Local economies

Report Authors: Stacey Sutton, Ryan Altizer, Joe Engleman, Andry Gonzalez, Anney Grish, Edith Portales, Zenaid Santos, Yun-Ni Tsai, Jazmin Vega, Julie Walsh & Karen Yates
During COVID Summer 2020, a team of Master of Urban Planning and Policy students working with Professor Stacey Sutton developed an urban agriculture adaptive reuse plan and feasibility study for Grow Greater Englewood and the Englewood Village Farmers. The plan and feasibility study aim to transform the abandoned Bontemps Elementary School building into a sustainable indoor urban agriculture ecosystem that includes farm cultivation, food processing, renewable energy, workforce development, learning and community enterprise called the Bon-Temps Campus.The Bon-Temps Campus will reclaim the space as an integrated and experiential training ground for urban agriculture and become a hub of innovation and exploration on Chicago’s South Side. Located at the literal heart of the Englewood Trail, Bon-Temps will once again be a campus – a community anchor that supports the needs of existing Englewood farmers, trains future generations of urban farmers, cultivates and sustains the local food system, incubates community-wealth through social enterprise grounded in community ownership, and bolsters the Englewood Urban Agricultural District.

Report Authors: Eric Stokan, Howard Wial & Harold Wolman
There has been scant attention paid to the types of jobs that have replaced the manufacturing jobs lost since the 1970s. This article examines six widely held beliefs acknowledged as conventional wisdom and assesses the extent to which they are supported by actual factual analysis.

Report Author: Howard Wial
This paper characterizes the economic performance of the 100 largest metropolitan areas during and after the Great Recession using four indicators: employment, the unemployment, rate gross metropolitan product (GMP), and house prices. Nearly half the metropolitan areas recovered their prerecession GMP by the third quarter of 2012 but only 10 recovered prerecession employment and none fully recovered house prices or unemployment rate. Industry composition is associated with the depth of recession and strength of recovery.

Report Author: Howard Wial
This briefing paper, the first in CUED’s Manufacturing Chicago’s Future series, provides that basic information about the geographic aspects of Chicago-area manufacturing. It is based on an update of the author’s previous work on the geography of U.S. manufacturing, published last year by the Brookings Institution.

Report Authors: Elizabeth Scott & Howard Wial
This report assesses the size of the IMD's impact on the Chicago regional economy and describes the IMD's productive activity, jobs, and workforce.

Report Authors: Elizabeth Scott & Howard Wial
This briefing paper, the second in CUED’s Manufacturing Chicago’s Future series, focuses on the ways in which manufacturing jobs are linked to other jobs and shows the numbers of jobs that depend on manufacturing employment in the Chicago region and the nation as a whole.

Report Authors: Chirag Mehta, Ron Baiman & Joe Persky
The prospect of the opening of a new Wal-Mart store on the west side of Chicago has raised concerns about its potential impact on existing retailers. This study assesses the likely impact of a new Wal-Mart store on other local retailers and the resulting employment and tax revenue impacts on the City of Chicago and its residents

Report Authors: Ron Baiman & Sarah Beth Coffey
The University of Illinois at Chicago Center for Urban Economic Development (UIC-CUED) has been commissioned by School District 45 of Villa Park, IL to construct an Illinois inter-regional cost-of-living index based on objective and reliable sources. UIC-CUED has no position on how this index can or should be used by School District 45 or any other entities who may wish to use it. However, because we believe that such a tool could be useful in many areas of state and local public policy, and for private sector planning purposes, we have agreed to undertake this project.

Report Authors: Chirag Mehta & Asma Ali
The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) recently estimated that approximately 432,000 undocumented immigrants currently reside in Illinois. Many of these immigrants arrive in Illinois as young children and received their schooling in the State. Illinois House Bill 60 (H.B. 60) may increase undocumented students’ access to higher education by directing Illinois public universities to charge in-state tuition rates to immigrant students who meet specific residency criteria. This study, conducted by UIC Center for Urban Economic Development and a network of immigrant rights organizations, assesses the scope of impact of H.B. 60 as well as its fiscal impact.

Report Author: Bridget Brown
This document is a regional guide towards community and economic development in the Chicago metropolitan area. The goals are focused around developing the capacity of public sector foundations, focusing on the competitive advantage of the market foundations, improving enterprise vitality as well as stability and quality of life.

Report Authors: Atanacio B. Gonzalez & Anne Ray
This report summarizes the results of a survey of non-profits serving residents of West Town and other West Side neighborhoods. UICUED was asked to survey these eleven organizations in order to develop an inventory of local groups with community development programs focused on jobs, housing and anti-displacement.

Report Authors: David C. Ranney & Paul Schwalb
This report examines the Tate & Lyle Ltd takeover of the A.E. Staley corporation and a lockout of its workforce. The analysis is divided into the following parts: a) the global context of the A.E. Staley lockout; b) Tate & Lyle's history and its policies at A.E. Staley; c) Tate & Lyle's market position; d) Impact on Staley workers and the people of Decatur.

Your browser is unsupported