Economic Development

Latest Urban Edge Stories

As COVID-19 ebbs and flows, will there be a sea change in cities? It depends on whom you ask.

Surges, hot spots, reopenings and reclosings. As the pandemic’s jagged sawtooth trend line continues to cut across the nation, uncertainty remains. In the end, how much will the composition of urban and suburban areas change?

News Story

: Jul 20, 2020

COVID-19 and Cities, Economic Development, Education, Housing, Sun Belt

COVID-19 survey: Houston area is the hardest hit large metro in America

Jobless claims, along with COVID-19 cases, deaths and hospitalizations, are on the rise in Texas. And the social and economic impacts seem to be the greatest in the Houston metropolitan area.

1938 - Unemployment benefits aid begins. Line of men inside a division office of the State Employment Service office at San Francisco, California, waiting to register for benefits on one of the first days the office was open. Photographer - Dorothea Lange

News Story

: Jul 10, 2020

COVID-19 and Cities, Economic Development, Education, Health

Will the rush to reopen only end up intensifying the economic crisis?

Texas and other small-government Sun Belt states, which were already were limited in their capacity to respond in times of economic crisis, were hit hard by big drops in consumer spending resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. As the second part of the pandemic’s first wave now washes over many of these states, it remains to be seen what effect it will have on their floundering economies.