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Are America’s Inner Cities Competitive? Evidence From the 2000s

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  • Daniel A. Hartley
  • Nikhil Kaza
  • T. William Lester

Abstract

In the years since Michael Porter’s research about the potential competitiveness of inner cities, there has been growing evidence of a residential resurgence in urban neighborhoods. Yet there is less evidence on the competitiveness of inner cities for employment. The authors document the trends in net employment growth and find that inner cities gained over 1.8 million jobs between 2002 and 2011 at a rate comparable with suburban areas. The authors also find a significant number of inner cities are competitive over this period—increasing their share of metropolitan employment in 144 out of 281 metropolitan statistical areas. Also described is the pattern of job growth within the inner city. The authors find that tracts that grew faster tended to be closer to downtown, with access to transit and adjacent to areas with higher population growth. However, tracts with higher poverty rates experienced less job growth, indicating that barriers still exist in the inner city.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel A. Hartley & Nikhil Kaza & T. William Lester, 2016. "Are America’s Inner Cities Competitive? Evidence From the 2000s," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 30(2), pages 137-158, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecdequ:v:30:y:2016:i:2:p:137-158
    DOI: 10.1177/0891242416638932
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Benjamin Duquet & Cédric Brunelle, 2020. "Subcentres as Destinations: Job Decentralization, Polycentricity, and the Sustainability of Commuting Patterns in Canadian Metropolitan Areas, 1996–2016," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-25, November.
    2. Taner Osman, 2023. "Understanding Divergence in the Performance of Central Business District Economies Among U.S. Metropolitan Regions, 1995–2019," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 37(2), pages 143-153, May.
    3. Michael E. Porter, 2016. "Inner-City Economic Development," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 30(2), pages 105-116, May.
    4. Andres Sevtsuk & Rounaq Basu & Bahij Chancey, 2021. "We shape our buildings, but do they then shape us? A longitudinal analysis of pedestrian flows and development activity in Melbourne," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(9), pages 1-23, September.
    5. T. William Lester & Matthew D. Wilson, 2023. "The Racial and Spatial Impacts of the Paycheck Protection Program," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 37(3), pages 243-258, August.
    6. Emil Malizia & Yan Chen, 2019. "The Economic Growth and Development Outcomes Related to Vibrancy: An Empirical Analysis of Major Employment Centers in Large U.S. Cities," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 33(4), pages 255-266, November.
    7. Maude Toussaint-Comeau & Robin Newberger & Darline Augustine, 2016. "Inclusive Cluster-Based Development Strategies for Inner Cities," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 30(2), pages 171-184, May.

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