Yes, there are good things happening in even some of the poorest neighborhoods in urban America.
Yes, there are ways to use data, research, and good policy decisions to strengthen the quality of life in such neighborhoods.
No, it’s not easy and there are no quick solutions.
That can be seen as a summary of a two-day visit to Marquette Law School by one of the most influential figures in America in urban research, Robert Sampson, who is Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University and director of the Boston Area Research Initiative. Sampson’s 2012 book, Great American City: Chicago and the Enduring Neighborhood Effect, is playing a significant role in a surge of big-data projects aimed at thoroughly assessing the strengths and weakness of neighborhoods in cities and using that knowledge to shape more effective ways of preserving and improving neighborhoods.