In 2016, Lina Hidalgo was one of the hundreds of women energized to run for office after the presidential election. The political newcomer, then a graduate student, moved back to Houston to challenge the 11-year incumbent moderate Republican Ed Emmett. Hidalgo, a Colombian-born immigrant, campaigned on a platform of public safety, criminal justice reform, and making county government more accessible to the more than 4 million constituents who call the nation’s third-largest county home. And she won.
Fast forward through her first 100 days and the County’s first female County Judge has already completed #TalkingTransition, a landmark community engagement strategy to ensure all residents understand how county government works. The initiative, managed by HR&A Advisors, reached over 11,000 County residents in five languages through a survey, a public information and education campaign, and a series of town halls and panel discussions. The survey, which focused on populations with historically low levels of civic engagement, revealed widespread concerns about natural disasters, housing, and public transportation.
“If there’s an issue facing our residents, we’ll go over and around a wall to address it. I won’t say it’s not my problem. I’ll figure out what we can do to help it.” Hidalgo recently told The Texas Observer. Unlike her predecessor, the 28-year old Judge-elect has also addressed county flood-control issues in the wake of climate change and suggested cutting funding to detention centers holding immigrant children.
Check out the Texas Observer profile to learn more about the Hidalgo’s progressive policies, how she will oversee the County’s $4.8 billion budget, and how she will face the challenges ahead.
Read the Texas Observer’s profile of Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo
Read how HR&A supported the Historic Transition of Judge-Elect Hidalgo
MAY 1, 2019 — The Up for Growth National Coalition debuted its interactive online Housing Policy and Affordability Calculator at the Up for Growth Action Policy Summit and Legislative Advocacy Conference, a multi-day housing policy-focused forum in Washington, D.C. The first iteration of the calculator was piloted in Seattle, WA and allows users to explore how different policy inputs impact housing supply and rent affordability citywide.
Alongside Mike Kingsella (Executive Director of Up for Growth), Phillip Kash (HR&A Partner and leader of the firm’s Affordable Housing practice) explained how HR&A designed the underlying financial and economic models with significant input from local developers, policymakers, and academic economists. The Housing Calculator dynamically computes foreseeable tradeoffs between housing affordability and other public goals based on adjustments to 13 Seattle-specific policy choices. These policy choices are grouped by: Affordable Housing, Environmental Impact, Community Impact and Design, and Public Revenues. By toggling different policy levers, users generate a report that estimates changes for a typical new one-bedroom apartment on a project level (change in rent and total units, development costs, project feasibility) and citywide level (changes in long-term housing production, rent levels, cost burdening, and impact on the economy).
Elected officials, public policy organizations, and academic thought leaders have praised the Housing Policy and Affordability Calculator as an innovative device that drives policy conversations. “This Housing Policy and Affordability Calculator serves two critical purposes for policy makers,” said Congressman Denny Heck (D-Washington). “It makes stark that housing—not health care or education— is the biggest pressures in typical family budgets. And it lets us see how we can relieve this pressure through better policy that allows more construction. I look forward to seeing the Calculator used in policy discussions in Washington, D.C. and state capitols around the country to enable us to start building the millions of homes we desperately need.”
HR&A continues to support Up for Growth as the organization expands this online tool to other major cities across the U.S. starting with Los Angeles, and followed by other cities that have expressed interest, such as Boston, New York, Chicago, and Portland.
Explore the Up for Growth National Coalition Housing Policy and Affordability Calculator
Read the white paper detailing the calculator’s methodology, assumptions, and key findings
MAY 13, 2019 — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded the $30 million 2018 Choice Neighborhoods Initiative (CNI) Implementation Grant to the coastal City of Norfolk, VA, home to the Norfolk U.S. Naval Base, and the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority, the largest redevelopment and housing authority in Virginia. HR&A Advisors advised the City throughout the grant application.
