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.
The two first posts in our Step-by-Step series demonstrated how ESI uses R for data manipulation and graphing and ESRI to map the economics and demographics of a select geographic area. This third installment will show you how we use CARTO, a GIS and web mapping tool. Mapping with CARTO Builder Digital mapping is a powerful medium that can quickly […]
In the past decade, Philadelphia’s population has continued to grow, reversing over 50 years of decline from 1955–2005. The population growth has been partially fueled by costly housing markets in New York and Washington DC; rapid millennial migration; the growth of biotech, educational and medical institutions; major expansion of national firms such as Comcast; and the […]
Demonstrating the Banking Industry’s Affects on Communities ESI Senior Vice President Lee Huang’s op-ed, How Neighborhoods Could Lose if Trump Succeeds in Rolling Back Bank Reforms, published in Next City demonstrates how reduced access to data could be detrimental to communities across the nation. He makes the case for the transparency and accountability derived from Dodd-Frank as […]
You may have noticed, we think a lot about the value of public transportation around here. So we paid extra attention when the Inquirer and Billy Penn introduced a fascinating series on the importance of the El to Philadelphia. Weekday ridership on the El (officially, the Market-Frankford Line) has increased by 20% since 2001, and […]
The first edition of the Step-by-Step series demonstrated how ESI uses R for data manipulation and graphing. This step in the series will show you one for economic analyses and forecasts. ESRI Business Analyst is an extremely powerful tool that allows us to gather data on geographical areas such as demographics, lifestyle choices and consumer expenditures. To demonstrate the usefulness […]
The burgeoning ridesharing industry has led some to argue that ridesharing is a more efficient market solution to urban travel than public transit, obviating the need for transit infrastructure investment and operating subsidies.[1] For example, Leon Drole, a recently elected commissioner in Macomb County, Michigan reacted to a proposal to invest in Detroit public transit […]
Elections can be challenging to model. Philadelphia, in a Democratic primary, has 66 wards, over 100 candidates, and thousands of issues. And wards, candidates, and issues don’t exactly wear signs that declare what “type” they are. We broadly talk about “party” candidates, “reform” candidates, “machine” candidates, but how can we identify them, and know that those […]
ESI Principal and President Richard Voith recently gave a presentation for Manko Gold Katcher & Fox, an Environment and Energy Law Practice, outlining the impact President Trump’s administration will have on the economy, specifically in Philadelphia. Here are his key takeaways. With the Trump administration, we have entered a time of acute uncertainty. According to Bloomberg, the […]
This Step-by-Step post is the first in a series of 3 blogposts, each post will be written by an ESI analyst and used to explain how we use a particular software as it pertains to our business lines and past projects. This week, James Midkiff shows us how to use the statistical software R. For […]
Over the last year, our Community Data Analytics (CDA) team has been busy presenting this groundbreaking methodology to assess development-related impacts to a larger audience and demonstrating how our data products can help make better planning decisions. As part of this effort, the team recently presented at the American Planning Association NJ Chapter Annual Conference. They […]