Future of Cities Featured

Introducing Our New Vice Presidents!

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In December of 2022, Rebecca DeJoseph and Frank Robinson were promoted from Directors to Vice President and Senior Economist, and Vice President, respectively. Frank and Rebecca are both dedicated to their areas of expertise, with Frank’s history of working at the intersection of economic and community development, and Rebecca in the economic, labor, and academic spaces.

Rebecca was born in Philadelphia and raised in Northeast Pennsylvania. For her undergraduate degree, she attended Pennsylvania State University, double majoring in Economics and Political Science. She’s been at ESI for five years, having started as a Senior Analyst, and is now a Vice President. Prior to joining the firm, she worked at the Pennsylvania Bureau of Labor Statistics. In addition to her role at ESI, she serves as an assistant professor of Economics and Statistics for the Community College of Philadelphia.

Frank was also raised in the Mid-Atlantic, having grown up in northern New Jersey. He then attended North Carolina A&T State University, majoring in Political Science. Following that, he received his MBA in Urban Economic Development from Eastern University and his Master’s of Divinity from Westminster Theological Seminary. Prior to joining ESI as a Director, Frank owned and ran a consulting business for five years based in Wilmington, Delaware, focused on program development for nonprofits.

While both Frank and Rebecca are now Vice Presidents, they will have different areas of focus. Frank will be working on business development, operations, and ESI’s thought leadership initiative, the Center for the Future of Cities. “I am excited to help our organization expand and the ability to help more people accomplish the important work that they do on behalf of their communities and constituents,” says Robinson.

Rebecca will do more to expand data sources, ensuring that we can describe our clients’ needs and impact accurately and precisely. “I love finding new data sources to make our work better and easier. Within this role, I hope to keep discovering new methodologies to do our analyses and tell our clients’ stories,” says DeJoseph.

When not in the office, Rebecca enjoys spending time with her daughter, Elle. Frank also enjoys spending time with his family, as well as reading presidential histories.

NYCEDC Office Adaptive Reuse Task Force

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In 2022, ESI and Packard Beasley Consulting were engaged by the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) to provide management and technical support to a city-council mandated task force study that provided strategic recommendations to encourage the conversion of vacant or commercially unviable office space to other uses, with an emphasis on housing. Throughout the project, the ESI team worked closely with the New York City Department of City Planning, who managed the task force.

The Office Adaptive Reuse Task Force was convened following declines in office utilization in New York City as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing work-from-home policies. Historically high vacancy rates, paired with strong demand for housing in high-density commercial districts, suggested an opportunity to examine regulations governing conversions and evaluate the potential of financial incentives to encourage the production of affordable housing.

ESI completed four components:

  • Evaluated an analysis of the commercial and residential markets in New York City completed by the New York City Economic Development Corporation and suggested research methods to carry out the remainder of the work.
  • Conducted 26 interviews with nearly 40 industry experts, including brokers, property owners, engineers, architects, developers, and bankers.
  • Created a series of future scenarios to benchmark the range of possibilities for the office market based on projected supply and demand for office space.
  • Built a model to assess the financial feasibility of converting specific office buildings to residential uses.

These efforts informed the task force on making recommendations to the City and State of New York on regulatory and zoning changes as well as financial incentives to secure the future of the New York City office and residential markets. The ESI team also produced the task force’s final report.

What is Ahead for Cities in 2023?

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The beginning of the year always brings about fresh new goals, opportunities, and a renewed perspective and evaluation of the prior year’s objectives. As technology continues to evolve, so do our expectations of how these changes are going to manifest in the new year. Here at Econsult Solutions and ESI Center for Future Cities, we listed our top trends for 2023 and our predictions on how technology-driven solutions will make an impact in the coming year.

Citizen-centric tech will be a key priority

As technology becomes further interwoven into the fabric of our cities, we expect to see continued emphasis on technology that keeps the citizens’ needs as a priority. With different city services becoming more digitized, data is being used to provide solutions to urban infrastructure challenges. Citizens will push for more equitable solutions that can help solve issues like gun violence, income inequality, and housing affordability, with a focus on protecting vulnerable populations, low-income families, senior citizens, and the disabled. City leaders and stakeholders will have to address these social issues, and technology will either be a great tool or a potential encumberment.

