A month since the presidential election, focus has turned from analyzing the results to preparing for the future. To that end, Brookings Metro has been evaluating the potential impacts of a second Trump administration across a multitude of metropolitan policy issues.
Recently, we gathered 16 Metro scholars to explore possible scenarios. Andre Perry asked if Black businesses will continue to grow despite a backlash to race-conscious policy. Joseph Parilla encouraged local implementers, investors, and policymakers to sustain the momentum of the Biden administration’s place-based economic development strategy. And Tracy Hadden Loh wrote that there may still be opportunities for “blue” cities and metro areas to invest in themselves despite a “red trifecta” in Washington, D.C.
Infrastructure, AI, climate—the list of areas of uncertainty goes on. Which means that Brookings Metro’s mission to partner with leaders to ensure our research and expertise inform practical, scalable policy solutions is more important than ever.
After four years of unprecedented federal investment under the Biden administration, state and local leaders are preparing for a vastly different paradigm under President-elect Trump, with deep uncertainty for critical areas such as AI, workforce development, and infrastructure. In this compendium piece, 16 Metro scholars prognosticate on what is to come for these and other issues.
President Biden regularly boasted that his administration’s passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act kicked off America’s “infrastructure decade” after his predecessor’s many failed attempts. Now, ironically, it is President-elect Trump who will execute the law’s programming over its final two years. With billions of dollars yet to be awarded, Adie Tomer and Ben Swedberg examine what might change as a new administration takes over.
Sizing and seizing Washington’s $40 billion down payment on place-based industrial policy. Although the Biden-Harris administration is coming to an end, the legacy of its historic place-based industrial policies will continue to impact cities, metropolitan areas, and rural communities across the country. Glencora Haskins and Joseph Parilla offer a first-of-its-kind analysis of the technological, geographic, and socioeconomic footprint of these public investments, as well as local leaders’ role moving forward.
Investing in Latino or Hispanic-owned businesses to drive regional and national growth. Firms owned by Latino or Hispanic Americans have seen strong growth over the past few years, yet business ownership remains far below their share of the population compared to white Americans. Andre M. Perry and Manann Donoghoe dive into these and other statistics to explore how Latino or Hispanic-owned businesses can drive economic growth in a diversifying America.
Biden's apology for Native American boarding schools and how policymakers can support tribal education. The U.S. Indian Boarding Schools program was a century-long federal government effort to destroy Native culture and assimilate Native children through a network of residential schools. Robert Maxim and Glencora Haskins provide an overview of the program and propose policies for supporting Native individuals and communities.
Housing-insecure youth are redefining policy, planning, and engagement to address homelessness in Ithaca, New York. Between 2022 and 2023, the number of youth experiencing homelessness in the U.S. increased by 15%. As this crisis grows, some localities are turning to formerly or currently homeless youth to influence policy and planning. This Placemaking Postcard details one such effort in Ithaca, New York, offering insights for centering youth in homelessness policy and decisionmaking.
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