Family Budget Calculator, Essay Example

Many cities and metropolitan areas try to attract the attention of prospective companies through the information conveyed on their websites. Bothe the cities of Boston and Portland have such websites that highlight the potential investment opportunities within their boundaries for all prospective investors.

What are some of the aspects (special features) of the city that the website is promoting?

The city of Boston has a detailed website that has all the information pertaining to potential investment opportunities within the city. This website has a unique design to the way they highlight the different sections of Boston. The website also depicts the initiatives and/or policies that the city’s leadership has put in place. These initiative and/or policies are essential in making each section of Boston attractive in its own unique way. The most prominent highlight of Boston is the ReStore Boston initiative that sees local government liaise with the private sector to provide professional design services to more than 160 local businesses (The City of Boston). Also highlighted are the Boston Back Streets and Main Streets, each with their unique characteristics and opportunities to potential investors.

The city Portland on the other hand has its own design in the delivery of its economic development planning strategies. This website has highlighted the current projects running in the city of Portland, instigated and/or sponsored by the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability’s (BPS) Economic Development Planning Program (The City of Portland Oregon). This website also highlights the three main objectives of these programs. It has pointed out three essential functions and purposes of the programs that entail the development of land use programs and policies, integration of economic development analysis in the bureau’s planning projects and to conduct a number of analyses and surveys that will analyse the economic performance of the city. The project has singled out the Central City 2035 that touches on the development of downtown Portland (The City of Portland Oregon).

What are some of the incentives that the city is using to attract businesses?

The cities of Boston and Portland cannot undertake all the essential development projects on their own. As such, they have sought to create an environment in which business can thrive on its own. This has been achieved through the introduction of incentives in different forms so as to attract private and corporate investors to conduct business within the town’s boundaries.

The city of Boston provides financial incentives by offering businesses starting or relocating to Portland the opportunity to obtain a $150,000 loan (The City of Boston). This initiative run by BRA (Boston Redevelopment Authority. The city also supports viable commercial and industrial businesses to ensure a constant level of employment to realize economic growth.

The city of Portland has opted to employ development policies that encourage development towards certain sectors of the city’s economy. These policies touch on the different essential sectors of the economy (The City of Portland Oregon). These act as the city’s initiative to attract investors as they would be preview to certain financial gains in the form of reduced to no tax.

How do the promoted-features of the city and incentives relate to the urban economic base and economic development goals, strategies and policies?

Both cities have highlighted the underlying business opportunities to investors. They have also both provided incentives in different forms to further encourage investors. It is important to analyse how these incentives and highlights relate to the urban economic base and economic development goals, strategies and policies.

The city of Boston has opted to create a metropolitan area through the creation of an environment where both large, medium and small scale enterprises can thrive (The City of Boston). By creating numerous incentives, some financial, some in the form of professional and consultancy support, business owners can readily invest in an environment that is supportive of business and production. The city of Portland directs incentives towards the essential sectors of its economy as entrenched in the city’s objective of becoming the net business frontier (The City of Portland Oregon).

For each metropolitan area, what are top three industry groups that have the largest location quotients?

Each of the three metropolitan areas; Boston, Portland and El Paso County have three distinctive industries that have the largest location quotients.

For the city of Boston, the Education and Health Services industry is the largest industry receiving 1.28 of the location quotient (United States Department of Labor). This is largely owing to the fact that the industry contributes to 22.44% of the city’s employment and wages. Both financial activities and professional and business services receive the second largest share of the allocation quotient, 1.20. This is owing to the fact that professional and business services industry contributes to the second highest employment opportunities in the city (19.37%) (United States Department of Labor). The financial activities industry receives this allocation because it is an essential industry in boosting the city’s growth.

The city’s Natural resources and mining industry receives the lowest location quotient owing to the fact these industries do not exist in the city of Boston. Main stream financial business is predominantly the main activity. Construction and manufacturing receive location quotients of 0.76 and 0.78 respectively. This is owing to the fact that these industries are few in the city of Boston.

For the city of Portland, the Manufacturing industry received the largest location quotient with other supporting services receiving the second largest location quotient. The Information industry received the third largest location quotient due to the manner in which businesses and local residents have embraced the use of technology in conducting business operations.

The industry with the lowest location quotient is the Natural resources and miningindustry. This is owing to the fact these industries do not exist in the city of Portland. The Education and health services (0.92) and Leisure and hospitality (0.93) industries are the second and third lowest respectively (United States Department of Labor).

For the County of El Paso, the Information industry (1.55) receives the largest location quotient while the Professional and business services(1.24) and Leisure and hospitality (1.24) both receive the second highest location quotient (United States Department of Labor). This is largely owing to the fact that these here industries hold the largest portion of contribution into El Paso’s economy.

The Natural resources and mining industry (0.11) receives the lowest location quotient owing to the small number of mining opportunities within El Paso County (United States Department of Labor). The Trade, transportation, and utilities receives the second lowest location quotient while the Education and health services (0.91) receives the third lowest location quotient due to the small number of schools and health centres within the area.

For the city of Portland Oregon, the budget for a family of one parent and two children would incur $912 in terms of housing expenses. On the other hand a family size of two parents and three children will incur a monthly housing expense of $1,344.

For the city of Boston, a family of one parent and two children will incur a monthly housing expense of $1,444. On the other hand, a family of two parents and three children will incur a monthly housing expense of 1,798.

The information for the County of El Paso, CO, was not available.

The following is a depiction of the affordability in these cities.

Living Boston is generally more costly as compared to living in Portland. Even though the cost of food is the same in both cities, there is a huge disparity in the cost of housing. The cost housing in Boston is 58.3% more than that of Portland. The cost of transportation is also higher in Boston as Portland has an intricate and efficient transports system, making transportation cheaper. The cost of healthcare in Boston is also higher as other necessities and taxes. This makes living in Portland far much cheaper. These calculations apply for any size of family as costs increase relative to the size and make-up of the family.

Works Cited

Economic Policy Institute. “Family Budget Calculator.” 8 May 2014. Economic Policy Institute. Internet Source. 8 May 2014. <http://www.epi.org/resources/budget/>.

The City of Boston. “Economic Development.” 1 May 2014. The City of Boston. Internet Source. 8 May 2014. <http://www.cityofboston.gov/business/eco_dev.asp>.

The City of Portland Oregon. “Economic Development Planning.” 3 May 2014. Portland Oregon. Internet Source. 8 May 2014. <https://www.portlandoregon.gov/bps/article/401339>.

United States Department of Labor. “Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages.” 8 May 2014. Bereau of Labor and Statistics. Internet Source. 8 May 2014. <http://data.bls.gov/location_quotient/ControllerServlet>.