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Boston 101 Lecture Series
To add your name to our Boston 101 e-mailing
list for a reminder about the next Boston
101 lecture or changes and additions to
the lecture series, please send an email
to Polly
O'Brien. Fall 2008 - Spring 2009 Boston 101 Events Housing Prices and the Current Fiscal Crisis: How Will the Market Clear? Karl Case, Katherine Coman and A. Barton Hepburn Professor of Economics, Wellesley College Powerpoint Presentation by Chip Case This free event was co-sponsored by the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston, the Joint Center for Housing Studies, and the Taubman Center for State and Local Government. Estimating Teacher Impacts on Student Achievement: An Experimental Evaluation In earlier research, Kane and his colleagues have found little difference in the overall performance of students taught by teachers certified in traditional ways, alternative ways, or without any certification at all, but wide varience in the performace of students taught by teachers from each of the three groups. In new research, Kane and his colleagues are using similar methods to assess promising strategies for improving school performance, particularly ways to identify effective teachers while weeding out ineffective ones as well as strategies that identify and analyze promising alternative models for how to structure our schools. Putting Crime Data on the Web: Obstacles, Opportunities, and Impacts In Chicago and a few other major cities, citizens can go online and learn about reported crimes and arrests that occurred in the last 90 days in or near specific addresses, intersections, and neighborhoods. How, if at all, has this program changed policing? What, if any, effects has it had on police-community relations or on the city's neighborhoods? What can other localities learn from the programs' successes and problems? Urban Issues and the Campaign
Moderated by Edward Glaeser, Professor Economics and Director, Rapport Institute for Greater Boston and Taubman Center for State and Local Government, Harvard University Are American cities getting the attention they deserve in the current election? The question is critically important because our cities continue to be both economic engines for the country and places of serious economic deprivation. Given the importance of urban issues, what are the presidential candidates saying, why are they saying it, and what else might they say that would offer hope to those who live and work in our cities? Reviewing Chapter 40B: What Gets Proposed, Approved, Appealed, and Built? For almost 40 years, Chapter 40B, a unique Massachusetts law, has allowed the state to overrule local land use decisions for housing projects that include subsidized units in communities that lack such housing. Because Chapter 40B is so important for multi-family housing production and because 40B projects often are controversial, it is critical to understand how the law actually works in practice. Which projects are built with little controversy, which are substantially delayed, and which never get built? Powerpoint presentation by Lynn Fisher from Reviewing Chapter 40B: What Gets Proposed, Approved, Appealed, and Built? on November 17, 2008.
Recognized as "the guiding light for reform in juvenile justice" by the American Youth Policy Forum, the Missouri Division of Youth Services (DYS) has developed a promising new philosophy in treatment of youth offenders. Instead of more common punitive practices, DYS takes a therapeutic approach, viewing youth as a direct product of their experiences and capable of turning their lives around through a step-by-step process of change.
For more information, contact Polly O’Brien at polly@rappaportinstitute.org. Housing Markets, Price Volatility, and Public Policy Over the past 8 years, America has experienced an astonishing boom-bust cycle in housing markets. Some elements of that cycle are compatible with standard economic model; other elements are not. What is the appropriate public policy response to a price decline of this magnitude? Powerpoint presentation by Edward Glaeser Housing Policy in the Post-Bush Era: The View from Cambridge
Collaborative Governance and the Rose Kennedy Greenway The Rose Kennedy Greenway - a mile-long ribbon of parks and greenspace in downtown Boston - is managed and maintained by a non-profit entity funded by a mix of public and private funds. Is this approach effective and appropriate and, if so, can it - and should it - be applied not only to other parks, but also to other public purposes as well?
From Prison to Work: Reentry Programs that Reduce Reincarceration and Restore Former Prisoners’ Place in the Community Most of the more than 600,000 people who return to their home communities after serving state prison sentences end up back in the criminal justice system. Breaking this cycle could both improve public safety and help state and local governments address unprecedented budget woes. One promising approach is to focus on providing immediate, meaningful employment for formerly incarcerated people, such as programs run by New York’s Center for Employment Opportunities. Powerpoint presentation given by Mindy Tarlow
Newly available data from the state's Registry of Motor Vehicles offers important new insights into the connections between land use patterns, transportation infrastructure, and travel by automobiles, which produce about 30 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions in Massachusetts. Powerpoint presentation given by Christian Jacqz
The Credit Rating Crisis What is to blame for the current economic woes? Benmelech will discuss the "credit rating crisis" of 2007 - 2008 and the credit rating practices used in the creation of exotic (and some would argue toxic) new financial products which are believed by many to be one of the causes of the current financial crisis.
