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Reports

The Nowak Lab issues reports focused on the growing field of Metro Finance. Recent reports include:

Maryland Procurement Playbook

The Maryland Procurement Playbook is an effort to strategically assess Maryland’s procurement ecosystem and promote growth for small and diverse firms. The Playbook, funded by the Abell Foundation, J.P. Morgan Chase, BGE, CareFirst, T. Rowe Price, The Annie E. Casey Foundation and Johns Hopkins, is the first assessment of federal, state, and local procurement activity in Maryland.

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Community Preservation in Latino Eastern North Philadelphia

Esperanza has partnered with the Nowak Metro Finance Lab, Aspen Institute Latinos & Society, and Reinvestment Fund to understand how Eastern North Philadelphia can remain a cohesive stronghold for the Latino community while channeling community-oriented investment. This report showcases three key initiatives that Esperanza is in the process of developing to protect vulnerable residents from potential displacement.

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“We Buy Houses”: You Lose Out

In order to better understand the impact of investor purchases on existing homebuyers, we have written “We Buy Houses”: You Lose Out. This report looks at the differences in price and geography between houses that sell on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and those that sell off the MLS, to investors and to individuals, in Philadelphia between January 2018 and June 2022.

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Investor Home Purchases and the Rising Threat to Owners and Renters: Tales from 3 Cities

The Nowak Metro Finance Lab and Reinvestment Fund have teamed up to analyze changing housing markets in three very different cities: Philadelphia, PA; Jacksonville, FL; and Richmond, VA. For decades, Reinvestment Fund has implemented their Market Value Analyses (MVA) in cities across the US to understand the diverse tapestry that is America’s local housing markets.

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Averting a Lost Decade: Rethinking an Inclusive Recovery for Disadvantaged Neighborhoods

As the United States emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is becoming increasingly clear that cities are entering a period of deep economic uncertainty and adjustment.

This paper is deeper discussion about more ambitious interventions that cities must design and deliver to spark an inclusive long-term recovery, particularly absent the arrival of federal funding for structural investments in housing, childcare, or higher education.

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A Roadmap to Inclusive Entrepreneurship

Downtown Philadelphia

This municipal action guide provides a practical framework for understanding and supporting inclusive entrepreneurship, including specific examples and steps city leaders can take to improve racial and social equity, expand economic opportunity and participation, and build dynamic and resilient local economies.

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Past Reports

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Presentation Decks

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