the future of their cities. The 2020 Survey continues with the support of Citi and The Rockefeller Foundation.Item COVID-19 housing policy(2020-10-13) Einstein, Katherine; Palmer, Maxwell; Fox, Stacy; Bernadino, Marina; Fischer, Noah; Moore-Otto, Jackson; O'Brien, Aislinn; Rutecki, Marilyn; Wuesthoff, BenjaminFederal government response to housing challenges created by COVID-19 has been limited, leaving state and local governments to create a patchwork of solutions. State and local governments have been forced to provide eviction and foreclosure protections and relief from rent, mortgages, and property taxes as federal government support falls well short of current housing needs. In this report, the authors analyze state and local pandemic housing policy across all 50 states and 118 cities.Item Counting the city: mayoral views on the 2020 Census(2020-09-22) Palmer, Maxwell; Einstein, Katherine Levine; Glick, DavidAs the 2020 Census concludes at the end of September, a large majority of the mayors of America’s major cities are extremely concerned that their cities’ populations will be undercounted. According to Boston University’s 2020 Menino Survey of Mayors – the only national representative survey of American mayors – 82% of local leaders are “very” or “somewhat concerned” about undercounting their cities’ populations; only 6% of mayors were “not concerned at all.” While there is a small partisan difference in level of concern (19% of Republican mayors are “not concerned at all” compared to 4% of Democratic mayors), nearly two-thirds of Republican mayors are somewhat or very concerned that their populations will be undercounted.Item Mayoral views on economic incentives: valuable tools or a bad use of resources?(Boston University Initiative on Cities, 2019-12) Glick, David; Wilson, GrahamMayoral Views on Economic Incentives: Valuable Tools or a Bad Use of Resources? explores which types of cities and mayors embrace – or reject – tax concessions and subsidies to attract or retain business. The authors find considerable variation in how individual mayors think about these issues; personal traits of the mayor (e.g., party and time in office) and city level characteristics (e.g., economic performance) do not predict their views on economic incentives. The absence of clear patterns suggests to the authors that the supposedly omnipresent pressure to provide inducements to business investment is not the recurring, vivid presence in the lives of mayors that we might expect.Item Mayoral views on housing production: do planning goals match reality?(Boston University Initiative on Cities, 2019-12) Einstein, Katherine Levine; Palmer, MaxwellMayoral Views on Housing Production: Do Planning Goals Match Reality? evaluates mayoral priorities relative to actual need. Based on our analysis, even the most ambitious mayors are not prioritizing sufficient development necessary to meet the demand for housing and to address the affordability crisis. The authors recommend reforming local zoning codes and reducing regulatory barriers to the construction of multifamily housing to help address this shortfall.Item 2019 Menino Survey of Mayors(Boston University Initiative on Cities, 2020-01-21) Einstein, Katherine Levine; Glick, David; Palmer, Maxwell; Fox, StacyThe 2019 Menino Survey of Mayors represents the sixth nationally representative survey of American mayors and is based on interviews with 119 sitting mayors from 38 states. The 2019 Survey explores mayoral views on issues ranging from infrastructure and transportation priorities — including mobility and public safety — to the changing nature of work. The 2019 Survey also provides the first in-depth examination of mayors’ reactions to and expectations for the Opportunity Zones program, a significant new federal initiative to stimulate urban development. The 2019 Survey continues with the support of Citi Community Development and The Rockefeller Foundation.Item Fiscal leadership and the modern city(Boston University Initiative on Cities, 2015-04) Lusk, Katharine; Emig, AerielAt the heart of a thriving city is a healthy balance sheet — critically important, yet rarely a headline-maker. To prosper, cities must continually invest, carefully balancing current needs with past promises and future obligations. The present-day tenuousness of city fiscal health is the result of expanded burdens, from aging infrastructure to employee obligations, and diminished resources from external sources, both state and federal. On April 27–28, 2015, the Initiative on Cities at Boston University hosted Fiscal Leadership and the Modern City — a two-day summit that brought together mayors, chief financial officials, city and town managers, and financial and economic professionals to discuss how cities are tackling contemporary fiscal constraints with 21st century financial tools. This report summarizes the conference’s discussions, highlighting the success stories of several public leaders who have steered their cities clear of financial crises and the new tools available to cities seeking long-term fiscal stability. Disclaimer: This report reflects the contents of Fiscal Leadership and the Modern City, a City Leadership Summit hosted by the Boston University Initiative on Cities on April 27–28, 2015 in Boston, MA. The facts and supporting data contained in this report were stated by the panelists during the Summit.Item Mayors and the health of cities(Boston University Initiative on Cities, 2019-06-04) Lusk, Katharine; Wang, Monica; Godinez Puig, LuisaMayors and the Health of Cities sheds light on how US mayors perceive and prioritize the health of their cities in the context of existing urban health data. The report also highlights promising city-led initiatives targeting four priority health areas: the obesity epidemic, the opioid crisis, traffic fatalities, and gun violence. Findings included in the report are based on analyses from several datasets and sources, including a nationally representative survey of American mayors, the City Health Dashboard 500 Cities, and supplemental information from federal sources.