Regional Direction
June 17th 2020
The Color of Inequality 3: Structural Racism and Public Education
The landmark 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education deemed the “separate but equal” system of racial segregation unconstitutional. Despite this momentous legal victory, most school districts in the United States have remained woefully segregated. In this week’s Color of... Read More
Regional Direction
June 12th 2020
The Color of Inequality Part 2: Race, Place, and Crime
From the days of Frank Rizzo’s controversial tenure as Philadelphia Police Commissioner from 1968-1971 to the notorious 1985 MOVE bombing by Philadelphia police to contemporary City Council debates on defunding the police department, the relationship between Black Philadelphians and the criminal... Read More
Regional Direction
June 4th 2020
The Color of Inequality Part 1: Housing and the Built Environment
AUTHORS' NOTE: As the country was buckling under the weight of the COVID-19 pandemic, the widely broadcast killing of an unarmed Black man, George Floyd, by a white Minneapolis police officer along with Amy Cooper's threatening use of police force to confront Christian Cooper in Central Park... Read More
Regional Direction
May 28th 2020
COVID-19: The Real Retail Apocalypse?
With the potential for numerous “nonessential” store re-openings in the coming months, we look at the size and composition of Philadelphia’s retail industry and reveal the impact of the pandemic’s lockdown since mid-March. Key Takeaways As of 2019, retail employment accounts for 7.8... Read More
Regional Direction
May 20th 2020
Greater Philadelphia’s Healthcare Industry and the COVID-19 Pandemic
Greater Philadelphia’s large and robust healthcare industry has long been a vital economic asset. The centrality of this sector has only been amplified during the public health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. While many healthcare workers have been deemed essential personnel during this... Read More
Business Growth
May 13th 2020
Institutional Spend and the Potential for Small & Diverse Business Recovery after the Pandemic
Eds-and-Meds Spending is Large, but More Could be Localized According to data compiled and analyzed by the City Controller’s Office in 2015, the 34 universities and hospitals located in Philadelphia collectively spend roughly $5.3 billion on goods and services annually, but—at least in... Read More
Regional Direction
May 6th 2020
Philadelphia's Construction Restart During the Pandemic
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of Philadelphia was in the midst of a construction boom. However, with Governor Wolf’s March 20 order to shut down most construction sites in Pennsylvania, the bulk of the city’s construction activity ground to a halt. This had serious implications for... Read More
Regional Direction
April 29th 2020
The Impact of COVID-19 on Philly’s Latinx/Hispanic Community
The Impact of COVID-19 on Philly’s Latinx Community In a previous Leading Indicator, we examined the social determinants of health that have disproportionately positioned Philadelphia’s African American/Black communities on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this brief we continue our... Read More
Regional Direction
April 22nd 2020
COVID-19 and Greater Philadelphia's Tech Workforce
Across the U.S, the COVID-19 pandemic has to date wiped out roughly the same number of jobs that were created since the Great Recession. In previous briefs, we’ve detailed how this job loss is affecting various local industries and businesses, and we’ve highlighted those that have been most... Read More
Regional Direction
April 15th 2020