View Research by Author - Christopher Hayes

Chris Hayes is a Research Associate in the Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center at the Urban Institute. He currently manages the data files of a multi-wave survey of neighborhood residents for the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Making Connections project, which aims to measures local-area change in neighborhoods targeted for Foundation assistance, as well as producing analyses of the results for the Foundation. He is also managing an analysis of the impact of housing voucher recipient mobility on crime patterns in Chicago neighborhoods. He worked on a multi-year project to develop survey-based performance measures for the Corporation for National and Community Service. He conducted a survey and analysis of loan guarantee recipients, as part of a project to assess of the impact of Small Business Administration programs, conducted for the SBA.

Mr. Hayes has a Masters in International Affairs from the American University.

CHayes@urban.org

Publications

There is a growing recognition that the influence of residential mobility in shaping urban outcomes has been both seriously undervalued and badly understood. On April 26, Metro Center hosted an all-day symposium to begin to remedy these deficiencies. The day was devoted to the presentation and discussion of seven new papers by leading researchers in this field, with topics ranging from the varied nature of the moves that occur in low-income neighborhoods to their effects on spatial patterns and the well-being of families and neighborhoods.

Our analysis indicates a complex relationship between public housing transformation and crime in Chicago and Atlanta, though the efforts led to small net decreases in crime over a study period where crime declined significantly. In neighborhoods with public housing demolition, crime rates fell substantially, while in destination neighborhoods for households relocated with vouchers, they did not fall as much as expected. On average, neighborhoods with a modest or high density of relocated households saw higher crime rates than areas without relocated households. These findings suggest a need for thoughtful relocation strategies that support both assisted residents and receiving communities.

Does the closing of a post office have negative effects on the economic indicators of the surrounding community? This study uses a difference-in-differences approach to assess the economic impact of a post office closure on a community. We compared employment and number of business establishments in communities with a post office to similar communities where a post office has been closed between 2002 and 2005. While the results do not provide conclusive evidence of economic impact, they do suggest a small, sometimes significant, negative impact on employment in the ZIP codes with post office closures. 

This brief examines the scope and composition of housing assistance being provided through HUD programs to residents of the 10 neighborhoods that have been a part of the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Making Connections initiative. It also describes selected characteristics of the families that receive housing assistance and how their circumstances changed between surveys conducted in 2002/03 and 2005/06 in comparison to unassisted renters and homeowners living in these neighborhoods. At the latter date, the average share of eligible households that received assistance was 25 percent, the same as the national average, but there was considerable variation across sites.

While the increase in gas prices has increased costs for all commuters, workers from households whose income is below the federal poverty level pay a larger proportion of their income for gas. This fact sheet uses data from the 2006 American Community Survey to quantify the relative burden of gas use for commuting.

This report presents customer satisfaction outcomes and a limited number of other indicators based on a sub-sample of the same assisted firms that were targeted in the more rigorous, quantitative performance analyses (Brash and Gallagher, 2008). Analyses of the Survey of Assisted Businesses found only minor differences between 504, 7(a), and MicroLoan recipients in overall satisfaction indicators, but more substantial differences in uses of loan proceeds and other sources of financing. Most respondents were satisfied, although overall satisfaction was apparently lower in the SBIC program.

This report synthesizes the findings, conclusions, and policy recommendations derived from six reports generated by our evaluation of SBA's 7(a) Loan Guaranty, CDC 504 Loan, MicroLoan, and SBIC programs. The various studies were conducted to address three key research questions of particular interest to SBA and its constituents: 1) Does SBA assistance help the firms that receive it? 2) To what extent does SBA assistance serve its market? 3) Do SBA programs duplicate or overlap with other public sector programs?

The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program is the largest of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Developments's formula block grant programs. This study examines whether readily available data sources can be used to track the outcomes of activities funded with CDBG. The study concludes that two data elements--median home loan amount and the number of businesses--have potential as tools for helping local communities measure the effects of concentrated CDBG expenditures, but additional research is needed. This initial work does not support the use of this methodology for a national performance measure applicable to all CDBG programs; however, these measures may be useful to communities interested in assessing their own community development performance and in furthering their understanding of the neighborhood effects of past CDBG investments.

This report and data book summarizes the responses to a survey of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD's) key program implementation partners -- intermediaries who work with HUD to deliver services and benefits. In the survey, a national sample of 2,244 mayors, directors of community development, public housing, and fair housing agencies, and owners of multifamily housing properties were asked to assess their relationship with HUD and evaluate HUD performance in working with them to serve the Department's ultimate customers. The survey is responsive to the mandate of the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA), which requires Federal agencies to establish performance standards and measure progress against those standards over time. Most of HUD's partners express satisfaction with various aspects of the Department's performance, yet there are those who are dissatisfied -- in some instances, to the point of alienation.

Parks, a vital part of healthy urban communities, must serve many users' needs. Information about park usage helps park managers and community leaders to plan park development, allocate scarce resources, and manage day-to-day park operations. This manual was developed from an evaluation of the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund's Urban Parks Initiative, an ongoing effort to improve the quality and quantity of urban parks for public use and to disseminate strategies for effective park development. Through case studies, the authors introduce park managers to various data collection methods and data uses. The more familiar park managers are with these techniques, the more pertinent their information will be, and the more prepared they will be to serve park users.

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