EV charging infrastructure will continue its upward momentum

We have written extensively about electric vehicles (EVs) over the course of 2022, and do not expect the momentum of EVs and their deployment to slow down. As the markets begin to open to a broader consumer base, smaller and medium-sized cities will need to leverage federal dollars and strategize both efficient and equitable infrastructure deployment plans. As EV infrastructure continues its rollout, we predict the focus will turn to fleet electrification for school buses, city buses, and other public transit systems.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning will leverage open data in a big way

Artificial intelligence (AI) has made waves in the city service environment by leveraging data to increase services in waste management, pavement maintenance, security, and transit. We expect this trend to continue, but also expand into other industries like construction and healthcare. As AI technology continues to advance, equity and privacy concerns will rise as technology is piloted to the public. AI technology like gunshot detection will gain widespread adoption, but cities will need to employ an equity lens to keep their citizens safe.

Infrastructure Bill & Inflation Reduction Act will start to take shape on the state and local level

In 2023, we of course expect see the rollout and impact of the recent landmark bipartisan infrastructure bill. As funds are distributed to cities and towns across the country, government officials will have to make strategic decisions about how money will be allocated and which projects to prioritize. There will be an emphasis on building the nation’s EV charging infrastructure, especially along regional corridors. States will have to juggle traditional investments in road networks and highways with more innovative updates, like autonomous vehicles that will propel cities into the next generation of advanced infrastructure. There will be an increased need for infrastructure that is both sustainable and climate resilient, with special attention to the nation’s power grids, and water and sewage systems.

Concurrently, the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) extends tax credits for both new and used vehicles an additional 10 years, which addresses some of the accessibility concerns of low and middle income consumers. The new act also reinstated the EV charging and equipment tax credit that expired in 2021.

WFH is here to stay, and downtown development must reinvent itself

It is no secret that the pandemic disrupted industries and business sectors worldwide, but one change that we are still seeing the effects of, is the impact of company work-from-home (WFH) policies. WFH has disrupted city centers globally, as more and more workers opt to do business from the comfort of their own homes. Fewer workers in buildings mean fewer users of public transit and services, which ultimately less generated revenue for the city. In 2023, we predict observing more innovative ways to reuse, readapt, and revitalize downtown corridors. We think there will be a rise in adaptive re-use for more affordable housing units, and innovation spaces that merge live, work, and play.

New York City, with the assistance of ESI, convened a task force on the future of office space. That report provided recommendations and strategies for converting office space to residential uses. This recognizes the continued attraction of cities for residents, but also the shift of office work from office buildings to residential offices.

Nightlife is rebounding, and cities can benefit

While downtown centers reinvent themselves during 9-5, there has been and always will be an opportunity for nighttime activity that could be leveraged for increasing daytime economic activity. A report done by ESI studied the impact of nightlife in New York on businesses, retail, restaurants, and transportation. Translating the economic impact of nightlife in cities like New York to struggling daytime downtown districts like those in San Francisco can be a powerful tool in the age of work from home.

Stronger commitments to green infrastructure will need stronger funding

Meeting net zero and decarbonization goals will take the collaborative efforts of cities, tech companies, and investors alike to ensure they are delivered. COVID-19 shed light on just how imperative investments in blue and green infrastructure is, with large attention paid to the value and need for more green open space. Park and green corridors will be what makes cities more resilient for the future, and a recent report conducted by ESI found that financed green infrastructure has economic, environmental, and social benefits for residents, as well as the city at large. The report also included recommendations for small and medium sized cities on how to finance green infrastructure projects of their own.

Greening efforts will be especially important going forward, as extreme temperatures continue to have devastating impacts in urban regions in particular. ESI’s article from this past summer took a deep dive into the phenomena of urban heat islands and their disparaging impacts on the elderly, low income folks, and black and brown residents. We are expecting to see an increase in specialized task forces and roles in government like heat chief positions, which will be tasked with evaluating, assessing, and tackling excessive heat in their cites.

