The thinking behind the work
Essays from our Present Value blog, news from the firm, and our analysts in the press.
The Exit Interview: Final Thoughts from Summer ’17 Interns
With summer drawing to a close, ESI says farewell to another team of talented interns. But before they depart, we've asked them to participate in…
Cheers to Beers! Breaking Down the Concept of Economic Impact with a Beer (or two)
It feels like almost every month this year, a new brewery has opened in Philadelphia; add in the new distilleries and cideries…
Visualizing Travel Flows in Greater Philadelphia Region Using DVRPC Household Travel Survey Data
For this week’s post I’ve used the 2012-2013 Household Travel Survey which is conducted by Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) to…
June’s Philadelphia Housing Index Remains Flat, at All-Time High
The Philadelphia Housing Index remained flat in June, though prices remain at an all-time high. The apparent slowdown of last month persisted,…
Step By Step: How to Create an ‘R’ Shiny App
In a previous Step By Step by my fellow analyst James Midkiff, readers were introduced to the statistical software ‘R’, and how…
The Effect of Handing out Candidate Listings at Polling Places
In this Present Value post, ESI analyzes the effect of handing out listings of candidate recommendations outside of polling places, using work…
ESI’s Favorite Buildings in Philly
It seems as if each day passes with a new crane being erected in Philadelphia. With the city amidst a building boom,…
The Philadelphia Housing Index Flattens in May
Though the Market Remains at Record Highs After a huge March and April for Philadelphia housing sales, May prices settled and the…
Main Streets Evolving and (Mostly) Thriving
Hardly a day goes by without news of a major department store, big box retailer, or popular chain store scaling back or…
Why City Governments Need Design
What if the City of Philadelphia had a Deputy Mayor of Design? I have been intrigued with this idea since Kyung-Won Chung…
Memorial Day Light Reads
The past couple of months have been filled with running errands and endless to-do lists, but now it's finally time for you…
Philadelphia Housing Prices Are Up 22% in the Last 12 Months
An average Philadelphia house sold for $112K in April (these numbers are seasonally-adjusted, smoothed over time, and adjusted for housing traits), compared…
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