Research by Author & Topic

Publications by G. Thomas Kingsley on Housing

This brief, a companion to the Housing in the Nation's Capital 2009 report, describes the impact of the foreclosure crisis on the Washington metropolitan region, examining the level and trends of foreclosures, outlining potential secondary effects for families and neighborhoods, and looking towards the future of the region's housing market. It concludes with policy implications in four areas: foreclosure prevention, neighborhood stabilization, recovery assistance for displaced households, and services for children in foreclosed homes.

This is the seventh in a series of annual reports about housing in the Washington metropolitan region. It assembles and analyzes the most current data on housing conditions in the District of Columbia and the surrounding suburbs. This year's report focuses on the impact of the foreclosure crisis on the region, examining the level and trends of foreclosures, outlining potential secondary effects for families and neighborhoods, and looking towards the future of the region's housing market. It concludes with policy implications in four areas: foreclosure prevention, neighborhood stabilization, recovery assistance for displaced households, and services for children in foreclosed homes.

Neighborhoods likely to be the hardest hit by foreclosure impacts in 2009 are those that experienced the highest densities of subprime (high-cost) lending during the peak 2004-2006 period. This brief examines patterns of such lending in the 100 largest metropolitan areas. The very highest subprime densities were found in minority neighborhoods that were, interestingly, at the higher rather than the lower end of the income spectrum. But there was considerable variety in characteristics among the most troubled. Of the fifth of census tracts that ranked highest in subprime density, 35 percent had predominantly white populations and 60 percent were in the suburbs.

This brief reviews recent social and economic trends in the ten metropolitan areas that form the context for the neighborhood programs being operated as a part of the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Making Connections initiative. It finds that these areas are strikingly different along a number dimensions and in are many ways representative of the diversity in conditions and trends across America's metropolitan areas. Since 2002, for example, two of these areas attained among the nation's highest rates of employment growth (Denver and Seattle) while two others experienced serious declines (Oakland and Milwaukee). Although there were important differences in magnitudes, all sites did share in a number of trends: minority groups growing as a share of total population, improvements in several social indicators (e.g., in crime and teen pregnancy) but, disturbingly, notable increases in child poverty.

The foreclosure crisis is now having dramatic effects throughout America. In mid-2008, recognizing that this phenomenon was still quite new, the Open Society Institute asked the Urban Institute to scan available research to document what we know about: (1) the way foreclosures impact families; (2) how foreclosures affect communities; and (3) the efforts now underway, or being suggested, to address the crisis, focusing on actions at the local level. This report summarizes a longer report presenting the results of this review.

The foreclosure crisis is now having dramatic effects throughout America. In mid-2008, recognizing that this phenomenon was still quite new, the Open Society Institute asked the Urban Institute to scan available research to document what we know about: (1) the way foreclosures impact families; (2) how foreclosures affect communities; and (3) the efforts now underway, or being suggested, to address the crisis, focusing on actions at the local level. This report presents the results of this review. A final section offers the authors' recommendations on priorities for additional research to fill important gaps in the knowledge base.

The District of Columbia's leaders have committed to capitalizing on the city's many assets and taking advantage of its recent growth and prosperity to tackle persistent challenges of inequality and exclusion. This report, prepared for the D.C. Office of Planning, seeks to aid the city's leaders and citizens through tracking and measuring major economic and social indicators. The report provides a baseline assessment of the current situation in the city and its neighborhoods in nine subject categories: demographics; jobs and income; housing; education; health; family, youth, and seniors; safety and security; public investment; and environment.

Baltimore participated in a 2004 National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership (NNIP) pilot project to enhance local capacity to manage land markets through innovative use of parcel-level information. The city already had a program in place to acquire and re-market abandoned properties. The NNIP project focused on helping officials use the program-generated property information for more effective land management. New information systems were created to manage the complex business rules, to store the property data, and to provide staff with desktop access to information. An integrated disposition system reduced staff time, improved performance, and enhanced the city's service to its business partners.

Housing costs constitute the single biggest expenditure in most family budgets, and many low-income families have difficulty finding housing they can reasonably afford. Although most family-strengthening and community change initiatives recognize the urgency of the housing problems facing low-income families, they often have difficulty figuring out how to constructively address them. Federal housing programs are numerous and confusing, implementation is balkanized, funding falls woefully short of needs, and policy debates often focus on narrow technical issues. This primer demystifies federal rental assistance programs and provides the most current information available on how many (and who) they serve and how their scale is changing. It also summarizes key challenges facing housing policy today and in the coming years—challenges that may create opportunities for federal, state, and local engagement and innovation.

The fallout from subprime mortgages is spreading through neighborhoods, cities, and states. These high-risk loans have jeopardized not only the individual families facing foreclosure, but whole communities. The Urban Institute is highlighting this critical and urgent topic at the first of three 40th anniversary roundtable events. G. Thomas Kingsley answers questions about the subprime mortgage crisis and the Institute’s research on broader consequences