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Cities That Want to Attract Business Might Want to Focus Less on Financial Incentives and More on Making People Feel Safe
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Cities That Want to Attract Business Might Want to Focus Less on Financial Incentives and More on Making People Feel Safe

To attract business investment, American cities and states offer companies billions of dollars in incentives, such as tax credits. As the theory goes, when governments create a business-friendly environment, it encourages investment, leading to job creation and economic growth. While this theory may seem logical on its face, it’s a bit of a chicken-and-egg situation....

Incidences of Urban U.S. Hate Crime Declined Slightly in 2024, but Anti-Jewish and Anti-Muslim Crimes Continued to Rise
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Incidences of Urban U.S. Hate Crime Declined Slightly in 2024, but Anti-Jewish and Anti-Muslim Crimes Continued to Rise

Police reports of hate crimes in 42 major U.S. cities declined 2.7% in 2024, hovering around modern records, according to preliminary data from a new multi-city survey by an emeritus researcher from California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB). But anti-Jewish hate crimes rose 12% and anti-Muslim hate crimes increased 18%, part of an upward trend....

Researchers from South Korea Reveal How Gender Shapes Perceptions of Safety in Urban Parking Spaces
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Researchers from South Korea Reveal How Gender Shapes Perceptions of Safety in Urban Parking Spaces

Men and women have different priorities and concerns regarding visibility in urban spaces Multifamily residential buildings with multiple floors are common in South Korea. These buildings usually have pilotis—support structures like pillars that elevate the building, creating an open ground floor generally used for parking vehicles. These piloti parking spaces are often risky to navigate...

When Fire Information and the Desire to Help Collide Online
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When Fire Information and the Desire to Help Collide Online

– Jay Balagna, Alyson Harding, Vanessa Parks The destructive winds and devastating fires that are sweeping through the Los Angeles area this week drove many, understandably, to their phones seeking information—and seeking to help. Downloads of apps like Watch Duty soared as Angelenos anxiously searched for information about evacuation boundaries, evacuation sites, and the fate of their...

‘Crime Suppression’ Policing and Excessive Force at the Memphis Police Department
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‘Crime Suppression’ Policing and Excessive Force at the Memphis Police Department

Recent Justice Department reports on police abuses in Memphis, Louisville, and other cities suggest eschewing crime suppression policing entirely, rather than tinkering with its machinery. During the first three and a half years of the Biden administration, the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department reported its findings from three law enforcement investigations and announced...

U.S. Suffers from Low Social Mobility. Is Sprawl Partly to Blame?
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U.S. Suffers from Low Social Mobility. Is Sprawl Partly to Blame?

Using Census data, researchers untangle interplay between urban development patterns and socioeconomic outcomes. Urban sprawl is not just unsightly. It could also be impeding intergenerational mobility for low-income residents and reinforcing racial inequality, according to a series of recent studies led by a University of Utah geographer. One analysis of tract-level Census data co-authored with...

Detroit’s Reparations Task Force Now Has Until 2025 to Make Its Report, but Going Slow with This Challenging Work May Not Be a Bad Thing
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Detroit’s Reparations Task Force Now Has Until 2025 to Make Its Report, but Going Slow with This Challenging Work May Not Be a Bad Thing

The work of crafting reparations at the municipal level is fierce. Detroiters know. In November 2021, residents voted to create a reparations committee that would make recommendations for housing and economic development programs to address historical discrimination against Black residents. Three years have passed – and Detroiters recently learned the report is delayed. Some folks...

Peaches Spread Across North America Through Indigenous Networks
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Peaches Spread Across North America Through Indigenous Networks

Spanish explorers may have brought the first peach pits to North America, but Indigenous communities helped the ubiquitous summer fruit really take root, according to a study led by a researcher at Penn State. The study, published in Nature Communications, shows that Indigenous political and social networks and land use practices played key roles in the...

Black Men — Including Transit Workers — Are Targets for Aggression on Public Transportation
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Black Men — Including Transit Workers — Are Targets for Aggression on Public Transportation

Black men on buses and trains — whether as passengers or transit workers — face hostile encounters that threaten their sense of safety and well-being, according to a new study by a Keough School of Global Affairs sociologist. By reinforcing racist tropes that they are dangerous or invisible, these encounters can also erode Black men’s sense of...