Background Massachusetts is a small state, but it has 351 cities and towns. The large number of jurisdictions grants the state its incredible civic diversity, ranging from rural villages to small towns, to beach towns, to metropolises. But the multiplicity of jurisdictions also results in an extremely tricky coordination problem: Read more…
Since 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has released consumer complaints against financial corporations. This is a valuable source of information about the problems Americans face in accessing credit, savings, investments. There are limitations to the data: the people who submit complaints often write them in the heat of anger Read more…
In October of 2020, the City of New Orleans considered an ordinance that would required affordable housing in its core districts, including the French Quarter. To assess the economic effects of this reform, both on affordable housing in the city and also on the city’s fiscal outlook, I took a Read more…
In 2016, Donald Trump rode a perfect wave of anti-Obama sentiment and economic disenfranchisement to the greatest upset victory in American Presidential history. That’s a commonly held narrative about the 2016 election. But does the data back it up? I conducted a number of statistical tests and mapping exercises to Read more…
Shiny App URL: https://jcinterrante.shinyapps.io/urban_neglect_shiny_app/