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Urban Institute insights and analysis inform national reporting
A woman and her four young children unload grocery bags around a kitchen island.
Greg Acs, vice president for the Tax and Income Supports Division at the Urban Institute, spoke with Virginia Public Media about the risks of addressing affordability in a zero-sum context that focuses on who bears the short-term costs of a policy instead of its potential for growth.
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  • A muralist in a red shirt and straw hat stands on a short wooden ladder, holding a palette in one hand and a paintbrush in the other, adding on to a mural of colorful homes.
    Brett Theodos on Opportunity Zone investments
    Created in 2017, the Opportunity Zone program was intended to spur private investment toward low-income communities. Since then, the program has been made permanent, with added compliance and reporting standards to better evaluate the program’s outcomes.
  • A bowl of soup, ladled from a large, metal pot sitting next to a plastic bag of limes, is handed from one person to another.
    Poonam Gupta on food insecurity outpacing inflation
    As food and grocery prices increase, so do reports of food insecurity among Americans nationwide.
  • A young woman in a long, tan trench coat, blue jeans, and a dark red scarf steps aboard a public train from a covered platform.
    Yonah Freemark discusses benefits of transit-oriented housing
    Yonah Freemark, an urban development and transportation expert at the Urban Institute, spoke with the Associated Press about how developing housing near public transit can efficiently address both affordable housing shortages and the effects of increased car traffic.
  • A blonde woman in a colorful jacket paints a multicolored mural on an outside wall.
    Brett Theodos and Brady Meixell on maximizing Opportunity Zones’ impact
    The Opportunity Zone program was created in 2017 to encourage investment and economic growth in low-income communities. The program became permanent this year, and governors and state chief executives nationwide are beginning to select the next round of Opportunity Zones.
  • An elderly man and woman inspect something off camera, maybe something on a desk, along with a younger woman who appears to be explaining or helping.
    Laura Skopec on navigating Medicare open enrollment
    This year, as Medicare’s open enrollment season begins, enrollees are faced with new and changing options for health coverage.
  • Two childen in sweaters reach for carrot sticks in a portable lunch container that's being held out by a third person, with whom they share a bench outside.
    Poonam Gupta discusses the realities of SNAP
    The government shutdown meant uncertainty for the more than 40 million beneficiaries of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).