ESI Director, Ethan Conner-Ross and ESI President and Principal, Richard Voith collaborated with Susan Wachter, professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, to publish a white paper for the Penn Institute for Urban Research (Penn IUR).
Titled, “Philadelphia’s Triumphs, Challenges and Opportunities“, the paper highlights the historic trends that led to Philadelphia’s improvements in terms of growth and economic development and elaborates on the keys factors that contribute to the City’s current challenges as well as opportunities for future progress.
Among the City’s structural challenges that remain, entrenched poverty, public education, and municipal pension obligations are important issues that will need proactive efforts on behalf of policy makers and other key players. Despite Philadelphia’s challenges, the City has promising opportunities for urban growth including tax reforms, waterfront development and a strong innovation economy that is being driven by the concentration of higher education institutions in the city and region.
Click here to read the full policy brief.