Listen: Ali Velshi Observes You Can’t be Pro-Worker if You’re Anti-Union

MSNBC anchor and Citizen Board member points out the hypocrisy of claiming working-class credit without supporting the unions that support those very workers

By Ali Velshi

Ideas We Should Steal: Becoming a Manufacturing Hub

Pennsylvania lags behind Ohio, Michigan and other states in an economy-boosting 21st century manufacturing resurgence. Drexel’s Metro Finance head lays out what PA must do to catch up

By Bruce Katz, Milena Dovali, and Avanti Krovi

The Unbearable Cost of Togetherness

Low wages and growing inequality have put football games, the Shore, and so much more out of reach for regular Philadelphians. Can we get back what we have lost?

By Christine Speer Lejeune

Can Cities Play in the Industrial Transition?

The Cincinnati Jobs Bond shows how cities can participate in an industrial resurgence. The head of Drexel’s Nowak Metro Finance Lab lays out the case for replicating it in other legacy industrial cities, like Philadelphia.

By Bruce Katz, Bryan Fike, Eric Letsinger, and Laura Brunner

Guest Commentary: Three Simple Reforms to Boost PA’s Fortunes

A former Tom Wolf staffer on how legislators can tackle the housing, job and wage issues that most affect Pennsylvanians

By Mark Nicastre

The Citizen Recommends: Placemaking and Economic Growth

The next in our Development … for Good series in partnership with Fitler Club and Drexel’s Lindy Institute for Urban Innovation features Connor Barwin, Jerry Sweeney and other investors in our city’s public realm

By Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

Ideas We Should Steal: Wage Boosts for Local Workers

A first-of-its kind program in Scranton is using federal rescue money to help small businesses give their employees a pay raise. Could a similar plan help residents and businesses thrive in Philly?

By Natalie Pompilio

Veteran-Owned Businesses in Philadelphia

Support these dozen-plus local businesses opened by local veterans after their military service

By Roxanne Patel Shepelavy and Katherine Rapin