Innovative public transportation policy and programming will have great impacts

With the new funding from the infrastructure bill being distributed, state and city governments will build momentum on large infrastructure projects, with public transit requiring a large portion of budgets. We expect to see more government, private sector, and university collaborations for broader and innovation-based programming. These partnerships will be crucial when developing strategic plans to increase ridership in metropolitan cities hit hard during the pandemic. One entity tackling this is Philadelphia’s Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) through its Key Advantage Pass program, which allows organizations to purchase passes for all their eligible members at a special discounted price of an all -access pass, lower commuting cost for employees.

 The digital divide will narrow, but digital privacy risks will widen

The digital divide has been steadily closing and with heightened ferocity since the pandemic exposed lack of broadband in rural and some disconnected urban areas. While those efforts have been successful, the new year will bring more attention regarding digital privacy and cybersecurity as more and more citizens engage with city digital infrastructure and services. In 2023, cities will need to ramp up data privacy protections to ensure its citizens’ privacy and data are not breached by bad actors.

 

That’s what we think, What predictions do you have for cities in 2023?

 

Kendra Hills, Intern | [email protected]

Kendra Hills is an intern at Econsult Solutions supporting ESI’s Center for the Future of Cities. She is currently a Master’s student at the University of Pennsylvania, studying city & regional planning with a concentration in smart cities.

 

 

Steve Wray, Senior Vice President & Principal | [email protected]

Steve Wray is a senior vice president and principal at Econsult Solutions and Lead Principal of ESI Center for the Future of Cities. He leads the work of the firm’s principals and senior staff in developing new partnerships, expanding and building on existing practice areas, and integrating the firm’s strengths in economic analysis and thought leadership.

ESI Turns 10: What Lies Ahead

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Just as today’s forward-looking post builds from last week’s retrospective look, we are honored to stand on the shoulders of the co-presidents who went before us and set the standard for leadership and integrity in economic consulting. Steve Mullin and Dick Voith have set a high bar for us; thankfully, they’re still firing on all cylinders to help us to succeed.

We work hard every day to steward the reputation of the firm as providing sophisticated quantitative analysis and policy research to advance solutions in the real world for a wide range of clients. What energizes us about this role is how great the challenge and opportunity will be to do this well going forward. We are living, after all, in an era of mountains of data and yet a deep mistrust of Big Data, seeking to contribute to a deeply inquisitive social discourse whose participants are nevertheless often skeptical of if not downright antagonistic of “the other side.” Honest, substantive analysis has never been so assailed and yet so valued.

Succeeding as a firm for the next 10 years and beyond, and having fun while we’re at it, will thus involve answering more and harder questions than ever before. To “what’s going on,” a bread and butter inquiry we’ve historically been brought in to provide clarity on, we find ourselves being asked three additional questions, which we are eager to rise to the occasion to have a meaningful answer to:

  • “What’s next” – People want to see around corners, and ESI is ready to detect the patterns from what was before to inform what might be after.
  • “What should be next” – “Should” introduces a value judgment into the conversation, which is to say some outcomes are better than others. Which we’re well suited to help people navigate, given our training in seeing all sides of a discussion and assigning weights to different outcomes.
  • “How do we get there” – Analysis is only as good as its ability to be translated into advice, which in turn is only as good as its ability to be actionable. Having sat in many professional seats in our collective careers, we can speak from experience about how to get things done and move the ball forward.

That ought to keep us busy for a while. We’re eager to continue the good work into a bright future, and to engage with many people, organizations, and issues along the way.

 

Peter Angelides, President & Principal | [email protected]

Dr. Angelides focuses his work at the intersection of economics and urban development, including real estate, economic development, city planning, transportation, tax policy, valuation, and litigation. He helps clients pursue economic development, gain entitlements, assess feasibility, and prepare grant applications, among other undertakings. He leads ESI’s Real Estate and Litigation practices, and he often presents findings in public venues, such as courtrooms or public hearings.

