January 4, 2013
When it came to the 2012-13 California Planning Foundation scholarships, eight proved to be the lucky number for the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy's master of planning students. "Eight winners is a wonderful achievement," said Professor Marlon Boarnet. "Our graduate students are among the most competitive in the state -- and this is another indication." Established by the APA's California chapter, the foundation provides scholarships and awards to in-state university students who demonstrate talent, motivation and academic excellence.
December 19, 2012
The Wall Street Journal quoted USC Price Dowell Myers about Silicon Valley's population growth.
November 28, 2012
The New York Times quoted Price Associate Professor Lisa Schweitzer about the impact of a light-rail line opening in the Crenshaw area.
November 20, 2012
Reuters ran an op-ed by Sherry Bebitch Jeffe of the USC Price School about the future of the American electorate, and how it relates to the current California electorate. "Whatever happens in the Golden State is likely to be a precursor of the next trend in American politics," Jeffe wrote. "For better or worse, America has become California."
November 10, 2012
NBC News Los Angeles affiliate KNBC-TV ran a column by Sherry Bebitch, senior fellow at the USC Price School, about how California's political demographics are now reflected more widely across the nation.
October 24, 2012
The Riverside Press Enterprise highlighted a documentary about the housing crisis, based on the dissertation project that USC alumnus Imran Farooq did while at the USC Price School. The documentary looks at ways to help neighborhoods devastated by foreclosures, following Farooq's community revitalization efforts in San Bernardino, Fontana, Bloomington and other areas.
October 1, 2012
The Los Angeles Times ran an op-ed by USC Price Senior Fellow William Fulton about the hidden costs of city sprawl, and how they contribute to city bankruptcies. "Where houses go, where businesses go, where roads go, where sidewalks go, where farms and open space go are all things that collectively affect a community's economic performance and the cost of providing services there," Fulton wrote.
September 28, 2012
Reason quoted Professor Dowell Myers about the rate of Californians leaving the state.
September 17, 2012
Live Science quoted Price Research Professor Hilda Blanco in a story on the rapid expansion of urban development. "Urbanization has been neglected as a factor in deforestation and degradation and their contribution to carbon emissions. The projections are pretty sobering," she said. Blanco directs the Center for Sustainable Cities at USC, the story noted.
September 11, 2012
Three students in the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy were immersed in the world of nonprofit educational organizations in Los Angeles this summer, gaining valuable experience and direction for their futures while contributing to educational advancement. Jessica Papia MPP '12, Amira Resnick and Diana Wiley were among 321 graduate students and early career professionals nationwide who were awarded 10-week fellowships by Education Pioneers, an organization that seeks to improve and revamp K-12 education.
September 11, 2012
KPCC-FM's "Brand-Martinez Show" aired an audio essay by USC Price alumnus Jason Neville, MPL '07, about his experiences living in Los Angeles without a car.
August 6, 2012
Voice of San Diego ran a column by Adjunct faculty member Murtaza Baxamusa of the USC Price School on a lack of affordable housing in San Diego. He wrote about changes that were put into place to improve the problem, and how the city is faring a decade later. "With the largest share of the increased cost of living being housing, much leadership is needed in the city to balance the income gap between home and work," Baxamusa wrote.
July 29, 2012
The Fresno Bee quoted Assistant Professor Jenny Schuetz about malls bringing in public assets like community gardens or leasing spaces to churches.
July 27, 2012
The Wall Street Journal highlighted research by USC Price Professor Peter Gordon and a colleague, indicating that there are two types of urban density. "Crude" density refers to the literal density of buildings and living spaces. "Jacobs density" maximizes "potential informal contact of the average person in a given public space at any given time"; it helps residents innovate because they are able to share ideas and cross cultural and ethnic boundaries.
July 27, 2012
The Atlantic quoted Professor Marlon Boarnet of the USC Price School of Public Policy about a study on "smart growth" in South Korea.
July 24, 2012
The Riverside Press Enterprise quoted Richard Green, USC Price professor and director of the Lusk Center for Real Estate, about the housing market.
July 24, 2012
The San Jose Mercury News quoted Richard Green, USC Price professor and director of the Lusk Center for Real Estate, about the Bay Area housing market.
July 22, 2012
The Los Angeles Times ran an op-ed by Professor Dowell Myers about the need to invest in California's younger generation. Myers wrote that California has a large native-born population, and a large generation gap. He added that the best policy would be to invest in education for the state's younger generations, regardless of race and ethnicity. "Who will we be looking to in the next decade to shore up California's housing market, workforce and tax base?" Myers wrote. "They will overwhelmingly be the children of immigrants now in our schools."
July 13, 2012
The Washington Post ran an op-ed by Professor Roberto Suro about immigrants and how they are viewed through the binary lens of "legal" or "illegal." Suro wrote that new policies are needed to accommodate a labor market that is much more dynamic than in the past. A provisional visa might be a useful tool, he added. People need to stop thinking that America will be a permanent home to high-skilled immigrants who come here, Suro wrote. In the modern economy, people are mobile, even internationally; it should be expected that high-skilled immigrants will work here temporarily, move on and perhaps return. "If we accept that there are spaces between legal and illegal, then options multiply," he wrote.
July 12, 2012
Inter Press Services quoted Professor Roberto Suro of the USC Price School of Public Policy and Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism about the Latino vote in the upcoming presidential elections.
July 10, 2012
NPR News' "Morning Edition" highlighted recent USC Price School graduates LaMikia Castillo and Julia Capizzi as part of a new, "global" generation that is changing the American dream. They are more diverse, worldly and interested in traveling internationally than their parents, the story reported. In many cases, they're more interested in helping others than in their own advancement. "My American dream is for other people to be able to achieve whatever it is they would like to achieve," Castillo said. "It's more about trying to make a difference in the world." Capizzi said part of her dream is being willing to travel anywhere to achieve her goals and explore the globe. "The larger world is an extension of me, so I feel an obligation to know what that is. Otherwise I feel like I'm walking around with blinders on."
July 8, 2012
The Philadelphia Inquirer reviewed "Pity the Beautiful," a new poetry collection by Dana Gioia, Judge Widney Professor of Poetry and Public Culture at USC and former chair of the National Endowment of the Arts. "In his best poems, Gioia gives public voice to a private world of elegy and regret, aspiring to speak for people rather than merely to them," the review stated.
July 3, 2012
USC Price planning faculty Marlon Boarnet and Lisa Schweitzer were interviewed by NPR on a story about freeway 'caps.'
June 27, 2012
The Orange County Register cited a prediction by Gary Painter, USC Price professor and director of research at the Lusk Center for Real Estate, that an aging immigrant population will provide a long-term boost to housing.
June 26, 2012
Curbed L.A. reported that Richard Green, USC Price professor and director of the Lusk Center for Real Estate, will participate in a discussion about development in downtown Los Angeles.
June 5, 2012
The Atlantic quoted USC Price Associate Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett on how pet-friendly policies contributed to the revitalization of downtown Los Angeles. Currid-Halkett sees the growth of the canine community downtown as a symptom rather than a cause of revitalization. "Other types of economic development efforts, such as attracting amenities and businesses, revitalizing old lofts, and cleaning up the streets will attract downtown denizens, who will bring their dogs with them," she says. "The accidental spillover effect of these inhabitants, including the small furry ones, does help increase safety just by virtue of the fact that more people increases density and more use of the sidewalk."
May 18, 2012
RedOrbit cited Professor Dowell Myers of the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy regarding the changing demographics of the United States.
May 17, 2012
KPCC-FM's "The Madeleine Brand Show" interviewed USC Price Professor Dowell Myers about the nation's view of California. "People don't want to follow California," Dowell said. "They're jealous of California in some respects and they're fearful of California in some respects. But they're foolish if they don't keep a close eye on California and learn from some of our successes and some of our failures."
May 17, 2012
China Central Television (China) interviewed Professor Dowell Myers of the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy about the American Community Survey.
May 16, 2012
Bloomberg News mentioned a study by Dowell Myers of the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy and John Pitkin of USC's Population Dynamics Research Group estimating that California's population will grow at a much slower rate than previously predicted.
May 13, 2012
The Glendale News-Press quoted USC Price Professor Dowell Myers about local poverty and overcrowding rates. Myers said that in general, poverty and overcrowding rates are declining, but not by as much as HUD says. The drastic change could be attributed to a different method used by the U.S. Census to count overcrowding over the decade. "It's the same bad data anywhere in the country."
May 13, 2012
Zocalo Public Square ran an op-ed by Professor Dowell Myers of the USC Price School about the narrative that people are "fleeing" California. Myers wrote that California natives tend to stay in the state, which is an important piece of demographic data that many ignore. "This giant state has an economy that is equivalent in production to the eighth-largest nation in the world," Myers wrote.
May 11, 2012
Maclean's (Canada) quoted Associate Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett of the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy about how TMZ and social media have changed the celebrity world. Currid-Halkett says, "It's no longer about icons of perfection. It's about the banality of our stars' lives and, in fact, we're far more interested in the minute-by-minute updates than in them looking glamorous."
May 7, 2012
The Orange County Register cited a study by Professor Dowell Myers of the USC Price School and John Pitkin of USC's Population Dynamics Research Group, estimating that California's population will grow at a much slower rate than previously predicted.
May 4, 2012
The Los Angeles Times highlighted "The Coat," a poem by Dana Gioia, who is the Judge Widney Professor of Poetry and Public Culture at USC.
April 16, 2012
The Los Angeles Times quoted USC Price Distinguished Fellow Stan Ross, chairman the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, about possible real estate or media development in Chavez Ravine.
April 11, 2012
The Atlantic published an interview with USC Price Professor David Sloane focusing on his new book, Planning Los Angeles. The article states, "Covering everything from early planning documents to the impact of the recession to the challenges of regional transportation development, Planning Los Angeles is a comprehensive look at how the city has been shaped by urban planning. Sloane says the essays paint a more complete picture of where planners have done well in the city, where plans have fallen short and why, despite its reputation as an unplanned city, urban planning continues to mold L.A."
April 11, 2012
LA Streetsblog published a story by David Sloane, professor and director of undergraduate programs at USC Price. In the story, Sloane writes about CicLAvia, "a civic event that brings together people of many ages, races and ethnicities, from many neighborhoods around Los Angeles for a momentary 'ephemeral event' where they walk, ride, talk and laugh together. Such moments are crucial to the public life and culture of any city, but especially our city." Sloane added: "Too often Angelenos see the world through the windshield of their car, not imagining that they can safely move around their neighborhoods by other means, and do it faster and more efficiently." The story mentions that Sloane's newest book, Planning Los Angeles, will be released this week.
April 6, 2012
The New York Times ran an op-ed by Senior Fellow William Fulton of the USC Price School on whether Los Angeles should increase its urban density to be more like New York. "While L.A. is still fairly low-rise and auto-oriented over all, it's increasingly a place where you can live a more traditional car-free urban lifestyle," Fulton wrote. "New Yorkers may think that reinventing Hollywood as an urban center is nuts, but the truth is Hollywood already is an urban center."
April 6, 2012
California Watch quoted Professor Richard Little of the USC Price School about a lack of public services in unincorporated communities. The story noted that it received support from the Dennis A. Hunt Fund for Health Journalism, a program of the California Endowment Health Journalism Fellowships administered by the USC Annenberg School.
March 30, 2012
Planetizen ran a Q&A with David Sloane, professor and director of undergraduate programs at USC Price, that discussed his new book, Planning Los Angeles. In the interview, Sloane said: "I would argue that planning is everywhere in LA: from the very grid that underlies the vast majority of the basin, to the way that the rivers are controlled, to the residential neighborhoods that are so carefully protected from commerce and from traffic. So, all those things are just classic elements of 20th century planning. The question then becomes, is it well planned? In some sense, that's what the book gets at as well, the successes and failures."
