What We’re Learning

What We’re Learning

We believe that a community of creative problem-solvers, faced with complicated, seemingly intractable challenges, is well-served by thought-provoking, research-based information and analysis. We support the development and dissemination of research in two ways:

Abell Reports

Abell Reports are commissioned reports by subject matter experts, academics, and investigative journalists that provide studies of selected issues on the public agenda.

Abell-Supported Research

These projects – undertaken with grant funding by academics and nonprofit research and advocacy organizations – advance learning on issues key to Baltimore City.

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    Featured Reports

    Abell Reports: Police-Community Relations in Baltimore

    In 2017, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a consent decree for the Baltimore Police Department, mandating wide-ranging reforms. In a pair of companion reports, researchers from the University of Maryland examine the current state of community-police relations and how certain initiatives could help to improve them.

    Abell-Supported Research: Assessment of Maryland’s Need for Eviction Prevention Funds and the Estimated Fiscal Impact

    Eviction prevention programs, which cover up to three months of past-due rent, are a cost-effective way to stabilize families, pay landlords, and reduce costs to the state. This report examines two different scenarios that would prevent disruptive displacements.

    Abell Report: the Trouble with STRIDE

    Ten years ago, Maryland’s legislature passed a bill to expedite utilities’ replacement of their natural gas pipes in the name of safety. Since then, Maryland has adopted ambitious climate goals that will require the near elimination of natural gas use in homes by 2045. Yet the state continues to allow utilities to invest billions in replacing pipes, which consumers will have to pay for — with a profit for the utilities — for decades to come.

    Publications Library

    Abell Salutes: Bridge Private Lending

    For its role in helping to revive city neighborhoods where “children walk along, feeling comfortable and safe.”

    How Course Redesign at the University of Maryland is Improving Learning, Lowering Costs, and Increasing Graduation Rates

    Instructors and administrators give initiative high grades, making the University of Maryland a national leader in the program.

    Indicators of Smart Growth in Maryland

    An analysis of land-use indicators and trends to determine the effects of Maryland’s Smart Growth policies established in 1997.

    Adjusting the Lens: A Window into the Needs of Men in Jail

    This report summarizes the results of the self-reported survey of 200 men detained at the Baltimore City Detention Center (BCDC) conducted from May 2009 to July 2009, known as the Window Replication Project.

    Abell Salutes: Allan M. Tibbels

    In appreciation of his remarkable life in Sandtown.

    Header photo courtesy of Venture for America.