The grant will allow the City to invest in climate resiliency and economic development in the St. Paul’s Area, which contains three public housing communities in its 200+ acres, including Tidewater Gardens, one of Norfolk’s most flood-prone areas. “This will further our vision to transform Tidewater Gardens into a mixed-income, mixed-use, resilient neighborhood that will provide affordable, quality housing for all income levels,” said Mayor Kenneth Cooper Alexander in the press release.
The grant will provide $21 million for housing redevelopment, $4.5 million for neighborhood amenities, $4.5 million in supportive services, and housing choice vouchers for every household residing in the 600-unit Tidewater Gardens housing complex. In addition to the HUD grant, Norfolk and its partners have made investments and commitments of over $158.5 million in the St. Paul’s Area. These investments will fund necessary flood protection infrastructure, such as a system of parks, open space, and streets that manage stormwater and flooding, as well as recreational, cultural, housing, employment, health and wellness, and education resources for the community.
Learn more about HR&A’s Urban Resilience practice.
Learn more about HR&A’s Economic Development Strategy practice.
WeWork is leading the way people work in cities.
Since its founding in 2010, WeWork has revolutionized the way people work and created a community of over 400,000 members in 100 cities across 27 countries. In 2018, HR&A evaluated the impact of WeWork on members, neighborhoods, and cities by assessing the company’s economic impact in three major U.S. cities: New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. This year, HR&A expanded this evaluation to all WeWork locations across the world to understand WeWork’s impact at a global scale.
Building on the methodologies we developed to assess WeWork’s economic impact, we created an automated process for WeWork to measure their impact across all their members and locations globally. This automated analysis relies on a range of dynamic data sources to capture and contextualize the way WeWork is impacting how people work, businesses grow, cities develop and economies thrive from Shanghai to San Diego to São Paulo. With this new tool, WeWork can understand their impact at the global, regional, neighborhood and member scale.
Among our favorite findings from the study, we found that:
Source: WeWork, HR&A Analysis
See all the study’s findings on WeWork’s website.
WeWork’s significant global impact reveals a striking convergence in the trends changing cities and workers in the 21st century. This change has many implications for how cities plan for the future, including preparing, growing, and nurturing the workforce of tomorrow. How can cities attract and retain entrepreneurs? How can public institutions and civic organizations partner with WeWork and other innovators to level the playing field for the next generation of talent?
We are excited to help cities and innovators like WeWork shape the future of cities. By bringing together public and private resources, we can build a future of work that is better for every city and every worker.
Interested in learning about the future of work and how your city or company can prepare? Reach out to Kate Wittels, the leader of HR&A’s urban tech practice.
HR&A’s strategic plan for Lower Manhattan played a key role in advancing the City’s comprehensive strategy for the Lower Manhattan Climate Resilience project.
In collaboration with AECOM, BIG, One Architecture, and James Lima Planning + Development, our team assessed the range of impacts that climate change will bring upon Lower Manhattan over the next 80 years. The most daunting of these climate impacts is a projected 6 feet of sea level rise by the year 2100, which will put almost 50% of properties within Lower Manhattan at risk from storm surge, and 20% of streets in the district exposed to daily tidal inundation.
The team undertook an exhaustive assessment to develop a toolkit of adaptation strategies and crafted a series of recommendations tailored to the diverse and complex conditions of the Lower Manhattan waterfront, with an eye on how these projects would not only allow for long-term climate adaptation but strengthen the quality of life and economic vibrancy of the area.
Of the more notable recommendations is one that builds upon a prior feasibility study HR&A conducted under the Bloomberg administration, which proposes extending the Manhattan shoreline into the East River along the Financial District and Seaport given the significant upland constraints to long-term adaptability. This strategy offers the potential to build upon climate adaptation to not only protect Lower Manhattan’s critical assets, but to shape its future and strengthen its importance in the region.
Read the Mayor’s full press release here.
To learn more about this project and our study, contact Partner Cary Hirschstein or Principal Justin Schultz.
“Jeff brings his vibrant intellect, strong values, and substantial experience in resiliency, equity, and redevelopment to our organization. Our capacity to support urbanism in our nation and abroad continues to grow.”