March 27, 2012
ABC News Philadelphia affiliate WPVI-TV reported on research by USC Price Professor Dana Goldman, Geoffrey Joyce of the School of Pharmacy, and USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics Senior Fellow Anupam Jena, finding that higher insurance co-pays may lead to parents not filling prescriptions for their children. "Over the course of a year, many of these children were taking less than 50 percent of the medicine that's required to control their condition," Goldman said.
March 18, 2012
The Pasadena Star-News cited research by Professor Dowell Myers of the USC Price School of Public Policy that found a drop in the number of Latinos living in the West San Gabriel Valley.
March 14, 2012
U.S. News & World Report featured several USC schools and programs in its 2013 edition of "Best Graduate Schools." The USC Price School was ranked No. 4 for Health Policy and Management; No. 6 in Public Affairs, up from No. 7 last year; No. 6 for Public Management Administration; No. 7 for City Management and Urban Policy; No. 7 for Nonprofit Management; No. 9 in Social Policy; No. 12 for Public Policy Analysis; and No. 21 for Public Finance and Budgeting.
March 14, 2012
The Riverside Press-Enterprise featured research by Professor Dowell Myers of the USC Price School finding that Southern Californian cities are becoming more multiracial. The Inland Empire has the most racial balance in Southern California's five-county region, making it the most diverse part of the most multicultural region in the nation, Myers said. "This shows you can have multi-ethnic communities that work successfully," he added.
March 5, 2012
The San Diego-Tribune quoted Senior Fellow Sherry Bebitch Jeffe of the USC Price School about a proposed amendment to the California legislature.
February 29, 2012
NBC News Los Angeles affiliate KNBC-TV interviewed Assistant Professor Jenny Schuetz of the USC Price School about Walmart's labor practices and its similarities to competitor Target.
February 24, 2012
Salon ran an op-ed by Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett of the USC Price School about research she conducted with a colleague, finding that star sighting spots differ according to the type of celebrity. Celebrities who are famous for being famous -- including Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian -- are sighted more often in Los Angeles. But for Oscar winners and nominees, there are many more sightings in Tokyo, Paris, Cannes and Madrid, corresponding to movie premieres, film festivals and galas. Currid-Halkett wrote that the Academy Awards can be ignored: "Ironically, despite the fact that the Oscars are a celebration of the best and brightest in Hollywood, our research suggests that for talent-driven stars there is little career need to show up at all."
February 23, 2012
The San Francisco Chronicle quoted USC Professor Dowell Myers on the appeal of California.
February 17, 2012
The Huffington Post noted that Professor Roberto Suro of the USC Price School of Public Policy and the Annenberg School of Communication & Journalism attended a Washington, D.C., roundtable on Latino law and civil rights issues, and cited him regarding Latinos' public policy concerns. Suro is director of the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute at USC, the story noted.
February 17, 2012
The Atlantic cited a study co-authored by Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett of the USC Price School of Public Policy finding that four out of 10 knowledge workers don't have college degrees.
February 16, 2012
Politico ran an op-ed by Associate Professor Lisa Schweitzer of the USC Price School, in which she wrote that the Obama administration has been clueless on transportation policy. The administration has tried to cover urban transport needs with federal funds, which come from suburban and rural taxpayers in addition to urban ones, Schweitzer noted. That creates friction and opens the president up to conservative criticism. She wrote that transit advocates need to start looking for funding at the local, regional and state levels. "Without a change in the federal gas tax, the days of federal largesse to transit are coming to a close," Schweitzer added.
February 16, 2012
The Los Angeles Times quoted Richard Green, USC Price professor and director of the Lusk Center for Real Estate, about why there has been so much investor activity in the Southland real estate market.
February 13, 2012
The Fresno Bee quoted Senior Fellow Sherry Bebitch Jeffe of the USC Price School of Public Policy about the squeaky wheel theory in politics.
February 13, 2012
The San Diego Union-Tribune ran a Q&A with USC Price Senior Fellow William Fulton about the "smart growth" planning concept, and noted that he was mayor of the city of Ventura.
February 7, 2012
Can people cooperate with those who are different from them -- in belief, appearance or situation? Richard Sennett, professor of sociology and history at New York University, answered this question with a resounding "yes" at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy Distinguished Research Lecture Series on Jan. 18. As the author of the recently published book Together: The Rituals, Pleasures and Politics of Cooperation, Sennett considers cooperation an "elemental human capacity" without which "no baby could survive for very long."
February 1, 2012
KPCC-FM Southern California Public Radio featured a report by assistant professor Jenny Schuetz of the USC Price School that analyzed the availability of retail services in 58 large U.S. metro areas. While the study found that many poor urban neighborhoods have high concentrations of grocery stores, these neighborhoods often lacked the larger chain establishments that often provide lower prices and a larger selection. "It's not a matter of how many there are -- there are lots of small 'mom-and-pop' stores but not many larger chain stores or supermarkets," Schuetz wrote in the report..
January 16, 2012
International Business Times quoted USC Price School Professor Dowell Myers about the political value of the illegal immigration issue.
January 12, 2012
The Dallas Morning News highlighted an op-ed by Professor Dowell Myers of the USC Price School of Public Policy about the U.S. needing to shift from an immigration policy of border enforcement to an immigrant policy of education and assimilation.
January 11, 2012
The Los Angeles Times ran an op-ed by USC Price Senior Fellow William Fulton about "the death of redevelopment" in California. Fulton wrote that he supported Gov. Jerry Brown's elimination of redevelopment agencies, having seen the redevelopment system break over time. He added that for redevelopment to work, it needs to be purely about true revitalization; California needs to cap the amount of tax-increment money agencies can collect; and the requirement that an area must be "blighted" to be redeveloped must be eliminated. "Eliminating the blight requirement would make California more consistent with other states, and it would also pave the way for projects that are more consistent with public needs," Fulton wrote.
January 10, 2012
The Atlantic featured research by USC Price Assistant Professor Jenny Schuetz and a New School colleague, who studied gentrification patterns in New York. The study looked at 208 New York City ZIP codes between 1998 and 2007 to see how retail properties, demographics and affluence changed during that time. The study noted that "low-income neighborhoods have lower densities of both establishments and employment, smaller average establishment size, and less diverse retail composition." The story highlighted another study by Schuetz and colleagues showing that the kinds of retail attracted to a neighborhood vary widely in terms of type of service, type of store and quality of goods.
January 9, 2012
The Associated Press quoted USC Price Professor Marlon Boarnet about a Hollywood Community Plan that would allow more skyscrapers along the Hollywood Corridor.
January 7, 2012
The Whittier Daily News quoted USC Price Senior Fellow Senior Fellow Sherry Bebitch Jeffe about voter attitudes toward redevelopment agencies.
January 5, 2012
Leaders from government, business, academia, media and the community recently met at USC to discuss the state's energy future in a forum titled "Powering California." The November forum focused on California's increasing energy needs, the viability of various sources to meet those demands and the impact of energy development on growing the state's economy. The event was a joint effort by the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy and the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, The Communications Institute and Sandia National Laboratories.
December 13, 2011
The Wall Street Journal quoted Professor Dowell Myers of the USC Price School of Public Policy about a drop in levels of illegal immigration into the U.S. from Mexico.
December 13, 2011
The Sacramento Bee quoted Professor Dowell Myers of the USC Price School about a report suggesting a shift away from suburban housing.
December 2, 2011
The Huffington Post cited research by Price School Professor Dowell Myers and John Pitkin of USC's Population Dynamics Research Group concluding that Latinos will continue to integrate into American society over the next 20 years.
November 27, 2011
The Washington Post highlighted research by USC Price Professor Dowell Myers and John Pitkin of USC's Population Dynamics Research Group, which concluded that immigrants as a whole are becoming more integrated into U.S. society. Their research found that by 2030, the percentage of new immigrants speaking English "well or very well" will rise from 57.5 percent to 70.3 percent. The study also found that group as a whole will be more successful financially and educationally.
November 19, 2011
Politico quoted Professor Dowell Myers of the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy about the Obama administration's decision to sue three states in an effort to overturn laws directed toward illegal immigrants.
November 15, 2011
The Huffington Post featured research by USC Price Professor Dowell Myers and John Pitkin of USC's Population Dynamics Research Group, which concluded that Latinos as a whole are becoming more integrated into U.S. society. The study suggests that by 2030, Latinos living in America will be a demographic that sees major gains in educational and economic achievement and in homeownership. Myers said that Latinos' progress on homeownership is the American Dream, an achievement "you don't hear about very often, because it doesn't support an agenda held by restrictionists."
November 15, 2011
The Los Angeles Times quoted USC Price Senior Fellow Richard Little about Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's timeline for a recently proposed street repair plan. Little directs USC's Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy, the story noted.
November 14, 2011
The Wall Street Journal highlighted research by USC Price Professor Dowell Myers and John Pitkin of USC's Population Dynamics Research Group, concluding that the longer immigrants live in the U.S., the more assimilated they become. Their study tracked the social and economic advances of immigrants to the U.S. age 20 or older who arrived in the 1990s, and found they consistently made progress over time, though the recession halted that progress. "We assume they will resume the upward trajectory when the recession comes to an end," Myers said. Analyzing census data, they found that homeownership is achieved by most immigrants within a couple of decades.
November 12, 2011
The Huffington Post quoted Genevieve Giuliano, senior associate dean and professor at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, about how a subway extension under Beverley Hills wouldn't make a significant improvement in traffic congestion.
November 8, 2011
USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development students learned about the latest privately built apartment complex intended for USC students as part of SPPD's Fell Undergraduate Student Conversation series last month. Con Howe, managing director of developer CityView and adjunct faculty member at SPPD, provided the details on the development of West 27th Place, which puts the luxury amenities usually reserved for apartments downtown just a short bike ride down the Figueroa corridor from the University Park campus.
October 30, 2011
The San Diego Union-Tribune quoted Emeritus Professor Catherine Burke of the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development and Henry Koffman of the USC Viterbi School about a San Diego pipeline project whose builders asked for approval without reporting a total cost estimate.
October 15, 2011
The New York Times ran an op-ed by USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett, author of "The Warhol Economy: How Fashion, Art and Music Drive New York City," about the economic drivers of art districts. The column questions the National Endowment for the Arts' strategy of creating jobs by funding arts projects in blighted areas, stating that successful arts districts develop organically before receiving funding. "Instead of a shotgun approach that assumes every post-industrial zone or blighted district can, with a few million dollars in subsidies, become the next SoHo, we should follow the lead of the metaphorical college that puts down sidewalks only after the students have hewn their own paths," Currid-Halkett wrote.
October 12, 2011
MedIndia (India) featured a report by SPPD Professor Dowell and John Pitkin of USC's Population Dynamics Research Group, which found that the U.S. immigrant population is becoming increasingly long-settled. The report projects that by 2030, a majority of the nation's foreign-born population will have lived in the U.S. for at least two decades. "We're marking a major transformation in America," Myers said.
October 6, 2011
Good quoted USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development Professor David Sloane about "fitness deserts" -- low-income areas that don't provide opportunities for exercise.
September 14, 2011
LA Streetsblog quoted Professor Gary Painter of the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development on his role as a member of the Measure R Oversight Committee Advisory Panel.
