ESI Blog: Present Value
Present Value was created as a platform for sharing ideas, discussing our interests and improving connections with our community. Each week, we invite guest contributors from the ranks of our senior advisors, industry experts, and thought leaders.
One thing is clear: More than ever, people and firms are re-evaluating where they live and work. The choices they make will have a major impact on the future shape of our communities. The policies we choose will shape the location decisions that are made. Even before the pandemic, digital technologies supporting online retail, virtual […]
As we navigate the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, cities are especially economically challenged. Tax revenues can barely keep up with the need to improve infrastructure, maintain public safety, encourage business, educate the young, care for aging residents, and provide basic and essential services to residents. Arts and culture are way down the list of […]
It’s almost that time of the year again! ESI’s summer interns are ready to head back to school or graduate and look for full-time employment. Before starting on their next milestone, we asked them to reflect on their time with us by interviewing them about their experience. ESI thanks you for your hard work and […]
It’s been a busy couple of weeks for people who follow the demographics and economics of cities. Last week, the US Census Bureau released the local area population counts from the 2020 decennial census, and a number of interesting facts jumped out from the data. We grew slowly, as the US population grew at its […]
The late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York is purported to have said that the way to build a great city is simple: “Create a great university and wait 200 years.” There is no doubt a profound truth in this statement. All great cities contain at least one great university. And all great universities […]
Globalization has helped interconnect different regions of the world but has also exacerbated global inequality. People now migrate from one place to another in search of better living conditions. This diaspora of people leads to a growth in the economic base of the place they move to. How can cities better accommodate their citizens economically, […]
Science, Technology, Engineer, and Math, together known as STEM, is foremost these days as experts explore global issues such as climate change, developing the workforce of the future, and equitable deployment of technology. ESI works for a wide range of clients, but it is not often that projects which are broad-ranging and topical are commissioned. […]
Imagine an urban city as a box. When one thinks outside this compartment, one is able to conceptualise that rural areas exist beyond this well-structured box. However, the inside isn’t well connected to the outside and vice-versa. One has smart street lights while the other encounters black outs. One relies on good roads and highways […]
ESI Principal Richard Voith joined the ACCCIM-ANBOUND Forum on Digital City Development in a Post-COVID Era on June 23 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Dr. Voith’s presentation focused on “Digitalization, Density and Development: Where to Invest Post COVID-19?” Dr. Voith began his presentation posing a few questions including, “Will the future be different in the path […]
What is C-PACE? Commercial Property-Assessed Clean Energy financing, or C-PACE, is a program that funds improvements that increase the energy efficiency and resiliency of commercial buildings. Currently approved in more than thirty states, C-PACE is intended to encourage building upgrades that enhance energy efficiency, water conservation, renewable energy, seismic and other safety measures. In practice, […]