2. Concentrated Workforce

Official reports of the locations of greatest job growth contribute to the impression that most job openings are located far from where the people are who need work

       Some evidence indicates that modest improvements in transportation access can overcome those spatial mismatches. A study performed for Metra, Chicagoland's commuter rail agency, found that the Franklin Park stop near O'Hare Airport had an excess of 60,000 manufacturing jobs over workforce, measured within a two-mile radius of the stop. The same line served the inner city Humboldt Park community, whose stop had a job deficit against a workforce of 25,000, also measured within a two-mile station radius. An extra train scheduled at an earlier time enabled reverse commuters to show up for first shift on time and increased job access. The early train paid for itself in fares. ¹⁶

       This example may have larger implications for our welfare-to-work policy. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 50 million job openings nationwide in the next ten years; however, 35 million of these are replacement jobs, mostly located in older, central city or older suburban locations.¹⁷ A widely accepted estimate is that businesses typically move only twice during their lifetime. ¹⁸If we take the time to understand where these more traditional, better paying opportunities are located, it may not be necessary to focus our welfare-to-work policy on edge city, spatially mismatched locations (that is, getting former welfare recipients to the newest suburban business developments).

       In St. Louis, a metropolitan Jobs Initiative (one of six supported by the Annie E. Casey Foundation) analyzed the potential for focusing on both new jobs and on replacement jobs, and found that including replacement jobs in the analysis helped identify many more good paying opportunities than revealed by traditional analysis alone.¹⁹ This understanding has led to a commitment to using the area's MetroLink light rail system as the core of a "welfare to work without a car" strategy. Similar analysis is underway in Seattle, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Miami, among other places.

Contents

• Part I The Tangible Assets of Cities
• Part II Barriers to Valuing the Assets of Cities
• Part III Intangible Assets: Social Capital and Place
• Part IV A Newer Geography of Hope
• Part V Conclusion: Making Community Count
• Endnotes