Samuel Nunn

Urban Infrastructure Policies and Capital Spending in City Manager and Strong Mayor Cities

This paper analyzes the standard infrastructure policies of seven Texas city manager cities and seven Indiana strong mayor cities to (1) determine whether different levels of formality are associated with the policies; (2) assess differences in financial participation required of private developers and city governments; and (3) determine whether the resulting capital expenditure patterns of the cities vary. I use qualitative analysis, analysis of variance, and regression analysis to address these objectives. The analyses suggest that infrastructure policies of the strong mayor cities and city manager cities reflect two different approaches to the provision of public capital facilities. City manager policies are more formalized and have greater specifications for oversizing and cost sharing between the city and developers. Strong mayor policies are informal, flexible, and based on case-by-case consideration of developers proposals. The different policy environments also seem to affect capital spending for roads, sewers, and water in the cities. The Texas city manager cities spend more per capita on capital facilities than the Indiana strong mayor cities. Differences in capital spending exist even after controlling for fundamental economic, fiscal, and demographic differences among the cities. City manager cities spend significantly more than the strong mayor cities on water, sewer, and road infrastructure per capita.

Illuminating Crime The Impact of Street Lighting on Calls for Police Service

This study reports on an evaluation of the effects of street lights on crime in several Indianapolis neighborhoods. Crime was measured in terms of calls for police service (CFS). Using a quasi- experimental design, we performed analyses on four multiblock areas, three intersections, and two aggregated address groups. Two control areas were matched to two multiblock areas that re ceived enhanced lighting. Of the nine target areas, six showed evidence of lower CFS volumes after more lighting. We analyzed the mean weekly CFS in the pre- and postinstallation periods. Two lighted areas had a lower mean weekly CFS after installation. The more illuminated target area experienced a greater reduction in average CFS for property and miscellaneous crimes than did the control area.

How capital technologies affect municipal service outcomes: The case of police mobile digital terminals and stolen vehicle recoveries

Mobile digital terminals (MDTs) are two-way computers, installed inside police vehicles, that provide officers with remote data base prospecting capabilities. Proponents argue that MDTs help officers recover stolen property. Several Texas police departments implemented MDT systems in the 1980s. This article assesses how MDTs in Dallas and Fort Worth affected vehicle theft recoveries, in comparison to a city with no MDTs, Austin. Five hypotheses are evaluated in a multiple interrupted time series design using ANOVA, response surface analysis, and pooled time series regression. The analysis of recoveries before and after intervention in two MDT cities and one non-MDT control city suggests that the technology is linked with increases in vehicle theft recoveries. The magnitude of improvement in recoveries associated with MDTs is more significant at lower levels of vehicle thefts. Austin showed some improvement in recovery rates without using MDTs, so other factors besides the technology are likely to be important.

Cities and Airport-Based Economic Development Strategies: An Analysis of Public-Private Deals to Provide Airline Maintenance Operating Centers in Urban Airports

Cities often pursue airport-based projects that promise employment gains and multiplier impacts on business and fiscal development. Airline maintenance operations centers (MOCs) offer these benefits but frequently require massive capital investment by cities and commercial airlines. Influenced by regulatory change and market factors, MOCs are expanding in size and number Because of the airline industrys financial instability, however, major risks are involved with public investment in MOCs. The authors explore the dynamics of these maintenance bases as part of urban economic development strategy. Two recent MOC projects are analyzed: that of American Airlines in Fort Worth and that of United Airlines in Indianapolis. To attract MOCs, both cities committed millions in public funds during intense interurban competitions. The authors examine each deal in terms of public accountability, key beneficiaries, distribution of costs, and consistency with previous plans. The article concludes by identifying planning considerations critical for such economic development strategies.

Metropolitan Computer Services Infrastructure and Economic Development Capacity in the Information Society

This article focuses on the capacity of metropolitan areas to use information technology, based on the assumption that the combined telecommunications and computer infrastructure relies on the presence of a computer-literate population with computers as much as on phones, fiber optics, microwave, and digital switches. A computer services infrastructure is assumed robust if there is an adequate number of computer workers and sales of computer equipment and software. Neither factor has received much attention in debates about the information highway. We find that computer service workers are intensively metropolitan. Computer employment is concentrated in large metropolitan areas, but the ratio of computer workers per 1,000 employees is higher in middle-sized and smaller metropolitan areas. Computer and software sales are metropolitan, with downward filtering to smaller regions. Large metropolitan regions have advanced computer infrastructures, but middle and lower ranks of the metropolitan hierarchy are demonstrating robust computer infrastructures.

When Superman Used X-Ray Vision, Did He Have a Search Warrant? Emerging Law Enforcement Technologies and the Transformation of Urban Space

source of this bifurcation. In the wake of heinous crimes, we seek quick expedients which, in more leisurely times, we would consider more carefully. On October 26, 2001, just six weeks after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on American targets, the U.S. Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act, a 342-page piece of legislation that made changes to 15 existing statutes, and created new laws. In the wake of this act, “It seems clear that the vast majority of the sections included have not been carefully studied...nor was sufficient time taken to debate it or to hear testimony from experts outside of law enforcement in the fields where it makes major changes” (1). In parallel with quick legislation, we often propose technological solutions. As one remedy for terrorism, then, the Progressive Policy Institute argues that “the information technology revolution...has given us the tools, infrastructure, and commercial capabilities to make domestic defense easier, less expensive, and more effective, making all Americans safer” (1).