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A growing body of research\u2014including research by Raj Chetty\u2019s Equality of Opportunity Project (now called Opportunity Insights)\u2014is making it plain: where a person lives has a huge influence on their ability to build prosperity, climb the economic ladder, and pursue the American Dream.\nYet why do some cities and neighborhoods do better at this than others? What lessons can be learned and then translated into local policies and practices elsewhere, so that more Americans have access to economic opportunity?\nTo help answer these questions, The George W. Bush Institute is producing a series of reports called the Blueprint for Opportunity. The first of those reports, \u201cCities and Opportunity in 21st Century America,\u201d was released in November. It looked at 61 metropolitan areas\u2014home to 80 million Americans\u2014that are standouts when it comes to economic mobility. These cities are notable because they have been \u201cunusually successful in fostering relatively high college completion, job-market access, new business creation, and housing affordability. They also tend to score high for social capital\u2014the dense fabric of social connection and civic engagement that makes a community tick.\u201d\nThe report also makes clear that \u201ccities of opportunity\u201d aren\u2019t limited to the superstar coastal metros like Washington, D.C., Boston, or San Francisco. Far from it: exciting (and instructive) things are happening in mid-sized, middle-income, middle-America cities like Des Moines, Lincoln, Boise, among many others. \u201c[Creating] a high-opportunity city doesn\u2019t require the vast wealth of America\u2019s top technology or finance capitals,\u201d the report concludes. \u201cEvery city or town has unexplored avenues to promote opportunity, one neighborhood at a time.\u201d\nOn this week\u2019s episode of the Strong Towns podcast, we\u2019re excited to have as our guest the author of that report, J.H. Cullum Clark, the Director of the Bush Institute-SMU Economic Growth Initiative. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics at Southern Methodist University, and is on the faculty of SMU\u2019s Department of Economics. Before joining the Bush Institute, he worked for 25 years in the investment industry.\nIn this episode, Strong Towns president Chuck Marohn talks with Clark about how a person\u2019s neighborhood powerfully influences their trajectory in life, the characteristics many cities of opportunity have in common, and how drawing lessons from these places can help create more cities of opportunity. They compare and contrast cities from the Bay Area, Texas, and northern Great Plains. They discuss why cities with authentic character and local flair are doing better economically than those without. And they talk about whether it\u2019s time to admit that centralized, top-down homeownership programs\u2014often touted as the path to the American dream\u2014simply aren\u2019t working for the country\u2019s most vulnerable populations.\nAdditional Show Notes:\n\n\u201cCities and Opportunity in 21st Century America,\u201d by J.H. Cullum Clark\n\n\nBush Institute-SMU Economic Growth Initiative\n\n\nCullum Clark (Twitter)\n\n\nCharles Marohn (Twitter)\n\n\nStrong Towns content related to this episode:\n\n\u201cThe Limits of Job Creation,\u201d by Joe Cortright\n\n\n\u201cWhy mixed-income neighborhoods matter: Lifting kids out of poverty,\u201d by Joe Cortright\n\n\n\u201cHow Paul Stewart Inspired His Neighbors to Revitalize Their Declining Neighborhoods\u201d\n\n\n\u201cChris Gibbons: This Is How You Grow a Local Economy\u201d (Podcast)\n\n\nEconomic Development (Strong Towns Action Lab)