– John Alschuler, Chairman
We are delighted to welcome Jeff Hébert to HR&A as a Partner in our New York office. A pioneer of resilience planning and community revitalization, Jeff works with cities around the world to develop strategies that mitigate future social, economic, and physical shocks and stresses. He will bring his forward-looking and holistic approach to HR&A, where he will focus on helping urban communities better adapt to changing environments and economies.
“I am proud to join HR&A and its incredibly talented team of diverse and accomplished leaders. Having worked with the firm for many years as a client and collaborator, I cannot think of a better place for me to continue my work preparing cities for the future.”
– Jeff Hebert
For nearly a decade, Jeff served Mayor Mitch Landrieu and the City of New Orleans in many capacities, including as the First Deputy Mayor & Chief Administrative Officer, Chief Resilience Officer, Executive Director of the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority, and the Mayor’s blight czar. In these roles he managed the day to day operations of City Hall, tackled the crippling blight issues plaguing New Orleans, refocused over $250M in place-based investments, and oversaw both the City’s development portfolio and the Office of Resilience and Sustainability, which developed the City’s first climate action strategy, the award-winning Resilient NOLA comprehensive resilience strategy, and the $141M National Disaster Resilience Competition award. Previously, Jeff was the Director of Planning for Concordia, LLC and the Director of Community Planning for the Louisiana Recovery Authority in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Jeff joins HR&A from the Water Institute of the Gulf, where he served as Vice President and led a transdisciplinary team developing innovative adaptation solutions for cities facing climate challenges. In addition to his role as Partner at HR&A, Jeff is an adjunct faculty member at the Tulane University School of Architecture, where he teaches in the Graduate Sustainable Real Estate Development program, the incoming Vice Chairman of FUSE Corps in San Francisco, and a trustee of the Louisiana Children’s Museum in New Orleans.
Please reach out to welcome Jeff to the firm at JHebert@hraadvisors.com.
On November 6th, 2018, voters in Harris County, TX made history when they elected Lina Hidalgo as their first female County Judge. A 27-year old immigrant from Colombia, Lina has spent her life working on issues of human rights and social justice. Her campaign to assume the leadership of the third largest county in the United States and victory over the 11-year Republican incumbent has attracted enormous enthusiasm and a movement of followers.
As Judge-elect Hidalgo prepares to take office in 2019, she has assembled a team to translate her energy and values into her administration: demonstrating that progressive governance can be inclusive, equitable, transparent, and effective. Building off of our experience in innovative and inclusive governance transitions, HR&A is proud to be a part of this team, assisting with Lina’s transition, including setting up her new office and staffing, identifying and articulating policy priorities, and leading the strategy behind community engagement.
Read more about Judge-elect Hidalgo’s transition here.
The Design Trust for Public Space honored Carl Weisbrod with the 2018 Public Space Leadership Award for his outstanding leadership in New York City. The Design Trust for Public Space is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the future of public space in New York City. Their projects bring together city agencies, community groups and private sector experts to make a lasting impact—through design—on how New Yorkers live, work and play.
Carl has had an extraordinary impact on New York City’s public realm throughout his outstanding four-decade career dedicated to public service. As founding president of New York City’s Economic Development Corporation, he led public and private partnerships that transformed some of the City’s most dynamic and fastest-growing neighborhoods. Mayor Bloomberg appointed Mr. Weisbrod as the director of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation following the devastation of Lower Manhattan after the 9/11 attacks, where he was instrumental in the dramatic recovery of the area and leading efforts to heal the city.
As a member of the de Blasio Administration, he served as both chairman of the New York City Planning Commission and also director of the NYC Department of City Planning. Mr. Weisbrod was charged with creating land-use policies to promote an equitable, resilient, sustainable and economically vibrant city; his tenure has overseen the enactment of Zoning for Quality and Affordability, which led to the Midtown East rezoning project, including vast improvements to public space near Grand Central.
