Homelessness as an Impediment to Urban Revitalization: the Case of Dallas, Texas

Homelessness has long been recognized as a serious problem in many American cities, and Dallas in no exception. What’s more, the homeless tend to congregate in the downtown districts (DD) since most service providers are also located in the urban core. Though homelessness is typically considered a social problem, it also has economic consequences. The latest homeless census for the city of Dallas totaled 6,000, and annual outlays by governmental, non-profit, charitable, and faith-based organizations to provide them with services probably exceed $50 million. This estimate doesn’t include thousands of volunteer hours. But the true economic cost of homelessness is much greater. A survey of downtown business owners found that the presence of homeless persons is having a negative affect on their operations and burdening many of them with additional costs for security and cleaning. A majority of retail respondents report that proximity to the homeless was scaring off customers and reducing their sales. An examination of downtown properties using Dallas County Appraisal District (DCAD) records reveals that average values in the southern sector, where most of the homeless are concentrated, are well below those in the northern half of downtown. Consequently, the City of Dallas, Dallas County, and the Dallas Independent School District are losing$2.4 million per year due to valuation disparities from a lack of development in the southern half of the DD. What’s more, we estimate the southern half of downtown can potentially support almost 2.2 million square feet of additional commercial, office and residential space. This development scenario would create more than 5,000 new jobs and generate about $6.6 million per year for local taxing entities. But the revitalization of Dallas’ DD, an avowed goal of the city’s political and business leaders, will not be fully realized until a comprehensive plan for improving homeless services is developed and implemented. Most importantly, the proposed central intake facility should be located away from—but close to—the downtown district. In this regard, the City of Miami can serve as a model. Miami has significantly reduced the visible homeless count and greatly improved the delivery of services. By creating an umbrella agency to oversee all homeless programs—whether provided by government, voluntary or faith-based institutions—the city has avoided duplication and overlap of services. Significantly, Miami has located both of its central intake facilities, known as Homeless Assistance Centers (HACs), away from their downtown district. Miami’s businesses community has recognized that reducing homelessness is a community and economic development issue as well as a social problem, and to that end they have contributed about$50 million over the past decade. The results are tangible, as evidenced by the construction boom currently underway in Miami’s downtown. As with Miami, an effective approach for dealing with Dallas’ homeless population must include greater participation and support by the region’s business leaders. Homelessness has significant economic as well as social consequences for the City of Dallas. While offering our compassion to the homeless, we should also acknowledge that the overwhelming presence of homeless persons on the streets of downtown has negative economic impacts on individual businesses, the prospects for redevelopment, and the city’s finances.

Multinational lessons from local and regional economic development agencies

This paper discusses the commonalities and differences in local and regional economic development (LRED) across England, Northern Ireland, Australia and the US. The focus is on four themes: the institutional characteristics of the respondents; governance, partners and partnerships; the objectives, regional capacity building and business service activities of responding agencies; and the self-assessment of effectiveness by LRED organisations. Our analysis is based on a survey of LRED agencies in the above-noted countries using a common questionnaire that was slightly adapted for each study area. Using logistic regression, we identify the practices and strategies of local and regional economic development agencies that are associated with higher levels of effectiveness. When all participating nations’ LRED organisations are jointly evaluated, several practices emerge as being positively related to agency performance including being actively involved in industrial estates, labour training and recruitment, marketing the agency’s region to international markets, and promoting industry clusters. Also showing as being positively related to performance are variables identifying whether or not the agency subsidized relocation costs for new businesses, helps local companies access venture capital, engages in education and training programs targeted at youths, and enhances networking opportunities for local business people. Interestingly, we found statistically significant negative relationships between agency effectiveness and engaging in tourism promotion activities, training minority groups, and conducting target industry studies, though this may reflect a correlation between certain activities and problematic economic environments. Though our research methodology of relying on self-assessed performance measures does not allow us to draw sweeping conclusions, we are confident that these findings provide a beginning for identifying a set of best practices that are appropriate for LRED organisations in a multinational setting.

Place leadership and regional economic development: a framework for cross-regional analysis

This paper examines the leadership of places – cities, regions, communities – in Australia, Finland, Germany, Italy, the United States and the United Kingdom and explores the capacity of vignettes to generate new, theoretical and empirical insights. It uses vignettes to identify the features of place leadership evident in 12 case studies across six nations. The research finds significant commonalities in place leadership with respect to the importance attached to boundary spanning, the role of government officials in responding to the prospect of regional decline or growth and how the nature of the challenge confronting a locality determines the adequacy of the response

Economic and Fiscal Impacts of Baylor Regional Medical Center in Grapevine

This report by the University of North Texas Center for Economic Development and Research identifies the findings of their analysis of the economic and fiscal impacts associated with recurring operating expenditures by Baylor-Grapevine (BG), economic activities at BG ancillary facilities, and spending by out of area visitors to BG patients

The Next Hundred Million and The Next Six Million - or more: Population Trends in the US and North Texas

This presentation discusses population trends in the United States and in North Texas with census bureau reports and projected growth in specific areas

From Rodeos to Indie Rock: The Economic and Fiscal Impacts of Selected Cultural Events in Denton, Texas

This report discusses the economic and fiscal impacts of selected cultural events in Denton, Texas

Economic and Fiscal Impacts of Dallas Area Rapid Transit Operations and Capital Expenditures

This report summarizes the findings of the University of North Texas Center for Economic Development and Research's analysis of the economic and fiscal impacts of Dallas Area Rapid Transit operations and capital spending

Targeting Business Opportunities in Southern Dallas

This report, by the University of North Texas Center for Economic Development and Research, studies the population and employment trends of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex and the demographic and economic profiles of southern Dallas. The authors also examine targeting business development opportunities for southern Dallas and give an analysis of potential industries

Impacts of Toll Roads on the Regional Economy: Suggested Measures

This report, by the University of North Texas Center for Economic Development and Research, examines the type of metrics that can be employed in evaluating the economic, developmental, and fiscal impacts of toll roads