Policy
Issue 8
Is the Urban Doom Loop for Real?
The death and life of great American cities (again)
Highlights from the Journal
Cause to Worry, Reason to Act
Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh and Arpit Gupta
The researchers who popularized the idea of the “urban doom loop” assess the state of the evidence.
How We're Really Doing
Vital City and Kirsten Burr
A data story on the underlying well-being of New York City
Gotham’s Boundless Ingenuity
Edward Glaeser
Why New York has proven so resilient through the generations
‘We Need to Make More New Yorks’: A Conversation With Richard Florida
Vital City
The author of ‘The Rise of the Creative Class’ makes the case for family-friendly cities.
Closing the Racial Wealth Gap
Majora Carter
Thinking beyond gentrification
The Golden Age of Crime Reduction Is Now
John K. Roman and Elizabeth Glazer
What makes cities great is what makes crime low.
Journal Issues
Issue 1
Gun Violence
Vital City's first issue looks at the problem of gun violence and how it might be solved.
Issue 2
How We Live Together
What is “disorder”? And what should we do about it?
Issue 3
The Power of Place
The indelible mark of neighborhoods
Issue 4
Summertime!
How life changes when things get hot
Issue 5
Nuts and Bolts: Solving Gun Cases
What it takes to reduce firearm violence
Issue 6
On Drugs
How substance use shapes the city
Special Online Issue
Crime: What Happened in 2023, and What 2024 May Bring
Breaking down New York City’s — and America’s — trends in violence and victimization
Special Online Issue
How Many People Should New York City’s Jails Hold?
Everything about Rikers Island and what replaces it depends on the answer
Issue 7
Does Evidence Matter?
Research meets the real world
Special Online Issue
Congestion Pricing*
*The long-anticipated change to Manhattan’s streets now at the mercy of politics
Issue 8
Is the Urban Doom Loop for Real?
The death and life of great American cities (again)
More to Explore
Gun Violence in New York City: The Data
What to Do About Closing Rikers
In our first special report, public safety veterans Elizabeth Glazer and Michael Jacobson provide a detailed, data-grounded roadmap to close Rikers Island that would simultaneously:
Sunday in the Park with Everybody
We asked radio producer Ike Sriskandarajah and artist photographer Azikiwe Mohammed to capture some of the sights and sounds of Brooklyn’s most iconic greenspace, Prospect Park. What they produced is a sonic-photographic essay, a sensory experience of the people, places and natural beauty at the heart of Kings County.