Employment subcenters in Chicago: past, present, and future

The number of subcenters in the Chicago metropolitan area rose from 13 in 1980 to 32 in 2000. Whereas manufacturing jobs dominated subcenters in the past, the industry mix now closely resembles that of the overall metropolitan area.Employment - Chicago ; Manufactures

The center restored: Chicago's residential price gradient reemerges

After a long period during which house prices were not affected by distance from Chicago's central business district, values now decline by more than 8 percent per mile. Annual appreciation rates in house prices are higher in neighborhoods close to the city center with large minority populations, high concentrations of poverty, and many vacant homes in 1990.Chicago (Ill.) ; Housing - Prices ; Population

Hedonism vs. Nihilism: No Arbitrage and Tests of Urban Economic Models

We present two notions of "no arbitrage" in urban economic models and show that there is no model satisfying both. The standard hedonic housing model of urban economics and its generalizations are consistent with the first of these, but inconsistent with the second. We present a model consistent with the second notion of "no arbitrage" and a continuum of models consistent with neither notion that are observationally equivalent to the standard model, even if the utility function of consumers is known. Only one of these is the standard model. Thus, the available tests of the standard model cannot provide much evidence of its validity. Finally, we examine nonlinear price systems consistent with the second notion of "no arbitrage" and their welfare consequences

The vertical city: the price of land and the height of buildings in Chicago 1870-2010

We analyze the determinants of building heights in Chicago by combining a micro-geographic data set on tall buildings with a unique panel of land prices covering 140 years. Consistent with the predictions of classic urban economics models, we find that developers respond to increasing land prices by increasing density, i.e. building taller. In 2000, the elasticity of height with respect of land price was about 45% for tall commercial buildings and 30% for tall residential buildings. As expected given significant improvement in construction technology over time, we find that the height elasticity approximately doubled over the last 100 years. We find evidence for dissipative height competition within cities, as excessively tall buildings are significantly less likely to be constructed near to each other than other buildings. Proximity to scenic amenities creates an extra incentive to outrival competitors, particularly in the residential market

Commercial lending distance and historically underserved areas

We study recent changes in the geographic distances between small businesses and their bank lenders, using a large random sample of loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration. Consistent with extant research, we find that small borrower-lender distances generally increased between 1984 and 2001, with a rapid acceleration in distance beginning in the late-1990s. We also document a new phenomenon: a fundamental reordering of borrower-lender distance by the borrowers' neighborhood income and race characteristics. Historically, borrower-lender distance tended to be shorter than average for historically underserved (for example, low-income and minority) areas, but by 2000 borrowers in these areas tended to be farther away from their lenders on average. This structural change is coincident in time with the adoption of credit scoring models that rely on automated lending processes and quantitative information, and we find indirect evidence consistent with this link. Our findings suggest that there has been increased entry into local markets for small business loans and this should help allay fears that movement toward automated lending processes will reduce small businesses' access to credit in already underserved markets.

Tall buildings and land values: height and construction cost elasticities in Chicago, 1870 – 2010

Cities around the world are experiencing unprecedented vertical growth. Yet, the economics of skyscrapers remain empirically understudied. This paper analyzes the determinants of the urban height profile by combining a micro-geographic data set on tall buildings with a unique panel of land prices covering 140 years. We provide novel estimates of the land price elasticity of height, the height elasticity of construction cost, and the elasticity of substitution between land and capital for tall build-ings. In line with improvements in construction technology, the land price elasticity of height increased substantially over time, rationalizing a trend to ever taller buildings. The land price elasticity of height is larger for commercial than for residential buildings, suggesting that the typical segregation of land uses within cities is not exclusively shaped by the demand side, but also by the supply side