CURP: Center for Urban and Regional Policy

Updated on 07.24.2008

	In the latest Column, Andrew Sum and Don Gillis write that the level of national joblessness for teens is greater than at any time over the past 60 years, and this summer will produce a new record unemployment rate unless we take action now. Column Archives


	The latest urban policy and planning events in Greater Boston and beyond.


	CURP Research Associate Chase Billingham reviews Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh's ethnography of the underground economy in the American inner city, Off the Books.


	In February 2008, the New York Times published an editorial highlighting the lack of attention that the presidential candidates were giving to urban issues.


	CURP, founded at Northeastern University in 1999, is a "think and do tank" where faculty, staff, and students pool their expertise, resources, and commitment to address a wide range of issues facing cities, towns, and suburbs with an emphasis on the Greater Boston region.


	Looking to make a career change? Find out what the latest job opportunities in urban policy and planning are in the Boston area and beyond. Click here to start your search.

Artists for Humanity participant Massiel Grullon at work
On a recent afternoon, teenage sculpture artists at Artists for Humanity (AFH) were working together to make a mosaic, turtle-shaped table out of old flyers. They were packing the flyers tightly in stacks and carving them into appropriate pieces. The Boston Aquarium had commissioned the work, happy to pay top dollar for it. This type of project is typical for AFH. The organization smashes economic and social gaps by connecting Boston's young people to the community around them, getting them interested in the arts while paying for their time.

Spotlight Archives

Conventional wisdom may relegate manufacturing to the ash heap of earlier centuries, but new research undertaken by CURP and released by the Boston Foundation establishes not only the importance of manufacturing as a potent part of the regional economy but its role as a catalyst for future growth. Today, almost 10 percent of the state’s workforce is employed in manufacturing, creating almost $40 billion worth of goods annually. The sector retains more than 8,600 firms that are technologically sophisticated and well positioned to compete successfully in the emerging global economy. A sharp increase in productivity has played an important role in the continued importance of the sector. Since 1997, Massachusetts has sharply outpaced the nation as a whole, with an increase in productivity of more than 60 percent, compared to the national increase of about 30 percent.

This Week Archives

Given the opportunity, what would you tell the next U.S. president regarding an urban agenda? How should the great challenges facing the new administration be addressed? Would you share your thoughts on domestic infrastructure and transportation? Maybe discuss education? Or how about health care or housing? What exactly would you say, and why?

Please email j.christo@neu.edu with your thoughts, which will be published in this section in coming weeks. CURP has been asking our readers in Boston and beyond roundtable questions via email since 1999, with the intention of spurring an exchange of ideas about selected issues.

Join Our e-Roundtable Mailing List by clicking here!

The Boston Foundation and CURP held a public forum on Tuesday, July 15, 2008 to discuss the findings of CURP's latest report, Staying Power: The Future of Manufacturing in Massachusetts, which was released at the event. For more information, click here.

The forum was part of the Boston Foundation's Understanding Boston series. Understanding Boston events provide information and insight into issues affecting Boston, its neighborhoods, and the region. By working in collaboration with a wide range of partners, The Boston Foundation provides opportunities for people to come together to explore challenges facing our constantly changing community and to develop an informed civic agenda. To learn more, click here.