Jonathan Bowles

The think tank quietly influencing New York’s top officials The Center for an Urban Future has caught the attention of city leaders with pragmatic policy ideas.

Proud to share this article about the Center for an Urban Future and the impact we’ve been having in NYC. @nycfuture.bsky.social @crainsnewyork.bsky.social @nickgarber.bsky.social www.crainsnewyork.com/politics-pol...

Urban population counts seem to be stabilizing in the latest 2019-2023 5-Year ACS:

• Cook County, IL flat, down about 0.2%
• NYC is up about 1.1%
• SF is down about 4.4% over this period

Demographics, prices are keeping Americans where they are - Marketplace We're not relocating like we used to, thanks largely to the graying of the population, high home prices and remote work.

Less than 10% of people in the U.S. moved in 2023, according to new data from the Census Bureau. That’s the smallest percentage since the bureau started keeping track in 1948. | Marketplace www.marketplace.org/2024/12/12/m...

For a variety reasons, you might feel starved for good news. Well, in just the last 6 months, federal agencies have reported

- fentanyl deaths and overall drug overdose deaths declined
- homicide rates declined
- US longevity finally went up for the first time since the pandemic
- obesity declined

This is wholly consistent with NYC’s experience of new housing production and demographic change - only in the neighborhoods that added the most housing did Black population increase between 2010-2020

storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/46a9...

Fewer young men are in college, especially at 4-year schools College enrollment among young Americans has been declining over the past decade, and it's mostly due to fewer young men pursuing degrees.

In 2011, 47% of US male high school grads enrolled in college. Now, the share has dropped to 39%.

Consequently, there's been a big drop in the number of men in college -- in 2022, there were 1 million fewer men age 18-24 enrolled than in 2011.

New York City Hotel Rates Soar to Record Heights as Holiday Travel Nears Hotels charged an average of $417 per night in September, the highest monthly rate ever for the city. “I don’t understand how normal people can go there,” one tourist said.

What happens when you make it more difficult to build new hotels, ban Airbnb, and use existing hotels to house migrants?

“I don’t understand how normal people can go there,” one tourist said

www.nytimes.com/2024/11/24/n...

It’s Time to Launch SUNY Reconnect | Center for an Urban Future (CUF) Center for an Urban Future calls for New York to launch SUNY Reconnect for working age adults who have earned some college credits but have no degree.

There are 1.5 million adults in NYS who have some college credits but no degree. Our new @nycfuture.bsky.social report urges state leaders to create a new program, SUNY Reconnect, to help these adults re-enroll at SUNY & get over the college finish line. nycfuture.org/research/its...

We take for granted some of our society's greatest successes.

Chart shows changes in the marital status of US adults ages 21-36 at different times. In 1965, only 17% of this age group was never married. By 2017, 57% of this age group had never married.

Never married 21-36 year olds
In 1965: 17%
In 2017: 57%
www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...

Powered by Native Voters, Ranked-Choice Voting and Open Primaries Survive in Alaska Alaska’s predominantly Native regions delivered huge margins against repealing the state’s new elections system, despite facing continued logistical challenges to voting.

In the three majority-Native districts in Alaska, the 'no' to repealing RCV won 64% to 36%, netting 2,960 votes.

Statewide, the 'no' only won by 664 votes.

This was not a coincidence, but result of plenty of organizing, & work by Native leaders: boltsmag.org/alaska-measu...

Saving the New York Project from Donald Trump What it will really take in the long term.

Newly elected Upper West Side assemblymember @micahlasher.bsky.social has launched a great new Substack and has kicked it off with an important and thought-provoking piece on the way forward for NYC Democrats:

NY among bottom 15 states for time students spend in school each year.

Chart showing that in 2024, young women and men in the US were more likely to hold a bachelor's degree than the same age group was in 1995. Women have made greater gains than men.

WOMEN'S GROWING COLLEGE ADVANTAGE

Gap between young U.S. women and men getting bachelor's degree
1995: No difference (25% each)
2024: Women are now 10 points more likely to have a degree (47% vs. 37%)

www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...

1/ The Burning Glass Institute's latest report, on "Launchpad Jobs", is out! In tandem with American Student Assistance, my colleagues looked at non-degree jobs that offer good pay, job stability and upward mobility.

Restaurants have become increasingly vital to NYC’s storefront landscape. As one indication of this, 20 years ago NYC had 102,000 more jobs in retail trade than in restaurants. Today, 30,000 more people are employed in restaurants.

A Surge of New Restaurants Drives New York City’s Storefront Revival Store vacancy rates are still above prepandemic levels, but new food and drink businesses, led by Mexican, Japanese and Caribbean kitchens, have helped fill the void.

Exciting to see NYC's storefronts bounce back after so many were hit hard by the pandemic, e-commerce, and remote work. As @stefanoschen.bsky.social makes clear, restaurants are driving the recovery. www.nytimes.com/2024/11/15/n...