Congratulations Carl!
Our latest study for the City of Seattle shows how Seattle and other U.S. cities can divest from Wells Fargo and pursue public banking as part of a larger effort to align their banking activities with progressive values, expand banking services for residents, and increase investment in pressing public needs like affordable housing and infrastructure.
The study comes amid a growing movement for Seattle’s divestment from Wells Fargo and growing interest in the creation of public banks in cities across the country. From New York City to Los Angeles and beyond, more cities are ending banking contracts with Wells Fargo and considering creating what would be the first municipal public banks as an alternative.
Seattle’s municipal government hired HR&A to examine the feasibility of establishing a city-owned public bank.
Read the Study
Seattle’s goals for a city-owned public bank include replacing Wells Fargo and providing better banking services to residents and consumers, including those who have been historically underserved by the banking industry. Additionally, Seattle would like to provide capital for public priorities like affordable housing and infrastructure and extend banking services to the cannabis industry.
The study shows that it is feasible for Seattle to establish a public bank, albeit through a long-term process. The need for approval from state and federal agencies and a commitment of capital present political and financial obstacles to overcome. Existing legal and regulatory frameworks create additional barriers for a city-owned bank in Seattle. For example, the acceptance of retail deposits and issuance of loans to the public or cannabis-related businesses require changes in state or federal law that are possible, but unlikely in the short-term.
Although Seattle can achieve its key goals through a city-owned bank over the long term, alternative approaches for public banking can offer greater certainty, lower public cost, and faster results, according to the HR&A study. It’s the first study to show that a city-owned bank is not the only option for cities divesting from Wells Fargo and interested in public banking.
For Seattle, we recommend several strategies that can allow Seattle to meet its goals of divestment from Wells Fargo and greater investment in public priorities like infrastructure and affordable housing, while laying the groundwork for the eventual creation of its own bank:
Strategies to build more inclusive banking systems
- Refresh the City’s treasury services RFP content and process to make it easier for socially responsible banking partners to participate and compete with Wells Fargo.
- Develop non-bank investment vehicles and partnerships to support social priorities.
- Collaborate with existing public banking efforts, such as the plan for a state-owned bank that has been proposed in Washington’s state legislature. Seattle could pursue participation in such a State bank or request that the State ease public depository and charter requirements to enable its own bank.
- Engage with other cities to pursue public banking within or across state lines.
While the study is focused on Seattle, the policy implications are national. Seattle and other cities are offered a road map for how they can achieve independence from Wells Fargo, and implement models of public banking that can be tailored to different needs and goals.
“Our study shows there are multiple paths forward for public banking in Seattle and other cities. There is no one-size-fits-all approach. When cities divest from Wells Fargo, they can take a variety of steps to ensure their new banking practices serve all residents, businesses, and consumers. Cities can make their own choices about how they want to empower communities through public banking. They do not have to remain beholden to Wells Fargo or the banking industry,” said Andrea Batista Schlesinger, a Partner at HR&A Advisors, who oversees the firm’s Inclusive Cities practice, and growing portfolio on public banking in cities.
HR&A’s Inclusive Cities practice empowers city governments and advocates, activists, and philanthropic organizations across the United States to implement equitable and inclusive growth strategies. The study on public banking comes as HR&A is offering its expertise to more cities looking to maintain their financial independence, invest in public priorities like infrastructure, and pursue more equitable and inclusive banking. When properly implemented, public banking can help cities of the future grow, develop, and thrive.
The expansion could potentially generate $870 million in future economic impacts.
Credit: Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation
Klyde Warren Park spans the Woodall Rodgers Freeway to connect downtown and uptown Dallas. Since its opening, the park has successfully drawn life into the district, stimulated adjacent real estate development, and increased local tax revenue.
In October, park stewards, the Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation, announced the 1.2-acre expansion of the park. HR&A worked with the foundation to estimate the potential economic impact of the expansion, which the foundation used to generate support and secure $76 million in funding for construction and operations.