September 2, 2011
KPCC-FM interviewed SPPD Professor Dowell Myers about his research on immigrants building wealth through real estate. "Real estate is key. Classically, immigrants buy properties and rent portions out to newer immigrants," Myers said. "Some say simply buying a house is middle class, and immigrants do that in 20 years, less than one generation." The story also cited Jody Agius Vallejo of the USC Dornsife College regarding her research on the Mexican American middle class.
August 5, 2011
The Oregonian highlighted research by USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development Professor Lisa Schweitzer, who measured the Twitter sentiment surrounding various public transit entities.
July 31, 2011
The Sacramento Bee ran an op-ed by SPPD Professor Dowell Myers on how the American dream of home ownership can bring young Latinos and older whites together. Last decade's house "sellers were overwhelmingly white, but younger whites, unlike in the previous decades, were not replacing them as homeowners. ... So who were the buyers? Mostly Latinos. At decade's end, they accounted for 78.5 percent of California's total growth in homeownership, and about 32 percent of new homeowners under 45 were Latinos."
July 30, 2011
The Daily Breeze quoted SPPD Professor Dowell Myers in a story about demographic changes in South Bay cities.
July 27, 2011
The Los Angeles Times published an op-ed about California's future homeowners that was based on research done by Professor Dowell Myers of the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development. The op-ed cited Myers' analysis of newly compiled census data on California homeownership that shows young Latino home buyers, and also Asians, took up the slack from diminished white demand for houses in the past decade and will in the coming years be even more important to the state's housing market as older whites retire and sell their homes.
July 27, 2011
The Los Angeles Times cited research by Professor Dowell Myers of the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development on California's future homeowners, and mentioned his book "Immigrants and Boomers: Forging a New Social Contract for the Future of America."
July 20, 2011
The Philadelphia Inquirer quoted SPPD Distinguished Fellow Stan Ross about the housing demand that will result from Generation Y reaching adulthood. Ross is the chairman of the board at the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
July 7, 2011
L.A. Weekly quoted Professor James Moore of SPPD and the USC Viterbi School about the city's hope that adding capacity to the 405 freeway will alleviate congestion in the long run.
July 7, 2011
The San Diego Union-Tribune quoted SPPD Professor Dowell Myers about changes in Mexican demographics.
July 7, 2011
NBC News New York affiliate WNBC-TV reported that Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett and a Columbia University colleague will use Foursquare data from fashion influencers to create a map of New York's Garment District. "We think it's the little movements of fashion workers around the city, day-to-day, and the accessibility to all facets of the industry that add up to the significance of New York's position in the fashion world," Currid-Halkett said. "At the heart of our research, we wanted to know: 'How much does spatial proximity matter in the day-to-day workings of the fashion industry?'" The story mentioned a previous project in which the researchers analyzed celebrity spatial proximity using Getty Images.
July 6, 2011
CNN interviewed Professor Dowell Myers of the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development about the history of Latino demographic growth in California.
June 27, 2011
The San Diego Union-Tribune quoted Professor Dowell Myers of the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, author of "Immigrants and Boomers: Forging a New Social Contract for the Future of America," about the aging baby boomer and school-age demographics.
June 15, 2011
The Chronicle of Higher Education ran a Q&A with Dana Gioia, holder of the Judge Widney Professor of Poetry and Public Culture, about his recent reading, which included "Clio on the Coast" by Kevin Starr of the USC Dornsife College.
June 12, 2011
The Fresno Bee quoted Gary Painter, SPPD professor and director of research at the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, about Southeast Asian families buying affordable Habitat for Humanity homes in Fresno.
June 12, 2011
The Fresno Bee quoted Gary Painter, SPPD professor and director of research at the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, about Southeast Asian families buying affordable Habitat for Humanity homes in Fresno.
June 4, 2011
The Wall Street Journal quoted SPPD Professor Dowell Myers on the impact retiring baby boomers will have on the real estate market as they downsize their homes.
June 2, 2011
USA Today cited research by Dowell Myers, professor at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, who identified declines in California's child population since the 2000 census.
May 25, 2011
CBS News Thousand Palms, Calif., affiliate KPSP-TV highlighted analysis of new census data by SPPD Professor Dowell Myers and colleagues at USC's Population Dynamics Research Group, who identified a rise in Riverside County households with unmarried couples over the last decade.
May 25, 2011
United Press International featured analysis of new census data by Dowell Myers, professor at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, which found that California's child population declined, as families moved out of state due to unemployment and high housing costs during the Great Recession. As a result, L.A. County workers may be in short supply in the future, Myers said. "The implications are that we really need to think about building a more supportive environment for families and kids," he added.
May 24, 2011
Los Angeles County is now the epicenter of California's shrinking population of young children as families are driven away by stressful economic conditions, according to a USC analysis of census data. Statewide, there was an 8.1 percent decline in children aged 5 to 9 in the last decade; L.A. County lost 21 percent. "We are ground zero of the 'missing children' of California," said co-author Dowell Myers, professor at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development.
May 18, 2011
Education has been driven by special-interest groups with no one advocating for the children, said Michelle Rhee, former D.C. schools chancellor and founder of StudentsFirst, at a recent Distinguished Speaker Series event by the USC Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy. "She shared the lessons she's learned in the trenches and had some insights about what's possible," said James M. Ferris, director of the center and professor at the USC School of Policy, Planning and Development.
May 15, 2011
The San Gabriel Valley Tribune quoted USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development Professor Dowell Myers and William Baer, SPPD professor emeritus, about census figures showing a rise in owner-occupied homes in certain area cities.
May 14, 2011
The Modesto Bee quoted Richard Green, SPPD professor and director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, about a rise in California home and rental vacancy rates over the last decade.
May 13, 2011
Los Angeles Downtown News quoted Richard Green, SPPD professor and director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, about the downtown L.A. housing market.
May 12, 2011
The Associate Press quoted Richard Green, SPPD professor and director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, about a rise in California home and rental vacancy rates over the last decade.
May 12, 2011
The Riverside Press-Enterprise quoted Dowell Myers, professor at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, about new census figures showing that the average age of Inland Empire residents is lower than the average age in California overall.
May 11, 2011
The San Diego Union-Tribune quoted SPPD Professor Dowell Myers about new census figures showing declines in San Diego County homeownership rates.
May 11, 2011
USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development professor Martin Krieger peered at the screen and saw 20 to 30 images of his heart from all different angles. It was three years ago during an echocardiogram. And it was the technology of medical tomography -- imaging multiple slices of an organ from various points of view -- that gave him the idea of how to tie together the photographic and aural documentation he had been doing of Los Angeles since 1997. The result is his new book, Urban Tomographies.
April 29, 2011
The USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development gave new meaning to the words "travel planning" during the recent international planning studios in India and Argentina. Led by Tridib Banerjee, SPPD professor and director of graduate programs in urban planning, the two studios gave students an opportunity to put theory into practice, collaborating to address real-world planning challenges in international settings.
April 25, 2011
The Los Angeles Times ran an op-ed by USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development and USC Viterbi School of Engineering Professor James Moore about the drying up of funds for California's high-speed rail project. "California officials, lawmakers and citizens now have the opportunity to step back and reconsider the inflated promises that pervade the high-speed rail program," Moore wrote. "Railroads are a crucial component of the U.S. freight management and distribution system, but we do not need and cannot afford a high-speed rail system for passengers."
April 12, 2011
Bloomberg News quoted SPPD Professor Richard Green about a new Los Angeles ordinance that will limit new hillside homes to roughly 3,000 square feet on a typical 5,000-square-foot lot. Green is director and chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
April 9, 2011
The Washington Post cited a study by SPPD Professor Richard Green on the history of the American mortgage. Green is director and chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
April 5, 2011
Even as housing prices plummeted and unemployment rates hit double digits, the so-called Great Recession did not correspond to a surge of Americans in poverty, according to a new USC study. Using the latest census figures, the study found conditions in California mostly improved since 2000. "It's surprising to see how well Los Angeles has fared despite greater losses than the nation in housing prices and employment," said lead author Dowell Myers, USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development professor.
March 30, 2011
The Bay Citizen quoted SPPD Professor Dowell Myers about census figures showing demographic changes in the Bay Area.
March 25, 2011
Hamburger Abendblatt (Germany) mentioned an upcoming lecture by SPPD Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett about her research on the creative industries.
March 22, 2011
The Sacramento Bee quoted SPPD Senior Fellow Sherry Bebitch about county central committees.
March 17, 2011
The National Journal quoted SPPD Professor Peter Gordon about suburbanization as an international phenomenon.
March 17, 2011
Pengyu Zhu, a Ph.D. student at SPPD, was awarded the Western Regional Science Association's 2011 Charles M. Tiebout Prize for the best paper submitted by a graduate student. Zhu received the honor on March 1 at the WRSA's 50th annual meeting in Monterey, Calif. His paper - "Are Telecommuting and Personal Travel Complements or Substitutes?" - will be published in The Annals of Regional Science, an international quarterly journal.
March 14, 2011
The Huffington Post featured work by USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development doctoral student Imran Farooq, who for his doctoral thesis worked to rehabilitate an underserved San Bernardino neighborhood, utilizing local community vendors and integrating environmentally sustainable building principles. "My goal is to create a model of neighborhood rehabilitation, anchored around private partnerships that can be used to stabilize neighborhoods affected by foreclosures," Farooq said.
March 11, 2011
The San Francisco Chronicle quoted SPPD Professor Dowell Myers about new census figures showing a significant drop in Oakland's African American population.
March 7, 2011
The New Yorker noted that in her book "The Warhol Economy," SPPD Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett identified the Max Fish bar as a place that nurtures New York's creative community.
March 3, 2011
Bloomberg BusinessWeek quoted SPPD Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett about the impact of Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan troubles on their celebrity brand.
March 1, 2011
Do top city administrators reflect the growing diversity of California's communities? Student associations from the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development invited five alumni panelists to address this and related questions at "Cultivating Diverse Leadership: The Emerging Face of City Management."
March 1, 2011
After realizing that his students had done everything from founding nonprofits to raising more than $25 million for the Downtown Women's Center, USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development professor Robert Myrtle had two words to say: "Holy smokes!" Myrtle teaches "Strategic Management in the Nonprofit Sector," one of the three required courses in SPPD's popular Certificate in Nonprofit Management and Policy program.
February 25, 2011
A hurricane-like superstorm expected to hit California once every 200 years would cause devastation to the state's businesses unheard of even in the Great Recession, a USC economist warns. Researchers estimate the total property damage and business interruption costs of the massive rainstorm would be nearly $1 trillion. USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development research professor Adam Rose calculated that the lost production of goods and services alone would be $627 billion of the total over five years.
February 24, 2011
Elizabeth Currid-Halkett will present her latest book, Starstruck: The Business of Celebrity, at the 2011 Literary Luncheon hosted by the Friends of the USC Libraries in Doheny Memorial Library on March 10. Currid-Halkett, assistant professor at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, joins the ranks of other renowned authors who previously have spoken as part of the series, including Michael Cunningham, Robin D. G. Kelley, M.G. Lord, Lisa See, University Professor Kevin Starr, Robin Swicord, Ayelet Waldman and Essie Mae Washington.
February 16, 2011
L.A. Observed reported that SPPD Professor Dowell Myers will be one of the first fellows of the new nonpartisan Center for Social Cohesion, which will promote understanding of how diverse societies cohere.
February 14, 2011
Los Angeles Downtown News highlighted a USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development event on the importance of public parks.
February 8, 2011
ESPN featured "Starstruck: The Business of Celebrity" by SPPD Associate Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett. In the book, she explores the collective fascination with the lives of movie stars, recording artists and tycoons. "Currid-Halkett notes that what qualifies someone to be a 'celebrity' isn't always talent," the story stated.
