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.

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State and community data tools
Explore our work by state
Fact Sheet Workers Worry, Despite Growing Economy
Until recently, most U.S. workers' sense of job security has been high when the U.S. unemployment rate was low. But while the unemployment rate has fallen during the 1990s, about one in ten U.S. workers feel pessimistic about their employment stability.
Fact Sheet Homelessness At A Glance
Contrary to public perception, the homeless are found in rural and suburban communities, not just inner cities.
Research Report Testing for Discrimination in Home Insurance
Recent studies have shown that homeowners in minority neighborhoods are less likely to have private home insurance, have policies that provide less coverage in case of a loss, and are likely to pay more for similar policies than their counterparts in predominantly white neighborhoods. This report
Research Report Do Minority-Owned Businesses Get a Fair Share of Government Contracts?
Despite the passionate national debate over affirmative action, little attention has been paid to the fairness of government contracting--a potentially important factor for minority economic progress. To provide a national picture of how minority-owned firms are doing in the area of government
Research Report Capital Gains Taxation and Tax Avoidance
Previous theoretical analyses of the capital gains tax have suggested that investors have considerable opportunity to avoid the tax. Yet, past empirical work found little evidence of such activity. Though confirming past findings that avoidance of tax on realized capital gains is not prevalent, we
Brief Federal Housing Assistance and Welfare Reform
In 1995, federal outlays for housing assistance to the poor ($19 billion) exceeded those for Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) by $7 billion. About one-fifth of the households that received AFDC also received federal housing subsidies. This policy brief examines the role of housing