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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A severly flooded residential neighborhood with muddy water covering the streets and reaching up to the porches of houses, with trees, a stop sign, and electrical pole partially submerged as well.
Following devastating flooding in Central Texas, experts are assessing decisionmaking around development policies in disaster-prone areas.
A row of midsize, modern apartment buildings on a clear, sunny day.
More people than ever are renting homes, partly because increased apartment construction in some areas of the country has caused an overall reduction in the median asking rent, and partly because homebuying costs are so high.
An image of a metro train.
French cities have increased both bus and rail use beyond prepandemic levels, thanks to a quick return to normal service and expanded high-quality travel options.
A middle-age and elderly woman sit in a sunny kitchen in front of a wooden table examining mail.
In an emailed announcement praising the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the Social Security Administration says the legislation will eliminate federal income tax on Social Security benefits, but the enhanced deduction actually reduces households’ taxes based on overall income.
Brief Colleges Contributing Value to Communities
The Colleges Contributing Value to Communitie s project aims to capture the contributions that community colleges are making to their communities, but that have been ignored in previous return-on-investment (ROI) studies and rankings. The goal is to partner with college leaders in defining new
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In this summary, we present preliminary findings on how changes to the SNAP program in the Senate’s version of the reconciliation bill would affect families across the US.
An elderly woman in a blue shirt and white cardigan sits in her apartment in front of bills, a ledger, and her wallet examining receipts.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act includes a new tax deduction for Americans ages 65 and older, but the benefits will vary based on their income and filing status.