February 7, 2011
La Opinion quoted SPPD Senior Fellow Sherry Bebitch Jeffe about the influence of campaign donors.
February 5, 2011
The Sydney Morning Herald quoted SPPD Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett, author of "Starstruck: The Business of Celebrity," and Jeffrey Cole of the USC Annenberg School about celebrity and social media.
February 5, 2011
Ninemsn's "Today" (Australia) featured "Starstruck: The Business of Celebrity" by SPPD Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett. "[C]elebrity really is about that quality, that collective obsession we have about some people more than others," Currid-Halkett said. "[T]hese new kinds of social media, and the rise of the 24-7 gossip cycle, just provides us more information."
January 31, 2011
Not many dissertations become PBS documentaries, but that hasn't stopped doctoral candidate Imran Farooq from the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development. The media component of Farooq's dissertation has been made into SOS: Sustaining Our Society, a documentary to be broadcast on the PBS affiliate KVCR in April.
January 31, 2011
The Los Angeles Times quoted SPPD Professor Dowell Myers about the demographics of San Marino, Calif.
January 23, 2011
USA Today quoted Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett about the
celebrity of reality TV star Kim Kardashian, and noted that Currid-Halkett is the author
of Starstruck: The Business of Celebrity.
January 10, 2011
Fox News interviewed SPPD Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett on the stresses associated with fame, and noted that she is the author of Starstruck: The Business of Celebrity.
December 15, 2010
Paper magazine ran a Q&A with Elizabeth Currid-Halkett, assistant professor at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, about her new book, Starstruck: The Business of Celebrity. "What my book demonstrates is that celebrities behave differently than everyone else and celebrities are people who we just collectively care about more than other people and are genuinely more fascinated with," Currid-Halkett said. "They perpetuate our fascination by giving us material to work with; they get themselves in the spotlight whatever that spotlight is." The story also mentioned her first book, The Warhol Economy.
December 9, 2010
La Opinion highlighted a study led by LaVonna Lewis, teaching associate professor at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, which found that one in three grocery stores in low-income Los Angeles neighborhoods often sells expired food.
December 8, 2010
RedOrbit featured an upcoming USC Center for Sustainable Cities event, at which Daniel Mazmanian of the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development will present a report on climate change adaptation.
December 8, 2010
The Wall Street Journal ran an op-ed by Elizabeth Currid-Halkett, assistant professor at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, about narcissism. "Contemporary society can be defined by its 'look at me' culture, which is visible on Facebook as much as Hollywood," Currid-Halkett wrote. "What are the ramifications of a culture of people addicted to sharing so much -- too much, perhaps -- about themselves? Would these individuals be narcissists if not for the rise of social media that enables that part of their personality to develop?" Currid-Halkett is author of The Warhol Economy and Starstruck: The Business of Celebrity, the story noted.
December 5, 2010
The New York Post ran an op-ed by Elizabeth Currid-Halkett, assistant professor at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, about baseball star Derek Jeter. "All celebrity, whether in sports or Hollywood, rests on more than talent alone," Currid-Halkett wrote. "It thrives on fans' collective fascination with specific facets of their persona that transcend their talent." The story noted that Currid-Halkett is the author of Starstruck: The Business of Celebrity.
December 5, 2010
The Hartford Courant mentioned a research project by USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development graduate students, on economic development policies in Hartford, Conn.
December 1, 2010
CBS News' "CBS Evening News" interviewed SPPD Professor Dana Goldman about the effects of Medicare costs on the federal budget.
December 1, 2010
Pacific Standard Magazine featured research by Gary Painter, USC Price professor and director of research at the Lusk Center for Real Estate, and a colleague, finding that immigrants are moving to mid-sized cities within the United States. The migration patterns are due to immigrants seeking out pre-established immigrant communities and places with low job competition. "The anticipated rapid growth of U.S. immigrant populations in the coming decades, coupled with their movement into midsize metro areas, has the potential to transform communities," Painter said.
November 23, 2010
KPCC-FM's "Patt Morrison" interviewed SPPD Assistant Elizabeth Currid-Halkett about her new book, Starstruck: The Business of Celebrity. The book examines celebrity, tracing its impact on economics, geography and networking.
November 21, 2010
The Sacramento Bee highlighted research by SPPD Professor David Sloane and a colleague about the community impact of an anti-gang injunction, and quoted Sloane on the subject.
November 21, 2010
Salon featured the book "Starstruck: The Business of Celebrity" by SPPD Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett. "As Elizabeth Currid-Halkett explains in her fascinating, well-researched new book ... recent developments in the celebrity industry can tell us a great deal about our changing global culture," the story stated. In both Los Angeles and New York, there are more than 100,000 people working in celebrity-driven industries, Currid-Halkett said. "And the payroll is extraordinary too: About $11 billion on L.A. payroll and $20 billion on New York City payroll."
November 17, 2010
The Huffington Post ran an op-ed that featured the book "Starstruck: The Business of Celebrity" by SPPD Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett. "Art stars are different from artists because they supply personae to their public," Currid-Halkett writes in the book. She points to Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, Picasso and Duchamp as people who made their personalities inseparable from their art.
November 17, 2010
LAist ran a Q&A with SPPD Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett about her new book "Starstruck: The Business of Celebrity." "When I wrote my first book (The Warhol Economy) I was fascinated with how people became 'the best' in the creative industries," Currid-Halkett said. "Because art, fashion, music and film are taste-driven and subjectively measured more than other industries, I was curious as to what it meant to be considered highly talented and/or successful in these fields." She added that she doesn't observe celebrities having an influence over the students in her USC classes. "My students rarely, if ever, mention celebrities," she noted.
November 14, 2010
The Los Angeles Times quoted SPPD Senior Fellow Sherry Bebitch Jeffe about how California Governor-Elect Jerry Brown's clothing style has evolved since his first term as governor in the 1970s.
November 13, 2010
The Daily Mail (U.K.) ran an op-ed by SPPD Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett about why some people are celebrities and others are not, something Currid-Halkett explains in her new book, "Starstruck: The Business of Celebrity." "Stars penetrate the social networks of those who will uphold their status. Celebrities are celebrities partially because they are invited to the most exclusive events and spend time with particular people, which is why penetrating the celebrity network may help make up for lack of talent," Currid-Halkett wrote.
November 12, 2010
The Wall Street Journal ran a Q&A with SPPD Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett about which celebrities interest her at the moment and why. "Taylor Swift is so big right now in terms of her talent, and yet she's also doing interesting things in her personal life. She is in many ways the ultimate celebrity because we are reminded of her through her day job and also because she's with John Mayer and Jake Gyllenhaal. It's the perfect potent brew. That's the celebrity apex. It's what Angelina Jolie also accomplished," Currid-Halkett said. Currid-Halkett examines the modern celebrity machine, looking at the narrow geography of where celebrity events happen, the rewards of the celebrity social network and the future of celebrity in her new book, "Starstruck," the article stated.
November 12, 2010
Celebrity, these days, takes on many forms -- from the glamorous Hollywood icon to the irreverent YouTube sensation. And we follow with rapt attention every minute detail of their lives, whether they're buying a coffee at Starbucks or winning an Academy Award. In her new book, Starstruck: The Business of Celebrity, USC School of Policy, Planning and Development assistant professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett explores society's obsession with celebrity and delineates why we anoint some as stars but not others, and the profound business implications that entails.
November 11, 2010
Harvard Business Review ran an op-ed by SPPD Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett on the movie industry being torn between blockbuster movies and less profitable but potentially award-winning films. Currid-Halkett discussed the Blacklist, an annual list of screenplays that studio executives believe are the best. "The hype around it gets bigger ever year, and with good reason: my research shows that the Blacklist has an uncanny knack of turning scripts into movies and those movies drum up major awards," Currid-Halkett wrote. "But my research has uncovered another, less appealing finding: As prestigious as it might be, what the Blacklist doesn't do is make money -- or at least the kind of money that makes Hollywood sit up and take notice."
October 26, 2010
The USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development hosted a panel -- featuring SPPD faculty, public officials and Los Angeles Times writers -- that addressed the checks and balances needed to prevent government corruption scandals like the one in the City of Bell. The event was co-sponsored by the American Society for Public Administration and the USC Judith and John Bedrosian Center for Governance and the Public Enterprise.
October 25, 2010
Harvard Business Review ran an op-ed by SPPD Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett about networking among celebrities. "Personally, most of us have dismal, if not fictional, prospects for accessing the A-list," Currid-Halkett wrote. "But social networks drive success: 80 percent of life, as Woody Allen famously said, is showing up. Thus, while we can't ever aim to get onto the A-list, we can draw from our understanding of their network to position ourselves to get ahead in our own careers and to connect with the people in our 'relative A-list.'"
October 21, 2010
The Sacramento Bee cited research by SPPD Professor Dowell Myers which found that in 2008, for the first time in California history, a majority of the population was California-born.
October 12, 2010
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution highlighted research by SPPD Professor Dowell Myers and quoted him about changing demographics that could affect the housing market.
October 10, 2010
La Opinion featured research by SPPD Professor Dowell Myers which found that fewer immigrants are arriving in Los Angeles, while more who have settled in L.A. are staying. Foreign-born residents made up 39.4 percent of the city's population in 2008, down from 40.9 percent in 2000, and immigrants who have lived in the United States for more than two decades made up 42.3 percent of L.A.'s foreign-born population in 2008, nearly triple the number in 1990. The story quoted SPPD student Janna Goldberg, who participated in the study.
September 20, 2010
American Public Media's "Marketplace" interviewed SPPD Professor Dowell Myers about the place of undocumented workers in society.
September 17, 2010
Over the summer, seven students from the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development blazed trails of reform as fellows for Education Pioneers, a national organization of graduate students focusing on urban education issues through 10-week, paid positions outside the classroom.
September 8, 2010
The Orange County Register cited a report by SPPD Professor Dowell Myers titled, "Thinking About Our Immigrant Future: New Trends and Mutual Benefits in Our Aging Society."
August 31, 2010
Robert P. Biller, professor emeritus of public administration and a longtime USC administrator, died on Aug. 29 at his home, following a difficult illness. A gifted teacher, collaborative administrator and distinguished dean, Biller had played a key role in USC's development and growth for the past 25 years. He was also instrumental in merging the School of Public Administration with the School of Urban Planning and Development to form the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development (SPPD), and served as interim dean of the new school from 1998 to 2000.
July 26, 2010
Kristie Hernandez works full time at the community clinic organization AltaMed Health Services and goes to school full time at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, where she is pursuing a master of public administration with a certificate in public policy. It's what she does in her spare time as a volunteer with the East L.A. Residents Association that earned her a place at this year's Women of the Year "Unsung Heroines" award ceremony, presented by Congresswoman Grace F. Napolitano.
July 15, 2010
The Washington Post quoted SPPD Professor Dowell Myers about the high level of college-educated residents in Washington, D.C.
July 14, 2010
BBC News interviewed SPPD Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett and S. Mark Young of the USC Marshall School of Business about celebrity marriages.
June 17, 2010
With more than 100 law enforcement leaders from across the state in attendance, Richard Callahan, associate dean and director of state capital and leadership programs at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, delivered the keynote address at the installation ceremony for the new president of the California Peace Officers' Association. Callahan's remarks focused on the important role of peace officers, not only within public safety, but within society in general.
June 12, 2010
The Los Angeles Times quoted SPPD Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett about wealthy people buying adjacent properties to their homes to create compounds and ensure privacy.
