This research focuses on the relative impact of place luck and economic development policy in contributing to long-term economic growth. Using a unique national data set composed of surveys of public officials, three decades of census data, and a variety of other data covering climate, health, amenities, and so on, the following research questions are addressed: (a) Is economic prosperity better explained by local development policy or simple place luck? (b) Are particular economic development policies more strongly related to prosperity than others? (c) Are there other attributes of cities such as school quality, service quality, and safety, for example, that appear to enhance economic health?

Humans have never been the only animals to live in cities and, as the world becomes ever more urbanized, the number and array of animal species in the urban setting are only increasing. This review essay provides a summary of extant research on human/animal interactions in cities. Four broad themes are discussed and outstanding research questions posed: (1) blurred boundaries and the intersectionality between human and nonhuman animals; (2) voice, power, politics and the right to the city; (3) animals and the fabric of urban space; and (4) human and nonhuman systems and collective welfare. The essay serves as a starting point for an ongoing conversation about how urban affairs scholars can better accommodate the other animals sharing the urban world in their research and applied work.

This article addresses several issues related to values and the evaluation of local economic development policies. First, it focuses on the issue of goals in relation to the evaluation of local policies: What is one trying to achieve with local economic development policies? Second, it addresses connections between how goals are defined, what analysts choose to evaluate, and the results of evaluations. Finally, the article suggests an alternative approach to evaluating local development policies, incorporating an explicit identification of values and a broader notion of what is meant by local economic development.