Housing Cities: Symposium 2009 1. The Role of Rental Housing
Correct Approaches: Managing Prisons Effectively in Challenging Times Three decades of increasingly tough sentencing and incarceration laws have led to serious prison overcrowding and soaring public expenditures for corrections. A focus on drug treatment, housing, and other reentry programs might reduce recidivism, which in turn would ease overcrowding, and reduce costs. But making such changes is extremely difficult because it requires either new spending or reallocating existing funds and staff. Powerpoint presentation given by Commissioner Harold Clarke
Beyond 40B? The Effectiveness and Impacts of Inclusionary Zoning Although Chapter 40B is the state's best known policy for producing affordable housing, many Boston-area communities also use local inclusionary zoning (IZ) programs to create affordable housing. New analyses of these programs and of similar programs in the San Francisco and Washington, D.C. metro areas find considerable variation in how IZ programs are designed and how much housing they have produced. Moreover, there is some evidence that less new housing is built in communities with IZ requrements and housing in those communities is more costly as well. Powerpoint presentative given by Jenny Schuetz Silver Bullet or Trojan Horse: The Effects of Inclusionary Zoning on Local Housing Markets in Greater Boston Policy Brief
Making Hard Choices in Troubling Times: How Massachusetts is Addressing Its Fiscal Crisis Comments by State Representative Charles Murphy, Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee and Because the deep and unprecedented national recession, Massachusetts has had to close an approximately $6 billion gap beween available revenues and projected spending for the current and upcoming fiscal year. This task is especially difficult because the economic downturn forces many individuals and families to rely more than ever on the safety net provided by state programs. Moreover, the economic uncertainty that characterizes the current financial downturn makes it especially hard to accurately project how much money will be available to address these pressing needs. Informing the Debate: A Panel Discussion on Boston’s Charter, Pilot, and Traditional Schools Tom Kane, Professor of Education and Economics, Harvard Graduate School of Education
The Evolution of Boston Leading to the Greening of Boston Alex Krieger, Professor in Practice of Urban Design, Harvard's Graduate School of Design and co-author, Mapping Boston Cosponsored by the Graduate School of Design, the Harvard Center for the Environment, the Taubman Center for State and Local Government, and the Harvard School of Public Health Ecological Urbanism: Alternative and Sustainable Cities of the Future
Remment Koolhaas, Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design, Harvard Graduate School of Design and Introductions by Dean Mohsen Mostafavi and Mayor Thomas M. Menino A Public Address by U.S. Representative Barney Frank (D-MA), Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee Moderated by David Ellwood, Dean, Harvard Kennedy School of Government IOP Streaming Video of the Event.
What's Happening in the Rental Housing Market During the Crash? The rental housing market is significantly impacted by the foreclosure and credit crises as well as the deepening recession. This paper focuses on the current state of the rental market, the availability of debt and equity for rental housing, and the impact of tax and other federal policies on rental housing vs. owner-occupied housing. Federal housing policy has long viewed rental housing as a stepping stone to the ultimate goal of homeownership. With the magnitude of the current foreclosure crisis and the dire circumstances facing many homeowners caught up in the crisis, could this be one of those rare moments in time when there is an opportunity to make a fundamental shift in policy and level the playing field between rental and owner-occupied housing? Powerpoint presentation by Denise DiPasquale
Housing Policy in the Post-Bush Era: the View from Boston
Using Non-Compete Laws to Spur Economic Development in Massachusetts Commentary by State Representative William Brownsberger, Massachusetts House of Representatives Massachusetts, like many states, allows firms in knowledge-intensive fields to limit their employees' ability to take jobs with other firms. These "non-compete" restrictions help firms because they limit the disclosure of trade secrets, honor customer confidentiality, and prevent competitors from appropriating employees' specialized skills and knowledge. But new analyses based on a "natural experiment" in Michigan suggest that the restrictions should be reconsidered because they can stymie individual innovation, which in turn may hamper regional economic development.
The Challenge of Sustaining Health Care Reform in Massachusetts Opening Remarks Overview Presentation Improving Health Care Quality and Values: Local Challenges and Local Government Policy Brief Panel Discussions Can We Implement Opportunities to Improve the Value of Healthcare? Moderated by David Cutler, Acting Director of the Harvard Program for Health Systems Improvement and Otto Eckstein of Professor of Applied Economics Can We Build Support for Opportunities to Improve the Value of Healthcare? Jarrett Barrios, President, Blue Cross/Blue Shield Foundation Moderated by David Ellwood, Dean, Harvard Kennedy School Closing Remarks
Corporate Social Responsibility: Creating and Communicating a High Impact Strategy in a Challenging Economy Panelists
To add your name to our Boston 101 e-mailing list for a reminder about the next Boston 101 lecture or suggestions for the lecture series, please send an email to Polly O'Brien.
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