June 10, 2010
The Bell Gardens Sun featured research by SPPD students Josefina Campos, Jasmine Kim and Lauren Yokomizo, who found that street vendors have thrived in Boyle Heights in part due to the compassion and complicity of residents and legally permitted businesses.
May 24, 2010
Eleven graduate students representing the various master's programs in the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development launched the school's first student-adjudicated academic journal. The USC Policy, Planning, and Development Review, an online publication, aims to promote discourse among students of SPPD's professional degree programs by encouraging them to produce work that addresses important social topics.
May 20, 2010
Six Trojans -- including the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development's Clara Suh '10 -- were awarded Fulbright Fellowships this year, and will be traveling to various corners of the world. Suh, who graduated with a bachelor of science in public policy, management, and planning, will participate in the English Teaching Assistantship program, working in South Korea.
May 12, 2010
The USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development won an award from the American Planning Association's technology division for its "Multimedia Boot Camp" class, taught by professor Martin Krieger. The award recognizes the most effective use of teaching with technology in preparing future planners for professional work.
May 7, 2010
During spring semester, 15 graduate students from the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development collaborated with students from the Technical University of Berlin on a comparative study of transit-adjacent urban redevelopment. "The overall focus of the Berlin planning studio was the large-scale redevelopment of inner-city rail station sites," said Deike Peters, a SPPD adjunct and director of the planning studio.
May 1, 2010
The Los Angeles Times ran a Q&A with Jane Pisano of the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development. Pisano is president and director of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, which is undergoing a $115 million makeover, the article stated. "I've been interested in this institution long before I joined this board. When they asked me to take this on, I said yes because I felt like it was an institution that could be world class and that Los Angeles deserved a world-class natural history museum," Pisano said.
April 27, 2010
The Sacramento Press noted that SPPD Associate Dean Richard Callahan, was the keynote speaker at Sacramento's Game Plan Academy, which aims to help high school athletes excel academically. Callahan is director of state capital and leadership programs at SPPD.
April 26, 2010
In a collaborative student-led effort, leading voices in minority health advocacy in Los Angeles came together at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development for a panel discussion on "Inequities in Minority Health: Access, Quality and Outcomes." The event, featuring representatives from the nonprofit, education and government sectors, covered a variety of pressing health care issues facing minority communities across the country.
April 23, 2010
The Contra Costa Times quoted SPPD Professor Harry Pachon about the role of community-based organizations in increasing Latino participation in the U.S. Census. Pachon is president of the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute.
April 15, 2010
Nearly 30 percent of LAUSD students in English Language Learning programs are not reclassified as proficient by the end of middle school, according to a report by the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute. More surprising, the majority of these students are born in the U.S. Six months after the report's release in October '09, the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights has announced the launch of an investigation to determine whether the district's ELL students are being denied equal educational opportunities. The San Francisco office will meet with USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development professor and TRPI president Harry Pachon to discuss the report's findings.
April 14, 2010
For the first time in half a century, the percentage of foreign-born residents in the state of California is actually declining, according to a recent study in which the lead author was USC demographics professor Dowell Myers of the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development.
April 9, 2010
Deutsche Presse-Agentur (Germany) featured research co-authored by SPPD's Dowell Myers which found that for the first time since the 19th century Gold Rush, California-born residents make up the majority of the population. "We thought that the number of foreign-born residents in the state would rise to about 30 percent before leveling off around 2020," Myers said. "Instead, we have reached the tipping point this year, with the percentage of foreign-born residents peaking at 26 percent."
April 8, 2010
Curbed L.A. featured the forthcoming book "Starstruck: The Business of Celebrity" by SPPD Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid. In the book, Currid analyzes Getty Images' celebrity photo database to find out where celebrities hang out and with whom, and how that relates to city planning. Currid recently gave a talk about the concept in Massachusetts, the story noted.
April 1, 2010
SPPD adjunct associate professor Michael Kodama scribbles on the board at USC's Von KleinSmid Center, trying to keep pace with a dozen students who are calling out transportation-related news headlines during his "Transportation Planning" class. "The first part of the class is led by the students," Kodama said. "They can talk about anything they want and put me on the spot for an hour." It's a fitting way for Kodama to kick off each session, since he's been making news himself as the new executive director of the Orangeline Development Authority.
March 25, 2010
A new study by researchers at USC's Lusk Center for Real Estate shows that an increasing number of new Americans are choosing to settle down in mid-size cities across the U.S., lured by less competition for jobs and growing neighborhoods of fellow immigrants. The study was co-authored by USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development associate professor Gary Painter and Zhou Yu, assistant professor at the University of Utah.
March 25, 2010
The Los Angeles Times quoted SPPD Professor Dowell Myers about population growth in Southern California. Myers says newcomers are probably younger people from other parts of the country wanting to give the new region a try.
March 19, 2010
The Orange County Register highlighted research by SPPD Associate Professor Gary Painter which found that from 2000 to 2005 the number of recently arrived immigrants increased in smaller metropolitan cities. "Nurturing links within the immigrant community is key to building a new rank of homeowners," said Painter, director of research at the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
March 18, 2010
SPPD Ph.D. student Yiming Wang recently won the Springer Award for outstanding paper in the field of regional science for his essay, "Decomposing the Entropy Index of Racial Diversity: In Search of Two Types of Variance." Wang was presented with the award at the 49th Western Regional Science Association Annual Meeting, and his paper will be published in The Annals of Regional Science, the WRSA's official journal.
March 16, 2010
The Trojan League of Los Angeles showcased the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development on Feb. 27 at its annual benefit, which featured the theme "Creating Ideas That Shape the World." Each year, the alumnae group selects a distinguished USC department, school or individual to honor.
March 11, 2010
Southern California Public Radio, in an Associated Press story, quoted SPPD Professor Harry Pachon about the census campaign targeting tech-savvy Latino youth. "Young people are sort of an intermediary between the all-English world and the all-Spanish world, so it makes a lot of sense to use the young people as transmitters of information," said Pachon, president of the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute.
March 11, 2010
Voice of America quoted SPPD Professor Harry Pachon about the U.S. Department of Education's announcement that it will investigate the teaching of English-language learners in Los Angeles public schools. Pachon is president of the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute.
March 4, 2010
Fox & Hounds Daily cited Professor Dowell Myers about the need for more college graduates and skilled workers who will be able to buy the houses of retiring baby boomers.
February 23, 2010
The Christian Science Monitor quoted SPPD Senior Fellow Sherry Bebitch Jeffe about U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's remarks linking unemployment with domestic violence.
February 6, 2010
E! Online interviewed SPPD Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid on whether the era of the superstar is over. "Icons emerge, but they are iconic within the realm that they emerge from," she said. Currid's book about fame, Star Power, is scheduled to come out later this year, the story noted.
January 26, 2010
North County Times published an Associated Press story that quoted SPPD Professor and president of the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute, Harry Pachon, about political participation by minorities.
January 26, 2010
The Los Angeles Daily News published an op-ed by California State Assemblyman and SPPD Executive Master of Leadership student Isadore Hall, III on LA's BEST After School Enrichment Program, which enters its 22nd year serving the community. "LA's BEST has maintained a balance of high quality standards for education, enrichment and recreation," Hall wrote.
January 19, 2010
The New York Times ran an op-ed by SPPD Professor Dana Goldman and Aaron Edlin of UC Berkeley about health care reform. "Whenever we call our physicians, we can't get in to see them for several months. Our colleagues have a similar experience. This raises a simple question: Who is going to treat the approximately 30 million newly insured?" they wrote. "It isn't just physician practices that are full; nurses are also in short supply. The Institute of Medicine sounded the alarm about a shortage of health care professionals way back in 2002, and pointed out its adverse effects on the quality of care. When we asked one of our doctors if he will care for these newly insured, he said it won't be him he is plenty busy already unless someone offers him a lot of money. And that is precisely what will happen. Health care is not immune from the fundamental laws of supply and demand. If demand for care rises and supply cannot increase, then prices rise."
January 18, 2010
The Ventura County Star reported that SPPD professor emerita Lois Friss will be given the Volunteer of the Year award at the 17th annual David C. Fainer Gala Awards Dinner and Fundraiser. The awards are given each year by the Ventura County Medical Resource Foundation in recognition of members of the medical community who embody excellence and dedication to the community, the story noted.
January 15, 2010
USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development research professor Adam Rose and postdoctoral research associate Dan Wei have found that the implementation of the Michigan Climate Action Plan could do more than battle global warming. It could also give a much-needed boost to the state's economy -- creating a projected net increase of 129,000 jobs, a $25 billion net gain in the Gross State Product.
December 29, 2009
The Los Angeles Times featured "The United States: An American Culture Series," a free, non-credit USC class designed to help incoming international students acclimate to American lingo, food and culture. The story stated that the class is an unusual effort that supports USC's more than 7,500 foreign students -- the largest contingent of any U.S. university. Jingjie Li, a master of public administration student at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, said that the course taught her to express her opinions and provided fodder for conversations with fellow students. The article noted that USC has recruitment offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taipei, Tokyo and Mexico City, as well as a network of 19 international alumni clubs.
December 26, 2009
The Riverside Press-Enterprise quoted SPPD Senior Fellow Sherry Bebitch Jeffe in a story about San Jacinto, Calif., city council members who have been charged with trying to bypass the state's campaign-finance limits by hiding contribution sources. The council members have said they will not resign and face a possible recall campaign going into 2010. Jeffe said that citizen participation is important in keeping an eye on government. "Voting alone is not enough," Jeffe said. "You can't go into the voting booth, walk out and not pay any attention to governance and assume you're going to get the government that you voted for."
December 18, 2009
The Los Angeles Times quoted SPPD Professor Dowell Myers about news that California's population grew less than 1 percent in the last year, representing the slowest growth rate in more than a decade. Myers said the slowdown in growth provided a welcome respite that state policymakers should use to look ahead and plan for the future. "This is a wake-up call," Myers said. "We have a brief breathing spell, but we should not be lulled into complacency because growth will resume, and we have to get ready for it."
December 11, 2009
This fall, leaders from the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development headed to Foshan, China, to foster dialogue and advance the school's longstanding commitment to global outreach. SPPD cooperated with the World Bank to create an "Urban River Transformation" forum hosted by the Pacific Rim Council on Urban Development and Foshan Municipality in China's Guangdong province.
December 11, 2009
The Los Angeles Times ran an op-ed by SPPD Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid about the Black List, in which industry insiders compile a ranking of the year's most talked-about unproduced screenplays. "In the Byzantine and often opaque business of filmmaking, the list of about 100 scripts also provides guidance in an increasingly risk-averse industry. This year has seen an upsurge in expensive box-office bombs, and DVD revenue continues to decline. In such a business climate, a list of scripts highly praised and ranked by industry heavyweights offers an invaluable guide," Currid wrote. "But there's a problem. Most of the scripts turned into movies from past Black Lists have been commercial disappointments, highlighting the disconnect between Hollywood elites' personal tastes and those of ordinary moviegoers."
December 9, 2009
ABC News Los Angeles affiliate KABC-TV reported that William Fulton of the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development was appointed mayor of Ventura, Calif., by the Ventura City Council. Fulton, a senior fellow at SPPD, will serve a two-year term, the story stated.
November 30, 2009
The Los Angeles Daily News cited research by the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute at USC which stressed the importance of getting students out from under the designation of "English-language learner" before they enter high school. The study found that nearly three out of 10 L.A. English-learner students spent years in English language instruction courses without being reclassified as English-fluent, and that students who moved out of English-learner classes by the third grade scored up to 40 points higher on standardized tests than students who remained in the classes.
