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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Brief American Dreams and Discontents
Is the American dream in trouble? Has opportunity in America really diminished? This paper seeks to answer these questions by offering a historical perspective. The paper reviews the nation's record of achievement and the benefits and challenges of meritocracy. It discusses the necessity of creating
Research Report Profile of Disability Among Families on AFDC
Welfare reform eliminates Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and replaces it with block grants to the states. While work may be a reasonable goal for some or even most families receiving AFDC, a significant part of the targeted population may have special needs or face specific
Brief Reforming Employment and Training Policy
This paper argues that market failures and social goals are powerful rationales for public intervention in the employment and training area. The paper describes several troubling outcomes in the American labor market that are, at least in principle, remediable by an effective employment and training
Research Report Potential Effects of Congressional Welfare Reform Legislation on Family Incomes
This report presents estimates of how the major income security changed proposed by H.R. 3734 would affect family incomes. Such welfare reform legislation is designed to decrease dependency on government assistance and to shift more responsibility for social programs to states. The analysis, based
Testimony Tax Cut Update
At least 21 states have already enacted tax cuts this year, and several more reductions are likely to be adopted before the books are closed on this year's legislative sessions. But, from the perspective of the overall state budgets, the great majority of tax reductions are little more than tokens
Research Report Republi-Taxes and Demo-Grants
Senior Fellow Eugene Steuerle examines the pros and cons of flat taxes and flat grants in tax and expenditure policies.
Brief Whither Federalism?
Federalism has always meant that the states were available to perform governmental functions that for one reason or another Congress did not claim. Congress is now, for the first time, giving back to the states what previously had been centralized. This paper weighs evidence that may point to the