Table of Contents
List of Figures xiii
List of Tables xv
Preface xvii
About the Author xxi
1 Defining Economic Growth in a Changing Business Climate 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Economic Growth in Post-World War II America 2
1.3 Changing Views of Community Economic Growth through the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s 9
1.4 Births and Deaths of Companies, Industries, and Regions 12
1.5 Winners and Losers: Communities at the End of the Twentieth Century 13
1.6 Twenty-First Century Growth: Do Communities Compete in a Zero-Sum Game? 14
1.7 A working Definition of Local Economic Growth 16
1.8 The Relevance of Economic Growth to Today's Communities and Leadership 17
1.9 Concluding Thoughts 18
Notes 19
2 Viewing Economic Growth as Part of a Comprehensive Community Strategy 21
2.1 Introduction 21
2.2 Static Growth: If Communities Do Not Grow, Do They Die? 22
2.3 Building Economic Growth into the Master Plan 24
2.4 Theoretical Foundations for Local Economic Growth 26
2.5 Public Policies for Economic Growth: Dos and Don't-Dos 29
2.5.1 Tax Policies 32
2.5.2 Incentive Programs 32
2.5.3 Exercising the Right of Eminent Domain 35
2.5.4 Communicating Success 36
2.6 Emerging Directions for Community Growth 37
2.7 Viewing Local Economic Growth from Different Perspectives 38
2.7.1 Elected Officials 38
2.7.2 Practitioners 39
2.7.3 The Residential Community 40
2.7.4 The Business Community 41
2.8 Planning for Local Economic Growth 43
2.9 Concluding Thoughts 44
Notes 45
3 Local Economies in Decline: How to Lose the Business Base 47
3.1 Introduction 47
3.2 The Consequences of No-Growth Policies: Jobs, the Tax Base, and Economic Stagnation 48
3.3 Arresting Community Brain Drains 52
3.4 Community Gap Analyses 53
3.5 Where Public Policies Have Contributed to Job Losses or Slower Job Growth 56
3.6 Concluding Thoughts 60
Notes 61
4 Local Economic Recovery: Growth after the Fall 63
4.1 Can Losers Become Winners? 63
4.2 Cluster Economies 64
4.3 Case Studies 65
4.3.1 Northern California: Surviving Cutbacks in Manufacturing Jobs 65
4.3.2 Pittsburg: Rebuilding without Steel 69
4.3.3 Seattle: Overdependence on a Single Business 74
4.3.4 Houston: Diversifying the Economic Base 78
4.3.5 Concluding Thoughts 82
Notes 83
5 The New Growth Economies: Attracting and Retaining the Local Business Base 85
5.1 Making the Pro-Growth Case to Local Elected Officials 85
5.2 Marketing at Home and Abroad 87
5.3 A Tale of Two Cities: A Comparison of Long Island, New York, and Fairfax County, Virginia 88
5.4 Other Case Studies 91
5.4.1 Austin: University-Generated Growth 91
5.4.2 Las Vegas: Policy-Making to Encourage Growth 95
5.4.3 Phoenix: Rising in the Southwest 97
5.5 Rural Economic Growth: Are There Unique Lessons? 101
5.6 Regional Economic Growth: Are There Unique Lessons? 105
5.7 Starting up Start-Ups 109
5.8 Concluding Thoughts 110
Notes 110
6 Can Communities Suffer from Too Much Success? 113
6.1 Introduction 113
6.2 Magnifying Existing Problems 114
6.3 Addressing New Problems 116
6.4 Managing Local Expectations 117
Notes 119
7 Will the Formula Change?: Community Economic Growth in the Second Decade of the Millennium 121
7.1 The Growth Industries of Tomorrow 121
7.2 The Changing Components of Site Location Decisions 124
7.3 Diversification of the Local Economic Base 126
7.4 The Economics of Inclusion 128
7.5 Funding Local Economic Development: The Twin Pillars of Sufficiency and Consistency 130
7.6 Concluding Thoughts 131
Notes 132
8 Conclusions 133
8.1 Introduction 133
8.2 The Historical Context for This Book 134
8.3 Afterword 140
Notes 141
Appendix 143
Bibliography 147
Index 157
