Preface

Brookings-Wharton Papers on Urban Affairs is devoted to publishing forward-looking research on urban policy issues in an accessible manner. The collaboration between the Wharton School and the Brookings Institution in this endeavor represents an effort to draw on resources and personnel in both academia and the policy community. We hope and expect that the journal itself will be of interest and use to an even wider audience that includes policymakers and their staffs, interested parties in the private sector, journalists, students, and others.

The existence of this journal owes much to the efforts of key people at Brookings and Wharton. At Brookings, President Strobe Talbott has continued to support this project. Bruce Katz, director of the Metropolitan Policy Program, has been a tireless and vocal supporter of the journal and its goals and provides major financial backing.

At Wharton, Peter Linneman and Joseph Gyourko, former director and current director, respectively, of the Samuel Zell and Robert Lurie Real Estate Center, have supported this undertaking intellectually and financially from its inception. This year, the Wharton Dean's Office and Institute for Urban Research at the University of Pennsylvania (Eugenie Birch and Susan Wachter, codirectors) have also provided financial support for the conference and volume. The dean's office has also made a substantial contribution throughout this period by freeing some of Janet Rothenberg Pack's time to organize the conference and edit the volume. The Department of Business and Public Policy has in numerous ways encouraged her participation in this endeavor.

This year, Gary Burtless, who holds the John C. and Nancy D. Whitehead Chair in Economic Studies at Brookings, assumed the role of co-convener of the conference and coeditor of the journal. His participation has made a major contribution to the quality of both.

Several people made vital contributions to the publication of this volume and the conference on which it is based. Saundra Honeysett at Brookings organized conference logistics and managed the paper flow with efficiency and good cheer. Amy Liu and Jamaine Fletcher provided valuable support at many stages. The authors and discussants deserve special recognition for making extra efforts to draft their arguments in a clear and accessible manner. Eric Haven at Brookings has provided careful, comprehensive fact checking. Janet Walker of the Brookings Institution Press has managed the production of the conference volume both creatively and efficiently. And, finally, thanks go to Randi Bender for copyediting.