Research and Publications of 2008

Building Better

A Guide to America’s Best New Development Projects
2005

Curbing Sprawl, Building Healthy Communities

Much of the development in the United States
today is sprawling, low density, car-dependent “bigbox”
or “strip-mall” construction, which produces
more and more traffic and harms our land, air, and
water. The Sierra Club believes there is a better way
to build, and in doing so, to produce healthy

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Building Better II

A Guide to America’s Best New Development Projects
CLEAN WATER EDITION
2006

Stormwater runoff and sewage overflows
are growing threats to the health of our
water. Across the country sprawling
developments are generating huge amounts of
sewage and stormwater runoff. Land that used
to absorb rain is being paved over, creating
more runoff than treatment systems can handle.
The end result is that more untreated or poorly

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Unions and Upward Mobility for Women Workers

John Schmitt
December 2008

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Executive Summary

In 2007, women made up 45 percent of union members. If the share of women in unions continues
to grow at the same rate as it has over the last 25 years, women will be the majority of the unionized
workforce by 2020.

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Job Sprawl and the Spatial Mismatch between Blacks and Jobs

Cities, Labor Markets, U.S. Economy, Sprawl, Demographics
Michael Stoll, Nonresident Senior Fellow, Metropolitan Policy Program
The Brookings Institution
Wednesday November 5, 2008

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Findings

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No Justice, No Growth: How Los Angeles is making big-time developers create decent jobs.

By Harold Meyerson

The American Prospect, October 22, 2006
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=no_justice_no_growth

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Pittsburgh's Northside At a Glance

Northside Demographics

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Racial & Economic Disparities on Pittsburgh’s Northside

The Northside of Pittsburgh is a diverse area, made up of more than a dozen
neighborhoods. Some of these neighborhoods are thriving, while others wrestle with
unemployment, poverty, little access to affordable housing and violent crime. Some of
these neighborhoods are racially diverse, while others are largely segregated. The
Northside will soon be home to Pittsburgh’s only licensed casino, a development that will
affect the area in many ways. Every neighborhood in the Northside, black or white, rich

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Northside United Informational Pamphlet, March 2008

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Unions and Upward Mobility for African-American Workers

John Schmitt
April 2008

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Executive Summary

This paper examines the impact of unionization on the pay and benefits of African-American
workers. The most recent data suggest that even after controlling for differences between union and
non-union workers —including such factors as age and education level— unionization substantially

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