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Discussion Paper
Toward a more prosperous Springfield : a look at the barriers to employment from the perspective of residents and supporting organizations
Compared to the city, the region, and the state, labor force participation rates in Springfield's downtown and surrounding neighborhoods are very low. Residents and community leaders have expressed concerns about the employment prospects for the low-income residents that make up these neighborhoods. The purpose of this discussion paper is to highlight the perspectives of residents and community-based organizations on why so few residents of Springfield?s downtown neighborhoods are employed and to look at the some of the resources available to Springfield residents to help them address ...
Discussion Paper
Understanding foreclosures in Massachusetts
Recent increases in foreclosure rates in New England and other parts of the United States are raising concerns. Distressful for individual borrowers and potentially destabilizing for their communities, the negative effects of foreclosures flow beyond the impact on housing markets and the financial consequences for creditors. Public officials, lenders, current and potential homeowners, community organizations, and other stakeholders are paying careful attention. ; In low- and moderate-income communities in New England, community leaders view current trends as especially worrisome. Among ...
Discussion Paper
Small businesses in Springfield, Massachusetts: a look at Latino entrepreneurship
The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston has been collaborating with community leaders in Springfield, Massachusetts, on exploring revitalization strategies. Latino entrepreneurship is playing an important and increasing role in Springfield's economic development?providing new jobs and services and maintaining storefronts that might otherwise be vacant. An analyst in the Fed's community development unit, Ana Patricia Muoz, has recently completed a discussion paper on this topic, "Small Business in Springfield, Massachusetts: A Look at Latino Entrepreneurship." Among the implications: if ...
Discussion Paper
Foreclosure's price-depressing spillover effects on local properties: a literature review
The costs of foreclosure often spill over from foreclosed properties to other nearby properties. This short paper reviews some of the research on foreclosure's price-depressing impact on sales of nearby properties, only one of several forms of spillover effects. The studies reviewed here focus on various cities, use different datasets and methodologies, employ different assumptions, and cover different time periods. Their conclusions about foreclosure effects range from reducing nearby properties' sales value by as little as 0.9% to as much as 8.7%. Research also shows that negative spillover ...
Discussion Paper
Receivership : a coordinated strategy to stabilize troubled properties
With the impact of municipal debt burdens, coupled with the effects of declining real estate prices and the US financial crisis, municipalities are looking for novel and cost-effective approaches to address abandoned, blighted and/or foreclosed properties that threaten the quality of life of their communities. Receivership, the use of statutory power to seize buildings and place properties under control of a judicially supervised 'receiver', can be an effective tool to tackle the problem of troubled properties which repeatedly violate safety and sanitary codes. Despite its potential, ...
Discussion Paper
International remittances: information for New England financial institutions
Each year, individuals in the United States send billions of dollars abroad. Most of these remittances are sent by immigrants to their home countries, and the majority of them flow through a handful of service providers who dominate this highly profitable business. As the immigrant population in the United States continues to grow, the volume of remittances climbs each year, reaching nearly $35 billion in 2004. Bankers and other financial professionals are taking notice, and financial institutions around the country are investigating ways to enter the market and capture a share of this ...
Discussion Paper
University-community partnerships: 2006 Worcester speaker series
Over the last decade, partnerships between colleges and universities, government, and businesses have helped foster economic development in the city of Worcester, Massachusetts. In 2006, the Worcester UniverCity Partnership, a coalition of private and public sector organizations working with colleges, in collaboration with the New England Resource Center for Higher Education, organized a speaker series aimed at promoting the depth and impact of university-community partnerships in the city. This report provides highlights from the 2006 Worcester Speaker Series, discusses the history and ...
Discussion Paper
Home-mortgage lending trends in New England in 2010
This brief analysis of home-mortgage lending trends in New England is based on data collected under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). HMDA provides information on mortgage lending trends and includes data by loan purpose, type of loan, income, and the race and ethnicity of borrowers. In this report we focus on home-purchase and refinance loans in New England.
Discussion Paper
Venture capital investment in secondary cities: issues and opportunities for impact
Venture capital has been one of the major drivers of the U.S. economy. Using the State of the Inner City Economies database of the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, we found that secondary cities ? which we have defined as cities outside the 40 largest U.S. metro areas ? have received far less than their proportionate share of private equity deals and dollars. By failing to attract capital at similar rates to larger cities, secondary cities are missing a major engine of job and wage growth. Notably, however, a number of secondary cities have managed to assemble the right combination of ...
Discussion Paper
The role of community partners in urban investments
Institutional investors seeking to deploy capital to underserved areas do not have either the time or the expertise to actively manage these specialized investments. Investment vehicles intervene by using their financial expertise to pool assets and lower transaction costs. Community partners, in turn, link the investment vehicle to the neighborhood. This paper develops a typology of community partners and their unique characteristics that enable them to overcome information asymmetries in certain markets. The paper also discusses the business models that establish the relationship between ...