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unemployment rate of 0.0 percent and a very small labor force,
a result of it constituting an exclusively commercial area. Census
Tract 2074 could be a viable location for an EB-5 project.
While Census Tract 2074 itself exhibits low unemployment,
it is located in a disadvantaged area, as evidenced in Figure 2 by
the significant amount of high unemployment census tracts in
the surrounding area (highlighted in orange). While a project
located in Census Tract 2074 would promote positive economic
growth in the surrounding disadvantaged area, S. 1501 would
eliminate this tract from TEA-eligibility, thus potentially not
making it a viable EB-5 project location. This example is not
unique, as the restrictive nature of the proposed TEA legislation
would impose similar limitations throughout the United States.
To further illustrate how S. 1501 does not reflect the reality
of workers’ commuting patterns, we can analyze commuting
patterns for workers in Los Angeles. Approximately 56 percent
of workers in Los Angeles commute more than 10 miles from
their residence to their place of employment6. As the average
area of Los Angeles census tracts are significantly smaller (often
less than one square mile) the vast majority of workers would
be excluded from TEA calculations based on S. 1501. Again,
this simple analysis of commuting patterns is not unique to Los
Angeles, as the restrictive nature of the proposed TEA legislation
would result in similar results throughout the country.
Case Study: Impacts of a Census Tract
Limit in Raleigh, North Carolina
Figure 3: 2014 High Unemployment Area
Map of Raleigh, North Carolina
Map notes: Orange indicates high unemployment census tracts. The star
indicates a potential project location. Source: www.impactdatasoure.com/map
It is also very common for high unemployment to be highly
concentrated in one part of a city, such as in Raleigh, NC. As
such, if an arbitrary, across-the board census tract limit were
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EB5 INVESTORS MAGAZINE