Community Investments

September 1, 2001

While some aspects of the “new economy” have gone the way of the leisure suit, web portals continue to evolve and change the way business is done. The possible implications of this evolution on the democratization of credit are boundless. Historically, businesses have served a particular geographic marketplace, forcing them to tailor their products and services to the needs of the population in that geographic marketplace. Some businesses have found ways to serve a much larger marketplace, not limited by geographic boundaries, by providing homogenous products and services with broad customer appeal in order to achieve economies of scale. Our new economy has provided ways for some businesses to achieve economies of scale by providing tailored products to a marketplace defined by customer rather than geography.

The views expressed are not necessarily those of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco or of the Federal Reserve System. Material herein may be reprinted or abstracted provided Community Investments is credited. Please provide our Community Development Department with a copy of any publication in which material is reprinted.

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Table of Contents

Editor’s Notebook
Fred Mendez

Census 2000 and The Power of Demographics / Using Census Data to Create a Performance Context
Robert Clingman and Gilberto Cooper

Making Reinvestment Work For San Diego
Jim Bliesner and Michael Lengyel

District Update

Rebuilding Communities One Site At A Time
Rocky Delgadillo

Equity Equivalent Investments