Urban across the Country

Urban’s researchers partner with state and local leaders to provide the evidence, tools, and support they need to improve lives and strengthen communities. This work includes strategic advising to translate research into action, program evaluations to measure effectiveness, and research and data analysis to inform decisionmaking. Our experts develop custom data tools and modeling to support equitable resource allocation and lead community-engaged research and convenings to ensure policies reflect local priorities.

Use this page to explore Urban’s work. Search by region to see examples of our research, and filter by evidence and products to narrow results by topic or type of work.

Dive deeper into your state and community with our data tools. View highlighted tools below, select “Data tools” under “Filter by Product Types,” or head directly to our data tools page.

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Brief Local Strategies to Advance Housing Stability
This brief synthesizes the key insights, highlighting practical, replicable lessons and strategic opportunities for other local governments looking to design and implement solutions that foster stable housing for renters.
A group of four people sit around a bright dining table sharing a meal.
New research underscores the importance of using disaggregated data to inform policymaking and generate solutions that improve affordability.
A bus driver smiles while wearing an orange vest
A new analysis clarifies that transit agencies generally, but not always, offer wages on par with those elsewhere in the transportation field. But agencies could make several key changes to improve their chance of recruiting and retaining job holders.
A colorful blue and orange mural covers the brick wall running alongside a street, with a couple benches and a bike rack.
Brady Meixell, a housing and communities expert at the Urban Institute, spoke with the Portland Press Herald about how existing research on the program shows that OZ investments are often driven by private market considerations rather than community needs.