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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Testimony The State of the Federal Tax Administration in 2026
Janet Holtzblatt, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, testified before the House Subcommittee on Delivering Government Efficiency roundtable on “The IRS Under Audit: A Review of Operations at the Nation’s Tax Collector” on April 15, 2026.
Brief The UPHPA and Its Impact
The Uniform Partition of Heirs’ Property Act (UPHPA) provides due process protections for heirs’ property owners facing partition actions, reducing the likelihood of a forced property sale and broader wealth extraction.
People hurry on and off a subway train at an underground station, with motion blur showing movement as doors stand open and passengers board and exit.
Public participation remains essential, and policymakers can take steps to ensure engagement processes reflect the entire community’s needs without increasing costs or sacrificing effectiveness.
Brief Proven and Promising Interventions to Support Small Businesses
This guide is designed for city policymakers, economic development officials, and key partners to understand what interventions have been proven to work, which programs are promising but lack a rigorous review, and how often cities use these programs.
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This brief examines how much Medicaid enrollees used separately billed peer support services in each state in 2018 and 2023, and what drove changes over time.
A group of children sit outdoors on pavement in a circle, drawing in notebooks with colorful pencils and chalk scattered around them. Backpacks and art supplies lie nearby, and one child holds a piece of paper while another eats an apple.
Title II Formula Grants can help reduce violent crime and better coordinate law enforcement efforts at all levels of government.
Research Report How Big Upzonings Affect Housing Supply
In this report, we explore how housing investment in New York City and Philadelphia changed over the past 15 years after the introduction of major zoning changes.
A family of four walks past a "Home for Sale" sign toward a smiling realtor and a red-brick home with an open front door.
Between 2021 and 2024, the typical mortgage rate for new homebuyers increased from 3.0 to 6.6 percent, meaning new homeowners are spending a larger share of their incomes than those who bought a house years ago.