2021 SPRING | The Modern American City: Past, Present, and Future

Dole Fellow Patrick Tuohey
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This program is made possible through the generosity of Newman’s Own Foundation

The Shifts that Shape Our Cities, Demographic Trends
2/24/2021

Please join us for our first Discussion Group of the semester, “The Shifts that Shape Our Cities, Demographic Trends.” This program is the first of our Spring Discussion Groups series, “The Modern American City: Past, Present, and Future.
Our Spring Discussion Groups Fellow, Patrick Tuohey, welcomes Wendell Cox as his special guest for this week. Wendell Cox is principal of Demographia (St. Louis, MO-IL). He was appointed to three terms on the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission and was appointed by Speaker Newt Gingrich to the Amtrak Reform Council. He is co-author of the Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey and author of Demographia World Urban Areas. Cox is also a Senior Fellow at the Urban Reform Institute (Houston) and the Frontier Centre for Public Policy (Winnipeg).

Wendell Cox is principal of Demographia (St. Louis, MO-IL). He was appointed to three terms on the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission, which was a predecessor to the Los Angeles County MTA. Speaker Newt Gingrich appointed him to the Amtrak Reform Council. He is co-author of the Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey and author of Demographia World Urban Areas. He is a Senior Fellow at the Urban Reform Institute (Houston) and the Frontier Centre for Public Policy (Winnipeg) as well as a member of the Board of Advisors at the Center for Demographics and Policy at Chapman University. He served as a visiting professor of transport at the Conservatoire National Des Arts Et Metiers (a national university) in Paris. He earned a BA in Government from California State University, Los Angeles, and an MBA from Pepperdine University.

Trends in Municipal Growth and Finance
3/3/2021

Cities are the engines of state and national economies, yet in many places, taxes and public debt are at the highest levels they’ve ever been. Are the increased costs justified by the returns on public investment in the areas of public safety and infrastructure?

Please join us for the second installment of our Spring 2021 Discussion Groups series, “The Modern American City: Past, Present, and Future.” Our Spring Fellow Patrick Tuohey welcomes University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Professor Whitney Afonso, and Kansas City-based architect Dennis Strait for a conversation on what finance and budgeting look like at the local level and how these fields have adapted with time.

Segregation, Race, and City Policy
3/10/2021

Beginning in the 1920s, state and federal policy aided and abetted the segregation of Americans through housing policies, zoning ordinances, economic development, and urban revitalization. Although much of these aims have been discarded, the policies are still with us. This discussion will identify which remnants are still with us and how cities can finally put them to rest.

“Segregation, Race, and City Policy” will feature our special guests, Edward J. Pinto and Mark Treskon. Edward J. Pinto is an American Enterprise Institute (AEI) resident fellow and director of AEI’s Housing Center. The Center monitors the US markets using a unique set of Housing Market Indicators. Active in housing finance for over 40 years, he was an executive vice president and chief credit officer for Fannie Mae until the late 1980s. Mark Treskon is a senior research associate in the Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center at the Urban Institute. His current projects include an evaluation of financial coaching programs and a study measuring the effects of arts-related initiatives on community development. Treskon has published peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on community-based planning, home lending policy advocacy, and the arts economy.

Subsidies in the City
3/17/2021

The competition among cities to woo Amazon’s new headquarters brought national attention to the use and abuse of economic development subsidies, but the practice is not new. In fact, the value of such subsidies is staggering and seems to show no signs of slowing. This discussion would help quantify the amount of subsidies, how cities benefit, and how public policy can be changed to improve outcomes for taxpayers.

Please join us for the fourth installment of our Spring 2021 Discussion Groups series, The Modern American City: Past, Present, and Future. Our Spring Fellow Patrick Tuohey welcomes guests Heywood Sanders, Professor of Public Administration at the University of Texas-San Antonio, and Michael Lefaive, Senior Director of the Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

Effective Housing Policy
3/24/2021

Housing policy is again capturing the national spotlight. Local policies have restricted the development of new housing stock and as a result, in places like San Francisco and Seattle, housing prices have skyrocketed. But even smaller cities like Kansas City have seen the impacts. What are the underlying causes of the phenomenon, how great are the impacts, and what policies can help alleviate the problem?

“Effective Housing Policy” will feature our host Patrick Tuohey, as well as special guests Emily Hamilton and Kirk McClure. Hamilton is a Senior Research Fellow and Director of the Urbanity Project at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, and McClure is a professor emeritus of urban planning in the University of Kansas School of Public Affairs and Administration.

Opportunities in the Gig Economy
3/31/2021

Technology companies such as Uber and Lyft have created opportunities for individuals to leverage their cars, and their downtime, to earn money on the side. Airbnb and Vrbo have done the same through short-term rentals. While these are some of the more familiar companies in the so-called gig economy, they are by no means the only ones. What is the future of the gig economy, and how should cities be reacting?

Please join us for the sixth installment of our Spring 2021 Discussion Groups series, “The Modern American City: Past, Present, and Future.” Our Spring Fellow Patrick Tuohey welcomes guests Steve King, Partner at Emergent Research, and Arun Sundararajan, Harold Price Professor of Entrepreneurship and Professor of Technology, Operations and Statistics at New York University’s Stern School of Business.

Poverty in American Cities
4/7/2021

Cities large and small are facing some existential issues, as we’ve covered over the past several weeks. Often they are saddled with outdated approaches or just simply bad habits. How can cities and towns learn from their mistakes and develop public policy in a way that is sustainable?

Please join us for the final installment of our Spring 2021 Discussion Groups series, “The Modern American City: Past, Present, and Future.” Our Spring Fellow Patrick Tuohey welcomes guest Jesús Gerena, CEO of Family Independence Initiative, and Angela Rachidi, Rowe Scholar in poverty studies at the American Enterprise Institute, for a conversation on urban poverty and how to combat it.