Leah Brooks

Jun 20, 2024 | slate.com | Leah Brooks |Rachel Meltzer

Metropolis Empty storefronts are eyesores, and also mean fewer neighborhood services for residents, less foot traffic on the street, and lower tax revenue for the city’s coffers. Before the pandemic, roughly 1 in every 20 New York City storefronts was empty—and that figure has now more than doubled. What was once thought to be a fleeting remnant of COVID-related closures is now endemic. Retail spaces stay vacant for many reasons.

Jun 11, 2024 | deleciousfood.com | Leah Brooks |Magnum Hermosa

FROM THE FIRST commercial potato crop harvested in 1853 to the 80 crops produced there today, the Skagit Valley is an integral part of Washington’s agricultural fabric. However, the valley’s story had “never been told before,” says Blake Van Roekel, director of Genuine Skagit Valley and co-author of the new cookbook “Genuine Skagit Cooking.” The story was in the community – it just needed to be told.

May 17, 2024 | aei.org | Stan Veuger |Domonic A. Bearfield |Leah Brooks |Ferdinando Monte

IntroductionThis year’s State of the Capital Region report tackles an issue at the forefront of news coverage and resident concern: crime. We use a wide-angle lens to establish big picture facts about crime in the region over a long horizon. Where does it occur? How much? What resources do we use to fight it? To compare across the 24 regional jurisdictions, we focus on homicides in Chapter 1.

Oct 26, 2023 | aei.org | Stan Veuger |Leah Brooks |Philip G. Hoxie

AbstractIs the COVID-19-driven surge in remote work temporary or permanent? To assess how the geography of work may evolve, we analyze the pre-pandemic status quo. Casual theorizing might suggest that workers with teleworkable jobs in the pre-pandemic era were more likely to live in the less dense, peripheral neighborhoods in their metropolitan area.

Aug 1, 2023 | beacononlinenews.com | Leah Brooks

BY LEAH BROOKSOn July 11, 2023, I made a citizen comment at the Orange City Council meeting. I left early and was not present for the discussion of my comment. This morning I requested the audio and listened to it. I was left feeling a strange mixture of emotions. I listened with tears as Councilwoman Lisa Stafford, Orange City’s first elected Black councilwoman, pleaded emotionally for a return to respect, love, and concern for each other.