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.
Urban Reform Institute is a center for opportunity urbanism

Urban Reform Institute is a Partnership of Center for Opportunity Urbanism and Urban Reform

The Center for Opportunity Urbanism has partnered with fellow nonprofit, Urban Reform, and, going forward, will operate under the name Urban Reform Institute (URI).
Closed shops

Working-Class People Hold Society Together: Class and COVID-19

by Sarah Attfield — Working-class people are more likely to suffer as a result of both the coronavirus and the measures put in place to contain its spread.
Illustration of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19

The Coronavirus is Changing the Future of Home, Work, and Life

The COVID-19 pandemic will be shaping how we live, work and learn about the world long after the last lockdown ends and toilet paper hoarding is done, accelerating shifts that were already underway including the dispersion of population out of the nation’s densest urban areas and the long-standing trend away from mass transit and office concentration towards flatter and often home-based employment.
Photo of Brooklyn Bridge

COVID-19: A Call to Connect

by Charlie Stephens — With COVID-19 we are going through something practically no living soul has ever experienced. It may be forging new realities, and could place us at the edge of a big change —politically, economically, culturally, and spiritually. What this will look like nobody really knows...

Houston is ‘Chaotic Good’ and #2 in Population and Corporate Growth

A fun item to end the week with: Nolan Gray's alignment chart for cities, with Houston perfectly positioned at Chaotic Good due to our lack of zoning.
Corner of Canal and Baxter Streets in NYC

After Coronavirus We Need to Rethink Densely Populated Cities

by Joel Kotkin — For the better part of this millennium, the nation’s urban planning punditry has predicted that the future lay with its densest, largest, and most cosmopolitan cities.
CDC map of COVID-19 Cases

Coronavirus and Cities

by Schlomo Angel — We have drafted a working paper, titled "The Coronavirus and the Cities: Explaining Variations in U.S. Metropolitan Areas as of 27 March 2020". We plan to revise the paper regularly as new data comes in.

NBA Playoffs to be Held in Houston During April Lockdown

Moving quickly to take advantage of another month of national lockdown for the COVID-19 virus, the NBA announced today an unprecedented plan to restart their season with nearly continuous playoff games on TV throughout April.

The Coming Age of Dispersion

by Joel Kotkin — As of this writing, the long-term effects of the coronavirus pandemic remain uncertain. One possible consequence is the end of the megacity era. In its place, we may now witness a new, and necessary, dispersion of population...

Coronavirus and the Future of Living and Working in America

by Joel Kotkin and Marshall Toplansky — By late spring, the most severe impacts from coronavirus may fade, but its impact on the rise of dispersed living and working arrangements — were already emerging even before the pandemic emerged.