Building in Good Jobs

Report last updated December 7, 2006

In cities around the country, private sector development and public sector support have combined to create building booms in places that only a few decades ago were in seemingly irreversible decline. However, both working poverty and chronic unemployment in central cities remain disturbingly high.

Workforce "linkage" policies present an opportunity to help people make a lasting exit from poverty by tying economic development projects directly to the creation of quality jobs and training opportunities for people struggling to get ahead.

"Building in Good Jobs: Linking Economic and Workforce Development with Real Estate-Led Economic Development" by Laura Wolf-Powers, provides analysis of workforce linkage policies from cities around the country. The report recommends five measures that municipal governments are taking to leverage the value of urban redevelopment activity in order to address unemployment and poverty.