 

  Lee Huang, President & Principal | [email protected] 

Lee Huang brings over 20 years of experience in economic development experience to ESI public, private, institutional, and not-for-profit clients. He leads consulting engagements in a wide range of fields, including higher education, economic inclusion, environmental sustainability, historic preservation, real estate, neighborhood economic development, non-profits, retail, state and local government, strategic planning, tax policy, and tourism/hospitality, and is a sought-after speaker on these and other topics.

 

ESI Turns 10!

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While the ‘Econsult’ name and business traces its roots back to the late seventies, Econsult Solutions, Inc., or ‘ESI’ as we commonly refer to ourselves, celebrates ten years in business this year. And as any small business owner knows, ten years is no easy feat. It’s a milestone worth celebration, but also reflection to take stock of where we’ve been and where we want to go.

Originally focused in providing economic analysis and witness testimony for litigation matters, Econsult Corporation diligently serviced clients throughout the Mid-Atlantic. In the early 2000’s, the company’s scope expanded, and taking stock of the evolution of the firm, a succession plan was implemented, pulling certain practice areas out of Econsult Corp. and officially giving life to Econsult Solutions. In this time, our practice areas have grown to include economic development, equity and inclusion, government and public policy, real estate, transportation and infrastructure, and universities and hospitals, while not losing sight of our initial litigation efforts.

Within a decade, we have had the privilege of offering our expertise to clients across the country, and at times, around the world, in economic and fiscal impact analysis, performance benchmarking, community and neighborhood development, public policy, strategic planning, as well as conducting surveys and primary research. Even now, ESI continues to push into new territory, providing not only quantitative, but qualitative analysis, supporting clients in more strategic advisory settings, generating forward-looking thought leadership content, and examining the future forces affecting cities and regions, both large and small.

We have also had the pleasure of working with an amazingly talented team of staff members who have diligently served our mission of providing impartial expert analysis grounded in sound economic principles. They have represented the firm with the highest levels of dedication and talent. We have witnessed many advance within the firm and take on new responsibilities, eager to meet the challenges that are presented. Those that have moved on from the firm have gone on to do great things in a variety of public and private settings. It has been a pleasure seeing their careers flourish and their reach spread far and wide. We are proud to have fostered an environment that values diligence in this way. Our senior advisors have also played a major role in expanding the firm’s geography, skillset, and real-world knowledge understanding of the implications of certain choices and policies that distinctly complements our practice areas. The advisory board has grown to over 75 talented individuals who have all held significant positions in business, government, academic, and non-profit organizations, providing yet another level of rigor and know-how to our work.

While there’s no crystal ball for us to perfectly predict what will happen in the next ten years, we can confidently say that continuing to provide the highest quality of services and capabilities will remain our utmost priority. That as an organization, we continue to recruit bright, energetic individuals passionate about the work we do. That we are able to meet the most pressing challenges our clients face to help them make their case in a way that is effective and considers all angles of the topics at hand. And that the guiding values which birthed this company ten years ago live on.

 

Stephen P. Mullin, Principal & Board Chair | [email protected]

As Co-Chair of the ESI Board of Directors, Stephen Mullin provides expertise to clients in the fields of economic development, public finance, policy analysis, real estate, energy, and business and government strategies. Mr. Mullin served as President since the firm’s inception and is now guiding strategic planning and development of the firm for its posterity.

 

Richard Voith, Principal & Board Chair | [email protected]

Dr. Richard Voith is a founding principal of ESI and Research Fellow of the University of Pennsylvania Institute for Urban Research (Penn IUR). He is a widely published expert in real estate economics, transportation, and applied microeconomics. He oversees a wide variety of projects in the realm of housing, labor markets, transportation, and economic development. Just as importantly, he is involved in setting the strategic direction of organizations both large and small.

2022 Year in Review

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2022 was a milestone year for ESI and we are thrilled to spotlight some of our work that was completed, as well as highlight our ongoing thought leadership efforts being built out of ESI Center for the Future of Cities. We look forward to continuing to provide the same level of excellence to our clients in the new year!