Blogs

Demography of the Battleground States

William Frey of the Milken Institute and Brookings Institution breaks down the race demographics of the presidential battleground states in this month's Milken Institute Review. Frey groups the states into what he calls the Fast Growing Battlegrounds, Slow Growing Battlegrounds, and Fast-Growing South Longshots.  read more »

A look at the Information Sector

The Information sector of the economy is has followed an interesting trajectory over the past 15 years. The info sector built up to a huge peak in the early part of this decade, and has seen general decline since that time.

Growth in Information Subsectors:  read more »

Flushing in Florida?

It's all gloom and doom in the Miami Herald today after recent job numbers indicate the state is last in the nation in job creation.

The top job-loss state in the nation. Shrinking wages. Collapsing population growth. Record home foreclosures.  read more »

Subjects:

Commuting Patterns in Chicago

You may have read our recent commuting case study of the Los Angeles region written by Ali Modarres. Ali put together some detailed commuting pattern maps of the area.  read more »

Subjects:

Manufacturing Growth Nodes

Manufacturing is often viewed as a massive anchor to regional job growth. Here's two lists of metro areas that not only withstood the national job hemorrhaging of 2001-2003, but they are actually growing.

Growth by percent:  read more »

Source of Population Growth In Milwaukee

Where is the growth in Wisconsin? The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel checked in last week with a glowing review of the recent city census numbers. Our friend, Milwaukee native, and former Playboy Magazine editor Bob Carr sends his reaction:  read more »

New Census Data on Cities

US Census released the latest population data on cities this week. Looking at the top 15 largest US cities, only Sunbelt cities of Phoenix, San Antonio, Houston, and Jacksonville are ahead of the national rate since 2000. Interestingly, the cities of San Francisco and San Jose are making a recent comeback after losses early this decade, although San Francisco is still trailing its year 2000 mark.  read more »

Subjects:

Do higher gas prices push people from small towns?

The Kansas City Star published an article and video package over the weekend suggesting that because of high gas prices, the "country could see a migration that would greatly reduce the population of Small Town America." This may be news to those at the Star, but this exodus from many small towns and farming communities has continued unabated for decades, and gas costs are a minor factor in the equation.  read more »

Should Obama Trade Chicago for Phoenix?

Invoking Studs Terkel, Oprah Winfrey, and Barry Goldwater, Tristam Hunt of the Times Online suggests that Obama needs to trade in Chicago's "progressive European tradition" for the "Wild West, libertarian ethos" of Phoenix. What he's really suggesting is that Obama needs to nail down the sprawling periphery to win it:  read more »

Subjects:

Mapping Power Brokers at Muckety.com

When most of us think "social networking" the first thing that comes to mind are personal sites like Facebook or LinkedIn. Recognizing the power of personal connection, Muckety.com is a news site that works in a fantastic interactive social network map connecting muckety-mucks in each news story.  read more »