Urban Economics

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond

Blog Post

Recent Updates to Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the Fifth District

Regional Matters

October 2, 2025

The recent changes to how federal agencies define metro areas impact how we report, analyze, and better understand the Fifth District.

Anthony Tringali
Survey Analyst

Blog Post

Urban Marylanders Are Migrating to More Affordable and Smaller Metro Areas

Regional Matters

March 7, 2024

In this post, we examine recent domestic migration trends in Maryland compared to peer states in the Fifth District.

Adam Scavette and Keith Waters

Blog Post

Updates to Rural and Urban Areas Based on the 2020 Census

Regional Matters

June 22, 2023

Changes to the urban area criteria used for the 2020 census data have resulted in shifts in the rural-urban population distribution in parts of the Fifth District.

Stephanie Norris
Associate Director, Community College Initiative

Working Paper

The Economic Impact of a Casino Monopoly: Evidence from Atlantic City

Working Paper Series

May 2023, No. 23-07

New Jersey voters approved legalized gambling for Atlantic City in a 1976 referendum. The state explicitly leveraged the city's regional monopoly on casinos east of the Mississippi River as an economic development strategy to revive the blighted seaside resort town.

Adam Scavette
Regional Economist

Podcast

The Daily Commute: Connections Between Communities

Speaking of the Economy

March 15, 2023

Santiago Pinto discusses his research on commuting patterns in the Fifth District and how these patterns may help us better understand the economic connections between rural and urban communities. Pinto is a senior economist and policy advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.

Article

Commuting Patterns and Economic Connectivity in the Fifth District

Economic Brief

November 2022, No. 22-47

Examining commuting behavior helps show how connected counties are in the Fifth Federal Reserve District.

Santiago M. Pinto and Sierra Stoney

Blog Post

Mapping Outcomes Across Rural and Urban Communities

Regional Matters

August 19, 2022

We're building our data products to help data users and local and state leaders gain quick insight into geographic differences across a range of indicators.

Nicholas Haltom
Senior Manager

Blog Post

Shifting Populations: Results From 2021 Census Estimates

Regional Matters

June 9, 2022

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, have people moved away from urban cores in favor of more rural areas?

Hailey Phelps

Article

Edward Glaeser

Econ Focus

Fourth Quarter 2021

Harvard University economist on urbanization, the future of small towns, and "Yes In My Back Yard."

David A. Price

Article

Trends in Criminal Activity, Crime Reporting, and Public Perceptions

Econ Focus

Fourth Quarter 2021

Crime is a complex, multidimensional problem. Different factors explain the large observed variability in crime rates across geographic areas and demographic groups.

Raymond E. Owens III and Santiago M. Pinto

Blog Post

2020 Census: A Look at the Fifth District

Regional Matters

December 16, 2021

According to the latest census data, the share of Americans living in rural areas continued to decline over the past decade, while urban areas have grown.

Hailey Phelps

Working Paper

On Regional Borrowing, Default, and Migration (Revised March 2023)

Working Paper Series

August 2021, No. 21-13R

How do local government borrowing, default, and migration interact? We find in-migration results in excessive debt accumulation due to a key externality: Immigrants help repay previously issued debt.

Grey Gordon and Pablo Guerron-Quintana

Article

Bolstering Regional Economies

Econ Focus

Second/Third Quarter 2021

Some policymakers, researchers, and commentators have expressed their belief that a concerted federal investment in technology, or in research and development, can help level the playing field nationwide and spur economic growth. But is it optimal for all localities to specialize in the same sorts of industries?

Neeraja Deshpande

Article

Has the Pandemic Changed Cities Forever?

Econ Focus

First Quarter 2021

COVID-19 transformed how we work and socialize, which could put the future of cities on a new path

Tim Sablik

Article

Turning Stormwater Green

Econ Focus

First Quarter 2021

Green infrastructure can help reduce polluting runoff during severe storms, but questions about costs give some localities pause

Hailey Phelps

Blog Post

Rural-Urban Health Disparities in the Fifth District Before COVID-19

Regional Matters

September 30, 2020

How did rural and urban counties compare on measures of health outcomes and drivers prior to the COVID-19 pandemic?

Stephanie Norris
Associate Director, Community College Initiative

Article

The Making of Reston and Columbia

Econ Focus

Second/Third Quarter 2020

Reston, Va., and Columbia, Md., were founded in the 1960s with similar visions for inclusive, connected communities.

Emily Wavering Corcoran
Senior Manager

Blog Post

Demographics and Disparities in the Fifth District

Regional Matters

July 24, 2020

Although the Fifth District’s black population tends to have higher employment and educational attainment compared to the nation’s, there are still significant disparities relative to whites.

Jessie Romero

Academic Publication

Rethinking Detroit

American Economic Journal: Economic Policy

Vol. 12, May 2020

This paper studies the urban structure of Detroit — one that is clearly not optimal for its size — which features a business district immediately surrounded by largely vacant neighborhoods.

Raymond E. Owens III, Esteban Rossi-Hansberg and Pierre-Daniel G. Sarte

Article

Understanding Geographic Inequality

Econ Focus

Fourth Quarter 2019

The Richmond Fed is working to understand how economic outcomes vary across different regions and different groups of people.

Jessie Romero

Working Paper

Cognitive Hubs and Spatial Redistribution

Working Paper Series

September 2019, No. 19-16

To study the allocation of workers across cities, we propose and quantify a spatial equilibrium model with multiple industries that employ CNR and alternative (non-CNR) occupations.

Esteban Rossi-Hansberg, Pierre-Daniel G. Sarte and Felipe F. Schwartzman

Article

Opportunity Zones: More Money, More Problems?

Econ Focus

First Quarter 2019

A new financing model for distressed communities offers both promise and pitfalls.

Jessie Romero

Academic Publication

Temperature and Growth: A Panel Analysis of the United States

Journal of Money, Credit and Banking

Vol. 51, March-April 2019

We document that seasonal temperatures have significant and systematic effects on the U.S. economy, both at the aggregate level and across a wide cross section of economic sectors.

Riccardo Colacito and Toan Phan

Article

Definitions Matter: The Rural-Urban Dichotomy

Econ Focus

Third Quarter 2018

The Fifth District includes both urban and rural communities. How do we define urban and rural, and what do data tell us about the disparities?

Joseph Mengedoth
Regional Economist

Working Paper

Distance and Decline: The Case of Petersburg, Virginia

Working Paper Series

October 2018, No. 18-16

Petersburg, Virginia, prospered over two centuries as a center of production and trade. However, the city experienced economic difficulties beginning in the 1980s as a large number of layoffs at production plants in the area coincided with an erosion of retail trade in the city.

Raymond E. Owens III and Santiago M. Pinto

Speech

Crossing the Geographic Divide

Oct. 2, 2018

Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin discussed geographic differences between rural and urban areas, workforce development, and mobility at the Reinventing Our Communities conference.

Tom Barkin
President, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond

Blog Post

Catching a Ride in the Fifth District

Regional Matters

July 31, 2018

Ride-sharing services have been competing with the taxi industry and encountering regulatory spats, yet they have grown markedly, particularly around the District of Columbia.

Caitlin Dutta

Blog Post