November 30, 2009
Bucking the trend of the recent economic downturn, the Career Services Office at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development drew a record-high attendance among employers and students alike for its Fall Networking Night. More than 100 graduate and undergraduate students packed the Radisson Hotel Ballroom Oct. 13 to meet and interact with nearly 80 employers representing the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.
November 30, 2009
USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development Assistant Professor Lisa Schweitzer is among a team of USC researchers to receive a $505,000 award from the National Institutes of Health for a new project, "Access to Scientific Information and Services for Latino Families with Autistic Children."
November 11, 2009
Now in its third year, ENGAGE has been helping make a positive difference each week in the local community, providing dinner, structured homework time, guest speakers, field trips and activities for neighborhood children. The program began when then-USC graduate students Jesus Diaz and Renee Burwell noticed a dearth of after-school programming for local children. Burwell is an alumna of the USC School of Policy, Planning, Development, having earned her MPA degree in '08.
November 6, 2009
The Sacramento Bee quoted SPPD Professor Dowell Myers about the market for expensive homes that aging baby boomers might want to sell when they retire. Myers said that California's always-dependable supply of homebuyer migrants from cold climates is no longer assured. The story reported that birthrates in Mexico have fallen, meaning fewer arrivals from the south. In 2002, native-born Californians became a majority of the state's population for the first time in modern history, Myers noted.
November 4, 2009
More than 200 experts from the world of goods movement converged on the National Urban Freight Conference, which was organized by the METRANS Transportation Center, to discuss critical issues ranging from traffic to logistics to pollution. METRANS, a research partnership between USC and Cal State Long Beach, is directed by USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development professor Genevieve Giuliano.
November 2, 2009
USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development alumna Anupama Mann recently received the Gill-Chin Lim Award for the best dissertation on international planning for her thesis, "A Megaproject Matrix: Ideology, Discourse and Regulation in the Delhi Metro Rail." The award is given by the Global Planners Educators Interest Group at the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning.
October 29, 2009
The Los Angeles Times cited research by the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute at USC which stressed the importance of getting students out from under the designation of "English-language learner" before they enter high school, when the chances of dropping out increase. "The United States has never learned what is the best way to teach English to English learners," said SPPD Professor Harry Pachon, president of the institute. "That's really a shortcoming." The research was also featured by National Public Radio's "All Things Considered," the Associated Press, the Los Angeles Daily News, and La Opinion.
October 28, 2009
The USC Center for Economic Development was awarded a two-year $750,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration to broaden the scope of the center's applied research and outreach initiatives. The center is housed at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development.
October 8, 2009
The Los Angeles Times cited a study led by SPPD Teaching Associate Professor LaVonna Lewis which found that one in three grocery stores in low-income Los Angeles neighborhoods often sells expired food. "It's a quality question," Lewis said. "Shouldn't people have access to fresh, healthy foods no matter where they live? It's also a resource question. If you have limited resources, aren't those resources used less effectively if the food you purchase in your neighborhood is quickly out of date?" Future studies will try to determine whether expired food products are found more often in low-income areas, Lewis said.
October 5, 2009
The Los Angeles Times noted that Pasadena Police Chief Bernard Melekian, who is a doctoral of policy, planning, and development student at SPPD, will retire from his post to head the U.S. Department of Justice's Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program in Washington, D.C. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder made the announcement Oct. 5 during a national police leaders meeting in Denver, according to the story.
September 29, 2009
La Opinion cited a study led by SPPD Teaching Associate Professor LaVonna Lewis which found that one in three grocery stores in low-income Los Angeles neighborhoods often sell expired food. Over the course of a year, data was collected during regular visits to supermarkets. In 18 percent of purchases, three products were found unfit for human consumption. We try to give people access to healthy food, and quality food can be found no matter what part of the city a person lives in, Lewis said.
September 29, 2009
ABC News cited a study led by SPPD Teaching Associate Professor Lavonna Lewis which found that one in three grocery stores in low-income Los Angeles neighborhoods often sells expired food. But the researchers also found expired food on shelves in "the posh suburbs along the beaches to the west of Los Angeles," the story stated. "It's an issue that is more widely distributed than I had thought," Lewis said. While some expired food is sold at a "manager's special" discount, Lewis said she isn't 100 percent convinced that the food is safe. "We don't think people are making informed choices, because the information is so hard to find," she explained. "The consequences may be greater in south Los Angeles because of a low health status."
September 27, 2009
New York quoted SPPD Assistant Professor Jenny Schuetz about street-level commerce in the Union Square area of New York City. Schuetz said that the Greenmarket, a weekly farmers market, acts as a destination that attracts people who are likely to make a day of it, shopping for shoes or clothes, having coffee or lunch, maybe going to the movies beforehand. "Once you have the stalls set up for this type of open-air shopping, people are more likely to see the little businesses on the periphery as extensions of a larger market," Schuetz explained.
September 25, 2009
A USC study has found a good reason to check the expiration date on market foods. Researchers, working with residents in lower-income areas of Los Angeles, counted at least one expired poultry, beef or dairy product in about a third of the store visits made over a one-year period. USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development professor LaVonna Lewis presented some of the project's data at the 2009 California REACH US Conference.
September 24, 2009
Dana Goldman, a widely respected expert in health economics, has been named director of the new Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics at USC, according to an announcement from USC Executive Vice President and Provost C. L. Max Nikias. Goldman most recently served as director of the RAND Corp.'s Health Economics, Finance and Organization Division.
September 23, 2009
The Sacramento Bee quoted SPPD Senior Fellow Sherry Bebitch Jeffe on how gubernatorial candidates are responding to the problem of prison overcrowding in California. With voters reminded of the alleged crimes of parolee Phillip Garrido in the Jaycee Lee Dugard case, the tendency for candidates is to tack right for fear being labeled soft on crime, Jeffe said. "The candidates are only worried about the fallout," Jeffe said. "All candidates are somewhat boxed in on the center-right when it comes to public safety."
September 16, 2009
The USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development hosted members of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce this summer in the first stop of the Texas delegation's three-day Los Angeles tour aimed at exchanging information with local civic leaders and experts.
September 9, 2009
Richard Callahan, associate dean and director of leadership programs at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, has been appointed to a newly formed advisory board for the California Environmental Protection Agency's Department of Toxic Substances Control.
August 27, 2009
CNN interviewed Professor James Ferris about New Orleans-directed philanthropy after Hurricane Katrina. Katrina has generated ongoing charitable interest partly because of the 24-hour news coverage the disaster received, some of which was fueled by celebrity response, Ferris said. "Obviously, that's one of the assets that a celebrity brings to an endeavor. It gets attention; it gets name recognition," he noted. Ferris is director of the USC Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy.
August 24, 2009
The Columbus Dispatch quoted SPPD Senior Fellow Sherry Bebitch Jeffe about the White House indicating that it would accept a health care bill without a public option. This has infuriated liberal Democrats who supported Barack Obama's campaign in 2008, the story stated. "These guys on the left invested an awful lot in Barack Obama, and I think they feel as if they own a piece of him," Jeffe said. "He's not delivering from their perspective."
August 7, 2009
The Orange County Register quoted SPPD Senior Fellow Sherry Bebitch Jeffe about a proposed ballot measure that would call a California constitutional convention. Given the starting estimate of $60 million to cover convention costs, voters may balk at approving the convention, even though that would be a small part of the state's $84 billion general fund budget, Jeffe said.
August 3, 2009
In his new role as assistant secretary for policy development and research at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, USC's Raphael Bostic will face a huge task: helping policymakers come up with ways to bring stability back to the nation's housing market. Bostic, a professor at the School of Policy, Planning, and Development, was sworn into his new government position on July 16.
August 3, 2009
More than 160 leading experts, ranging from USC faculty to government officials and business executives, gathered at USC to address pressing infrastructure challenges facing the Southwest Megaregion, which encompasses Southern California and portions of Nevada and Northern Baja, Mexico. The conference was part of an America 2050 forum, sponsored by the Regional Plan Association, the USC Bedrosian Center and the USC Keston Institute.
July 22, 2009
The Los Angeles Times quoted Professor Harry Pachon about the community support role of the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles. The consulate has long served as a bridge between the U.S. and Mexico, but has become increasingly active in recent years, Pachon said. "It reflects the recognition by Mexico that a significant portion of its people are living in the United States. This is one of a series of steps helping the Mexican consulate be a relevant factor in the community."
July 21, 2009
The Los Angeles Times quoted Professor Richard Green about the failed Newhall Ranch development, a poor investment choice which cost the California Public Employees' Retirement System almost $1 billion. "I would have said that Newhall Ranch was going to be a winner," Green said. "If I thought that at the time, criticizing others for doing the same would be unfair."
July 14, 2009
As the U.S. Congress considers enacting historic "cap and trade" legislation, a new book by research professor Adam Rose provides valuable lessons and reference points in evaluating the economic impacts of climate change policy. Rose is considered to be one of the preeminent scholars in the field, and the book - The Economics of Climate Change Policy: International, National and Regional Mitigation Strategies - represents much of his 20 years of research and involvement in policy design on the many aspects of the subject.
June 22, 2009
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzennegger appointed Professor Dowell Myers of the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development to be part of a newly created census panel that will oversee the upcoming federal census in California.
June 16, 2009
Borsen (Denmark) featured Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid and her research on artists' economic contribution to urban areas. In her book "The Warhol Economy: How Fashion, Art and Music Drive New York City," Currid warns that the rising cost of living in New York is driving out artists who are essential to the city. If new waves of young artists can't afford to move to the city, in a few decades it won't be the culturally interesting place it is now, Currid said. A second Borsen (Denmark) story also featured Currid's work.
June 11, 2009
Nonprofit groups are becoming increasingly active through the promotion of causes on their online sites and serving as bridges of civic engagement, according to a new study by David Suarez, assistant professor at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development.
June 8, 2009
The Cleveland Plain Dealer noted that SPPD Professors Richard Green and Raphael Bostic will speak at a Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Community Development Summit titled "Credit, Capital, and Community Building in Transitional Times." Green is Director and Chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
May 16, 2009
The Los Angeles Times quoted Professor Dowell Myers about slowing immigration to outlying areas of Los Angeles. The change is a "temporary pause," and immigration will probably rise again as the economy recovers, Myers said. "Immigrants always respond to the economy," he explained. "The boom and bust cycle is totally normal."
May 11, 2009
The Xinhua News Agency (China) cited Professor Dowell Myers about racial demographics and politics in California. The surge in naturalized citizens will accelerate by several years the California electorate's shift from majority white to nonwhite, Myer said. Although that shift won't be completed until 2026, Latinos, Asians and African Americans are already joining with progressive whites to elect ethnically diverse candidates, Myers and other analysts predict.
May 9, 2009
The Los Angeles Times quoted Professor Harry Pachon about the American dream among Latinos. "It's the dream of having a single-family house and a white picket fence and a dog," Pachon said. Pachon is president of the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute at USC, the story noted.
April 29, 2009
Elizabeth Currid, assistant professor at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, presented her paper, "The Geography of Buzz: Art, Culture and the Social Milieu in Los Angeles and New York," during a recent research seminar at Lewis Hall. The paper was co-authored by Sarah Williams, director of the Spatial Information Design Lab at Columbia University.
April 28, 2009
The New York Times featured a new report by Professor Dowell Myers, called "The New Homegrown Majority in California." Myers and colleagues found that for the first time in California's modern history, a majority of young people in the state were born here, the story reported. More than 70 percent of 15-to-24-year-olds living here in 2007 were native born, while almost two-thirds of 45-to-54-year-olds were born elsewhere, as were about 61 percent of those aged 35 to 44 and some 54 percent of those aged 25 to 34. "It's a watershed moment," Myers said. "There has been so much focus on immigrants, on outsiders. Now we have all these insiders. These are people who carry the future, and they're mostly homegrown."
