2014, the Metro Program Year in Review

As we wrap up 2014, here’s a quick look back at the top reports and blog posts from the Metro Program. It includes some our most innovative and informative work over the past 12 months including research on innovation districts, demographics, infrastructure and more.

• “The Rise of Innovation Districts: A New Geography of Innovation in America” explored the new model of innovation that combines research institutions, innovative firms and business incubators with the benefits of urban living. 
• William Frey’s book, Diversity Explosion, looked at how the population of the United States is diversifying from the bottom up, where minorities are moving, the rise of racial integration and the political impact of a diversifying electorate.
• “The Geography of Foreign Students in U.S. Higher Education” by Neil Ruiz tracked the local origins, size, growth rate and economic impact of the foreign student population across the United States by metropolitan area.
• In “Ferguson, Mo. Emblematic of Growing Suburban Poverty,” Elizabeth Kneebone used the lens of her book—Confronting Suburban Poverty, co-authored with Alan Berube—to examine some of the underlying issues troubling that area. 
• Adie Tomer and Joseph Kane analyzed domestic and international goods trade data in “Mapping Freight: The Highly Concentrated Nature of Goods Trade in the United States” and a stunning interactive.
• “The Plummeting Labor Market Fortunes of Teens and Young Adults,” by Martha Ross and collaborators at Northwestern’s Center for Labor Market Studies, showed that employment prospects for teens and young adults in the nation’s 100 largest metro areas plummeted between 2000 and 2011. 
• In “All Cities Are Not Created Unequal” Alan Berube examined recent Census data to understand where and why income inequality has become a pressing political issue in many big cities today.
• “Beyond Shovel-Ready: The Extent and Impact of U.S. Infrastructure Jobs” looked at the infrastructure jobs that employ 14.2 million American workers.
• “Cracking the Code on STEM: A People Strategy for Nevada’s Economy” found that Nevada has a sound economic development strategy but needs a workforce strategy focused on science, technology, engineering and math skills given increased demand for skilled workers.
• “Clean Energy Finance Through the Bond Market” explored how state and local infrastructure finance agencies could back clean energy projects if the financial and clean energy communities take steps to create transparent markets and data.
• “FDI in U.S. Metro Areas,” by Devashree Saha, Kenan Fikri and Nick Marchio, advanced the understanding of foreign direct investment in U.S. metro areas by explaining its impact with new data on jobs and discussing what policymakers and practitioners can do to maximize potential benefits.

We hope you’ll be back with us in 2015 as we continue to provide cutting edge research and actionable policy ideas for metropolitan America.