2024

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Community Exposure to Drug Overdose and Addiction in Baltimore

September 17, 2024
Our new report, based on data from the 2023 Baltimore Area Survey, offers deeper understanding of the families touched by Baltimore’s growing drug addiction epidemic. Findings show the poorest and least educated are the most affected by fatal overdoses. 

Baltimore Music Census

February 19, 2024
The Baltimore Music Census is a survey designed to capture key information about the local music scene. The goal of this initiative is to support local musicians, educators, venues, promoters, industry personnel, and non-profits.

2023

Baltimore Area Survey logo

A Portrait of Baltimore: Results of the 2023 Baltimore Area Survey

December 5, 2023
Co-designed by Johns Hopkins researchers and community leaders, the inaugural Baltimore Area Survey attempts to address topics important to people who live there. ­­The survey of 1,352 city and county residents focuses on issues central to how people feel about and experience living in the area.

Bromo Seltzer in Baltimore City

Minority Depository Institutions: State of Knowledge, Sector Summary, Lending Activity, and Impact, 2010-2022

May 30, 2023
The 21st Century Cities Initiative and the National Bankers Association examined the state of the nation’s 147 Minority Depository Institutions (MDI) and explored how the MDI industry has changed since 2010.

Baltimore city downtown

Measuring Diversity in Baltimore’s Startup Ecosystem

March 28, 2023
In this report, we highlight Baltimore City’s comparative advantages for becoming an Equitech city, address the business case for diversity in tech, and share the results of our survey, including comparisons of diversity in Baltimore startups to Baltimore City as a whole and to national estimates of diversity.

2022

The Costs of Baltimore’s Vacant Housing

August 31, 2022
Interest in tackling Baltimore’s vacant property problems at scale is manifesting itself in a number of different proposals. Our aim is to provide a strong factual backdrop for assessing various proposals and developing policy recommendations. 

Finding the Next Nashville: Migration of the Young, Educated Workforce

July 28, 2022
In this report, we look at the geography of where young and college educated workers make up the largest share of adults in U.S. metropolitan areas in 2019, and examine how that has changed since 2010. Did metro areas that already had large numbers of young, educated people gain the most? 

Strategies to Preserve and Build Affordable Housing Near Green Amenities and Urban Trails

March 22, 2022
In this brief, we provide a review of the academic literature on strategies to preserve and build affordable housing with respect to green amenities and urban trails. We look at a variety of strategies.

2021

Finding the Next Nashville: Job Growth and Job Sector Diversity in Cities

November 8, 2021
In this report, we focus on job sector diversity in metropolitan areas as an important factor in economic growth and resilience. We examine the relationship between job sector diversity and job growth in the 150 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. from 2000 to 2019.

Finding the Next Nashville: The Local Determinants of Quality of Life and How They Attract Jobs and Residents

November 4, 2021
In this report, we examine the relationship between the growth of large metropolitan areas between 2010 and 2019 and local determinants, including salary, adjusted cost of living, access to job markets, commute times, weather, and much more.

Finding the Next Nashville: Understanding Factors that Cause Cities and Regions to Achieve Above Average Growth

January 16, 2021
In this report, we explore five factors that may have contributed to the city’s success: good governance, regional competition, diversified economy, low cost of living and high wages, and the ability to attract young, educated people.

Investing in High-Speed Rail to Washington, DC, to Boost Baltimore’s Economy

February 1, 2021
In this report, we examine the current MARC service from Baltimore to D.C. and what an express train could look like. We also explore whether residents of D.C. could be induced to live in Baltimore through significant housing cost savings.

Map of wired broadband in Baltimore City

Achieving Digital Equity in Baltimore

January 23, 2021
Too often, solutions to achieve digital equity have been sought in silos when what we need is a broad solution that will serve the whole city. The city needs a holistic plan to address digital equity that reaches households, the young and elderly, and small businesses that can drive economic growth in the city.

2020

The Local Economic Impact of Flood-Resilient Infrastructure Projects

Evaluating Voluntary and Mandated Social Distancing Policies on COVID-19

2019

Public Sector Pay Inequality Dynamics in Baltimore, Boston, and New York City

Alternative Models of Housing Development Programs in Buenos Aires, Argentina

The Local Impact of Bank Mergers on Small Business Lending: A Baltimore Example

2018: The Year of the Ballot Measure?

2018

Investing in Opportunity: Addressing the Root Causes of Civil Unrest in Baltimore

Financing Baltimore’s Growth: Venture Capital Support for Small Companies

Financing Baltimore’s Growth: Strengthening Lending to Small Businesses

Placelinking: An Emergent Approach to Improving Economic Mobility Outcomes

Promoting Inclusive Communities: How Cities Can Utilize Local Housing Policy to Combat Economic Segregation

Opportunity Zones Are Knocking: Will Baltimore Be Prepared?

2017

Dedicated Youth Funds: Local Governments Respond to Inequality through Focused Investments in Children

Financing Baltimore’s Growth: Measuring Small Companies’ Access to Capital

Private Sector Efforts to Support Economic Inclusion in Cities

Sampling the Extreme Poor: Notes from a Systemic and Venue-Based Study

2016

When States Interfere with City-Level Innovation: Preemption and Implications for Cities