April 28, 2009
The New York Times featured a new report by Dowell Myers called "The New Homegrown Majority in California." Myers and colleagues found that for the first time in California's modern history, a majority of young people in the state were born here, the story reported. More than 70 percent of 15-to-24-year-olds living here in 2007 were native born, while almost two-thirds of 45-to-54-year-olds were born elsewhere, as were about 61 percent of those aged 35 to 44 and some 54 percent of those aged 25 to 34. "It's a watershed moment," Myers said. "There has been so much focus on immigrants, on outsiders. Now we have all these insiders. These are people who carry the future, and they're mostly homegrown."
April 23, 2009
The Stockton Record featured new research by Professor Dowell Myers finding that California's population will soon be mostly "homegrown" instead of coming from other states or countries. This large demographic shift indicates that more Californians are staying closer to home, that fewer workers from elsewhere will be available to fuel the economy, and that the state's institutions will be held more accountable, the story stated. The report is called "The New Homegrown Majority in California: Recognizing the New Reality of Growing Commitment to the Golden State."
April 21, 2009
The Los Angeles Times featured research by SPPD Professor Dowell Myers concluding that "homegrown" Californians will soon outnumber those who came from elsewhere. More than 70 percent of Californians aged 15 to 24 were born and raised in the state, while nearly two-thirds of state residents aged 45 to 54 were born out of state. "It's a sea change in demography but also in political perceptions," Myers said. "We've transformed from being a state of migrants to a settled state of native Californians. We're basically becoming more self-reliant on who we have here."
April 15, 2009
Appearing on a panel at the Financial Times' Asia Infrastructure Summit, Richard Little addressed the question of whether private investment in infrastructure could be Asia's highway to economic growth. Little is a senior fellow at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development and director of the Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy.
April 14, 2009
NBC News Los Angeles affiliate KNBC-TV featured a study called "The Geography of Buzz" by Elizabeth Currid. Currid and a colleague at Columbia University tracked geo-coded photos from Getty Images to create heat maps charting the most socially active hubs in L.A. and New York. "In Los Angeles the 'buzziest' areas were identified in Beverly Hills and Hollywood, along the Sunset Strip -- not in Silver Lake or Echo Park," the researchers wrote.
April 7, 2009
The New York Times featured "The Geography of Buzz," a study co-authored by Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid of the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development. The study delineates cultural hot spots based on geo-markers of events such as film and television screenings, concerts, fashion shows, gallery and theater openings. Currid and colleague found that "buzziest" areas in New York were around Lincoln Center and Rockefeller Center, and along Broadway from Times Square into SoHo. In Los Angeles, the "buzziest" areas were in Beverly Hills and Hollywood, along the Sunset Strip. The story included a multimedia graphic of the study's findings.
April 2, 2009
Los Angeles' "transportation transformation" was the subject of a recent panel discussion hosted by the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development. The event took place at the downtown headquarters of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). It was the third event in the SPPD Dean's Speaker series, which has focused on the revitalization of Los Angeles.
March 26, 2009
The New Statesman (U.K.) featured a talk by Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid delivered at the Institute for Public Policy Research in London. Currid's book, The Warhol Economy, argues that New York's art scene is a major economic engine, and in her talk, she suggested that the same may be true of London, the story noted. In big cities, where the arts generate billions, urban policymakers need to recognize the role that networking plays in the creative sector, she said.
March 18, 2009
With cargo flow down about one-third since last year, port stakeholders packed the 10th METRANS Town Hall meeting on March 11 in Long Beach. More than 1,000 people, including longshore workers, terminal operators, logistics providers and elected officials, attended the event. The topic was how to make the San Pedro Bay ports competitive and protect high-paying local jobs.
March 12, 2009
The Los Angeles Times quoted SPPD Adjunct Professor Michael Woo about how rising sea levels could affect California. "The rising sea level could be California's version of Hurricane Katrina," Woo said. "Taxpayers and insurance ratepayers might question their responsibility to help homeowners and businesses which knowingly build in high-risk coastal areas," he noted. Woo is a Los Angeles planning commissioner, the story reported.
March 9, 2009
U.S. News & World Report featured a study by the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute at USC on Latino enrollment in public schools. Latino children now are in the majority or near majority in a number of large districts, the study found. In Chicago, 45.1 percent of first graders are Hispanic, compared with 41.1 percent of sixth graders and 35.2 percent of 12th graders. Latinos constitute 74.5 percent of first graders in Los Angeles, 63.1 percent in Houston, 68.6 percent in Dallas, and 53.6 percent in San Jose, Calif.
March 6, 2009
National Public Radio interviewed SPPD Senior fellow Richard Little about President Obama's infrastructure stimulus plan, which designates tens of billions of dollars for so-called "shovel-ready projects." Little, director of the USC Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy, discussed the impact of those projects on the nation's economic crisis and decaying infrastructure. "Essentially, it's projects that can be gotten underway within 120 days, meaning they are out to bid and ready to proceed," Little said. "The emphasis is on getting people to work and spending money," he added.
February 27, 2009
During a recent discussion held at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) shared personal lessons and political insights from her book, Dream in Color: How the Sanchez Sisters Are Making History in Congress (Grand Central Publishing, 2008).
February 9, 2009
The USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development and the World Bank signed an agreement designed to merge scholarly research and specific program initiatives to address sustainable development in the East Asia and Pacific Region. The signing ceremony took place during a conference in Washington, D.C., focusing on challenges facing megacities in the developing world.
February 4, 2009
Faculty and students at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development took part in a leadership training conference to help local government officials find solutions for public problems afflicting cities nationwide.
January 26, 2009
The USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development marked its 80th anniversary by hosting a special colloquium Jan. 16 at the Davidson Conference Center. During the conference, Dean Jack H. Knott noted that SPPD remains dedicated to advancing academic theory and making a vital impact in the world.
December 22, 2008
The USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development signed a formal agreement to participate in Fellows/USA, the Peace Corps' graduate fellowship program. This agreement will enable former volunteers to pursue a graduate education in public administration, public policy, urban planning, health administration and real estate development.
December 18, 2008
Taught by Professor Daniel Mazmanian, a new class at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development gave graduate students an introductory overview of key sustainability issues along with the chance to meet with environmental policymakers, chat with "green business" entrepreneurs, and measure their own carbon footprints.
December 17, 2008
L.A. Weekly quoted Adjunct Professor Michael Woo about the resignation of Los Angeles Planning Commission President Jane Usher. Usher was widely viewed as independent of the city's powerful developer sector, the story stated. "There has never been such a proactive commission," Woo said. Woo is a commissioner and a former Los Angeles city councilman, the article noted.
December 9, 2008
USA Today quoted Professor Dowell Myers about the increase in the number of Hispanics fluent in English. Homeownership and naturalization are more important gauges of assimilation than English fluency, but language is the most visible, Myers said. "What affects people the most is the language around them," he explained. "It's the most symbolic ... a real flashpoint."
December 9, 2008
The Los Angeles Times quoted Professor Dowell Myers about census data showing growing diversity in Southern California's suburbs. The trend reflects a broad breakdown of past housing discrimination, Myers said. "Ethnic groups of all types are integrating into suburban neighborhoods. It's the new normal," he explained. "It's not about color and ethnicity in California anymore. It's about economic upward mobility."
December 8, 2008
The Los Angeles Times quoted Professor Dowell Myers about census methodology. The U.S. Census Bureau is offering data on a rolling basis in addition to the head count every 10 years. Some demographers are concerned that the rolling data could be misleading because it is averaged over time, the story reported. Averaging over time "only works if things aren't changing very much," Myers said. "When you have a steep trend, you want to know where things are changing now. You don't want to know where it was changing two years ago."
November 20, 2008
The impact of Hurricane Katrina continues to be felt in the New Orleans region and beyond as researchers and policymakers examine what went wrong and how to deal with the effects of a similar disaster in the future. The latest contribution comes from a team of professors at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, who edited and wrote chapters for Natural Disaster Analysis After Hurricane Katrina: Risk Assessment, Economic Impacts and Social Implications.
November 20, 2008
The Asian Pacific Islander Caucus, a new student organization at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, hosted its inaugural event -- a panel discussion at Lewis Hall addressing key issues currently facing the Asian American community.
November 6, 2008
Dr. Louise Nelson Dyble, associate director for research at the USC Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure Policy, recently received the American Public Works Association (APWA) Michael Robinson Award for her article, "Revolt Against Sprawl: Transportation and the Origins of the Marin County Growth-Control Regime."
October 29, 2008
During an Oct. 21 panel hosted by the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Jan Perry said that the goal of downtown's revitalization effort is to restore "the excitement of an earlier time." The changing downtown landscape was the focus of the panel discussion, which took place inside City Hall. The event was part of the SPPD Dean's Speaker Series.
October 28, 2008
The Los Angeles Times quoted Assistant Professor Elizabeth Currid about double-decker tourist buses in Los Angeles. The buses are a gambit by L.A.'s biggest tour operator to broaden the areas in which tourists roam, the story stated. "The double-decker buses aren't the silver bullet," Currid said. "But great cities are great cities because of all the little things adding up. The cumulative effect of all the little things actually adds up to something important."
September 23, 2008
SPPD Professor Dowell Myers was quoted in Forbes about immigrant settlement patterns within the United States. New immigrants try to find a large community of immigrants with similar backgrounds, the story stated. "When people move to a new place, they want to be around those that they know," Myers said.
September 7, 2008
SPPD Senior Fellow Sherry Bebitch Jeffe was quoted about California's Proposition 8, which would amend the state's constitution to ban same-sex marriage. "Republicans and conservatives tend to support it more," Jeffe said. "Hispanics are a potential group of supporters," she added. "Democrats tend not to. Moderates and liberals tend not to. Independents are more receptive to the idea of single-sex marriage."
July 29, 2008
In a Los Angeles Times story, Prof. Gary Painter was quoted about the penalty for delays with Los Angeles' Grand Avenue project. The board overseeing the project approved a measure stipulating that if the project is delayed beyond February, the developer will be fined $250,000 a month. Financial penalties like this can sometimes help get projects moving, Painter said. He added that $250,000 per month seemed not a large sum of money relative to the scale of the project.
July 18, 2008
Prof. Dowell Myers was quoted in a widely carried Associated Press story in USA Today about Web sites that use government data to provide potential home buyers with maps of criminal activity in a neighborhood. One site includes the residences of people who were arrested for crimes but not convicted, the article noted. The wealth of data provided these sites can distort what's happening in a given community, Myers said. "It amounts to a rumor that's constructed out of real data, but presented in a way as though it represents a level of threat, that's how people read it. And whether it actually represents risk to the buyer is totally uncertain."
July 14, 2008
Prof. Dowell Myers of was quoted in the San Diego Union Tribune about how different communities will be affected by high gas prices. Developments in more far-flung communities will experience the biggest hit first, Myers said. "Geriatric villages" replete with health clubs and art galleries will flourish in closer-in neighborhoods, as aging baby boomers demand more amenities to entice them to leave the suburbs, he said. "Firms will locate where they can recruit workers better," he added. "That's why they've already moved to the suburbs, and they may still stay out there."
