Building the New America: Report on trends shaping the migration of people and jobs

Report: Building the New America

How do we build a new urban model for America — one that is better aligned with the aspirations of most Americans? This newly released report examines the housing trends that are driving today's migration of people and jobs.
Shuttered Heartland Factory

The Heartland’s Future Is Upon Us

by Pete Saunders If the heartland of our nation focuses on its traditional strengths in manufacturing, agriculture and energy, it can usher in new prosperity for more Americans...
Photo credit: Dan Sniegowski

America’s Heartland is Critical to Our Future

by Joel Kotkin — The results of the 2016 presidential election have been ascribed -- by the winner’s critics -- to racism, hysteria, stupidity, or nostalgia. But what the results most reflected was a looming economic divide.
cover of New American Heartland Report

Report on the New American Heartland

by Michael Lind and Joel Kotkin The greatest test America faces is whether it can foster the kind of growth that benefits and expands the middle class. To do so, the United States will need to meet three challenges...
Nashville's skyline at night

The Politics of Migration: From Blue to Red

by Joel Kotkin and Wendell Cox Democratic “blue” state attitudes may dominate the national media, but they can’t yet tell people where to live, which is increasingly in "red" states.
Divided Nation

To Reunite America, Liberate Cities to Govern Themselves

by Joel Kotkin and Richard Florida Even setting the dysfunction of our national government, the fact is that no top-down, one-size-fits-all set of policies can address the very different conditions that prevail among communities.
Aerial view of Portland, Oregon

Portland Housing Stupidity Grows

by Randal O'Toole Here’s an incredibly stupid idea to deal with Portland’s housing affordability problems: Multnomah County proposes to build tiny houses in people’s backyard.
Failed residential development becomes modern ghost town

Suburban and Urban Housing Cost Relationships

by Pete Saunders In the Chicago regional housing market — and many other metro areas, familiar post-recession issues persist -- depressed prices, numerous foreclosures, and a razor-thin inventory.
The screwed generation turns socialist

The Screwed Generation Turns Socialist

by Joel Kotkin The Depression and WWII shaped the greatest generation, and postwar prosperity shaped the Baby Boomers. Millennials, battered by capitalism, move ever leftward.
Capitol Dome at dusk

Decentralize Government to Resolve Country’s Divisions

by Joel Kotkin America is increasingly a nation haunted by fears of looming dictatorship. Whether under President Barack Obama’s “pen and phone” rule, or...Read more
Texas Shaped Pool at the Houston Marriott

All Houston Does (Economically) Is Win

by Joel Kotkin Casting shade on Houston is nothing new; sprucing up for the Super Bowl is unlikely to change its reputation. In 1946, journalist John Gunther claimed the only reasons to live in Houston were economic ones...