The average number of days with temperatures above 90 degrees continues to rise each decade, posing health hazards and economic costs, especially for low-income households. Using San Diego as a case study, Jenny Schuetz and Adie Tomer highlight the underrated dangers of extreme heat compared to more visible climate events such as wildfires and floods, and explain how careful, community-wide interventions can help.
For the first time in 27 years, the White House Office of Management and Budget is changing the standards for defining race and ethnic categories in federal data collection. The new standards will include categories for “Hispanic or Latino” and “Middle Eastern or North African”—reflecting America’s growing diversity and providing better opportunities to examine racial and ethnic differences on measures of economic well-being, health, education, and more. Brookings scholars offer their thoughts on the changes.
Separately, in an op-ed for The Hill, Robert Maxim explains how the changes still fail to solve the most pressing data challenges for American Indians and Alaska Natives.
Place-based federal policies are targeting historic amounts of investment toward specific geographies and industries. Timothy J. Bartik, Kathleen Bolter, and Kyle Huisman examine whether these policies are creating jobs in the places that need them most: distressed U.S. counties that have been left behind by recent waves of economic growth.
Major recent federal legislation has jumpstarted a new era of place-based investment in communities nationwide. How can local and state leaders use these dollars to catalyze new markets, support new technologies, and improve economic and social outcomes in places that have been left behind? Biden administration officials, state and local leaders, and national experts will discuss at our upcoming event with Duke University.
Cities need more housing. ADUs can help. A shrunken construction industry, higher interest rates, and restrictive local policies are all contributing to a housing shortage in America, while also adding to costs. Jenny Schuetz joins The Current podcast—alongside Gary Geiler, assistant director of San Diego’s Development Services Department—to talk about how accessory dwelling units (ADUs) can add affordable housing in neighborhoods.
How the federal government is helping reindustrialize Pittsburgh. In an op-ed for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Alan Berube and Mark Muro recap lessons from an April event at Carnegie Mellon University, where leaders discussed how recent federal legislation can support the state's transition from its legacy steel manufacturing industry into 21st century specializations in fields like advanced manufacturing, robotics, and the life sciences.
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