June 29, 2008
Dowell Myers was quoted the USA Today about baby boomers and Latino immigrants. For a nation bracing to support 79 million baby boomers in their old age, the growing and younger population of Latinos should be viewed as economic salvation, Myers said. "Children are always a fiscal burden, yet children are also the lifeblood of every community," he explained. "What's killing Japan and threatening the economic future of Europe is that they don't have enough kids, and that's what's depriving these rural areas in America," he added. Myers is the author of Immigrants and Boomers: Forging a New Social Contract for the Future of America, the story noted.
June 5, 2008
Harry Pachon was interviewed on "CNN Newsroom" about Robert F. Kennedy's legacy. "The national focus on the Hispanic community is something that was new," Pachon said. "He reached out and you felt that there was really a coalition that could be made of black, Latino and white working class of, you know, voters. We all have something in common. It was very powerful at that time." Pachon is president of the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute at USC, the story noted.
May 15, 2008
Prof. Dowell Myers was quoted in U.S. News and World Report about variations among immigrant populations. "Asians show up with a lot more money, oftentimes," Myers said. "They have a higher education to begin with, and many of them are entrepreneurs." The Asian experience recalls a general rule of today's immigrants: The farther you have to migrate, the wealthier you probably were in your country of origin, the story stated. "Poor people can't afford a plane trip across the ocean, but poor people can walk across the border," Myers explained. "Poor Africans and poor Chinese can't do it."
May 15, 2008
Prof. Dowell Myers was quoted in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal about immigration policy. Public discourse on the subject can be colored by what Myers calls the "Peter Pan Fallacy," the story stated. "Many of us assume, unwittingly, that immigrants are like Peter Pan, forever frozen in their status as newcomers, never aging, never advancing economically, and never assimilating," Myers said. In this naive view, "the mounting numbers of foreign-born residents imply that our nation is becoming dominated by growing numbers of people who perpetually resemble newcomers," he said.
May 13, 2008
Prof. Dowell Myers was quoted in USA Today about an index aimed at measuring immigrant assimilation. An index is a futile effort, because different characteristics change at different rates, Myers said. Some changes happen in a few years, while others take a lifetime or even several generations, he said.
April 21, 2008
Prof. Dowell Myers was quoted in a Los Angeles Times story about immigration policy. This week, a USC conference will bring together former federal housing secretary Henry Cisneros and other community leaders to explore ways to help immigrants better integrate into career-oriented jobs and civic life, the story reported. "It's in the self-interest of the older generation to have immigrants here," Myers said. "Even if you don't like it, you have to ask the question: Who's going to fill your jobs, buy your homes and pay the taxes for old-age support programs?" he asked. Myers is the author of the book Immigrants and Boomers: Forging a New Social Contract for the Future of America, the story noted.
An unprecedented decline in California's child population, coupled with a tidal wave of baby boom retirees, will pose significant challenges for the state's future prosperity, according to an analysis of census data released by the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy and the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health. "These trends are not yet widely recognized, but they should be a wake-up call for policymakers," said report author Professor Dowell Myers.
A great attitude will get you far in life -- and it will also get you far on the Expo Line, according to research presented at a recent USC Sol Price School of Public Policy's METRANS seminar. "Which Matters More for Transit Use: Access or Attitudes? Insights from Data from the Exposition Light Rail Corridor" featured new research by Professor Marlon Boarnet and two colleagues from UC Irvine, Doug Houston and Steve Spears. The researchers took advantage of the opening of the Expo Line to conduct the first quasi-experimental before-after study of a major rail transportation project in California.
Imran Farooq DPPD '11 proved that he was ready for his close-up during the Oct. 24 broadcast of SOS: Sustaining Our Society, a PBS documentary based on his USC Sol Price School of Public Policy dissertation. The documentary -- available for 
USC Sol Price School of Public Policy Professor Marlon Boarnet spoke at a recent informational hearing of the California State Assembly Select Committee on Rail Transportation, sharing his expertise on rail transit in Los Angeles. The purpose of the hearing was to discuss the Los Angeles Metro Rail transit plans, as well as to provide the committee an opportunity to hear and address local concerns about these plans.
October 8, 2012 
Over the summer, dozens of students from the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy went the extra mile through internships and international lab experiences across the globe. Price students took part in
International labs in Brazil and China; worked with key organizations like the Chinese Academy of Urban Planning and Design, Hong Kong-America Center, Shanghai Center for Sustainability; and interned at the U.S. State Department in Armenia.
The USC Sol Price School of Public Policy's first two social innovation interns blurred the lines between local and global arenas by serving refugees and other residents of San Diego's City Heights neighborhood. The internships were organized and funded by the Sol Price Center for Social Innovation, which promotes sustainable community development in City Heights and underserved urban areas.
Los Angeles has a reputation of being an unplanned city, a sprawling metropolis that evolved spontaneously. Urban planners, of course, know better. USC Sol Price School of Public Policy professor David Sloane discussed his book Planning Los Angeles during a recent panel hosted by the Los Angeles chapter of the American Planning Association. For the book, Sloane enlisted more than 40 prominent essayists to detail the history, contemporary issues and current policy questions regarding planning in L.A. Two of those contributors -- Elizabeth Currid-Halkett and Ken Bernstein -- joined him on the panel to discuss their chapters and address economic development.
With the opening of the Metro Expo Line, Los Angeles' ambitious program of rail transit construction has made USC transit accessible. Appropriately, USC hosted the Los Angeles Urban Land Institute's third annual Transit-Oriented Development -- co-sponsored by the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy -- on June 7, bringing expertise from across the region and the campus to spotlight the opportunities and challenges involved in building transit developments in what was once the nation's prototypical auto metropolis.
From social media in Africa to "fracking" in California, the 2012 Policy Analysis Practicum challenged MPP students from the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy to grapple with the most pressing issues of the day. During the practicum, small groups of MPP students worked together to put theory into practice, serving as consultants for high-profile clients and performing in-depth policy analyses of real-world issues. This year, clients included the Congressional Research Service, the RAND Corp., the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of African Affairs, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, among many others.
Faculty at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy hosted a delegation from the Chinese Academy of Governance (CAG) between May 29 and June 1 to share their research on how to develop technically feasible, politically viable and cost-effective climate strategies. The event was coordinated by USC Price Assistant Research Professor Dan Wei and USC Price Research Professor Adam Rose in conjunction with the Center for Climate Strategies. CAG is a training center for people in public service who are in mid- and high-level civil service positions at the national, provincial, and municipal levels in China.
With more than half of the world's population now living in cities, the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy believed it was time to address the challenges of urbanization. To that end, USC Price dean Jack H. Knott moderated the discussion "Cities of the Future: Community, Creativity, Culture and Technology" on April 23. The panel featured Michael Antonovich, Los Angeles County supervisor; Hilda Blanco, USC Price research professor and interim director of the Center for Sustainable Cities; Hsi-Wei Chou, former governor of Taipei County, Taiwan; and Elizabeth Currid-Halkett, USC Price associate professor.
The USC Sol Price School of Public Policy was well represented at the American Planning Association's national planning conference at the Los Angeles Convention Center on April 14-17. To coincide with the conference, David Sloane, professor and director of undergraduate programs for USC Price, edited the book Planning Los Angeles, published by the American Planning Association, using contributions from many USC Price faculty and alumni to catalog the history and trends that impact planning in the city.
A massive slowdown in California's population growth means the state likely won't reach 50 million residents until the year 2046, according to a new USC analysis released today. That's a far slower rate of growth than the latest official projection released in 2007 by the state's Department of Finance that shows California reaching 50 million residents in the year 2032. The population slowdown may bring reprieve to a fiscally strapped state under pressure to keep up with infrastructure needs, said report co-author Dowell Myers, professor at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy.
Following decades of bipartisan consensus, federal transit policy has turned into a hot-button issue in a presidential election for the first time. Lisa Schweitzer, associate professor at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, took a look at what the various proposals and candidate positions mean for the future of U.S. infrastructure during a recent discussion. The event was part of the "Road to the White House 2012: Politics, Media and Technology," a weekly conversation series presented by USC's Bedrosian Center on Governance and the Public Enterprise, the Center on Communication Leadership & Policy, and the Unruh Institute of Politics.
Rapid urbanization has created a need for sustainable funding and financial strategy for infrastructure renewal in China, said Richard Little, a senior fellow at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, in a seminar offered on March 7 by USC Price and the METRANS Transportation Center. In 1980, China's population was just 20 percent urbanized. Today, that number has reached about 50 percent. To support this unprecedented growth, the country has invested enormous sums to provide transportation, power, communications, sanitation and other basic infrastructure.
The USC Sol Price School of Public Policy was among several USC schools and programs that ascended in the latest national rankings released by U.S. News & World Report . The Price School climbed to sixth place (from seventh in 2008) in the newest edition of "America's Best Graduate Schools" for public affairs.
USC Sol Price School of Public Policy professor Peter Gordon formally began his one-year term as president of the Western Regional Science Association last month during the association's 51st annual meeting in Kauai, Hawaii. Founded in 1961, the WRSA is an international multidisciplinary group of university scholars and government and private-sector practitioners dedicated to the scientific analysis of regions. At the annual banquet luncheon, Gordon delivered his presidential address titled "Thinking About Economic Growth."
The Athenian Society, the premier philanthropic support group of the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, tackled one of the most pertinent policy issues facing the state of California -- the recent elimination of redevelopment agencies -- during a recent panel featuring leading public and private sector experts. About 300 people attended the event at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel -- the largest turnout in the four-year history of the society's Dean's Speaker Series.
Representatives of county and city governments joined academic policy scholars at USC to begin a yearlong series of panel discussions exploring California's realignment of services and funds in the areas of prisoner reentry, social services and redevelopment. Titled "Shifting the Burden," the series is presented by the Bedrosian Center on Governance and the Public Enterprise, which is housed at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, and the Southern California chapter of The American Society for Public Administration.
Southern California cities are now significantly more multiracial than 20 years ago, according to a new USC analysis. The percentage of multiracial cities in the five-county area climbed from 51.2 percent to 61.5 percent from 1990 to 2010, the report by the Population Dynamics Research Group at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy showed. "Los Angeles is leading the nation once again in this multiracial experience," said lead author Dowell Myers, a professor of urban planning and demography at USC Price.
As the nation suffers a burgeoning obesity crisis, health advocates and policymakers have zoned in on poor neighborhoods they've termed "food deserts" -- areas with few grocery stores and other access to healthy food. But a new USC study finds that many poor urban neighborhoods have high concentrations of grocery and other retail food outlets. More doesn't translate to better, the researchers said, as residents in poor neighborhoods are more likely to be living next to small mom-and-pop food stores instead of large supermarkets. USC Sol Price School of Public Policy assistant professor Jenny Schuetz was the study's lead author.
Harry Pachon, professor at the USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development and president of the nation's oldest and most recognized think tank on Latino issues, died Nov. 4 following an extended illness. He was 66. "USC is saddened by the loss of professor Harry Pachon, an inspiring teacher, researcher and humanitarian who served both our university and our community at large," said USC provost Elizabeth Garrett. "His pioneering and celebrated career as a scholar of Latino culture and politics has heightened our understanding of the issues and challenges facing the Latino community, and he translated this work to society by encouraging local activism and advancement through education. Professor Pachon's dedication and character has left a lasting impact on the world."
How can an online game educate Californians about carbon emissions? What's the best way for the California government to prepare for the baby boomer retirement? Can private canine companies provide an effective and reasonably priced screening method to enhance airline security? These are a few of the real-world issues that USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development MPP students tackled during the 2011 Policy Analysis Practicum.
More than a decade ago, when sustainability issues were still a specialized curiosity, USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development professor Daniel Mazmanian turned his attention to the emergence of locally-based environmental policies in several communities and regions across the nation.
February 24, 2009