View Research by Author - Patrick Boxall

Citation URL: http://www.urban.org/PatrickBoxall

This research examines the results and performance of loans to private businesses made by state and local governments through their own lending programs using HUD program funding. Relying on examination of nearly 1,000 loan files in 51 communities, researchers found that although default rates are somewhat higher than those of private-sector lenders, substantial amounts of new economic development money could be raised on a secondary market without undermining the policy goals of the federal programs that supply the funds. HUD could help arrange secondary market sales by accumulating and disseminating information and setting standards for loan underwriting, servicing, and documentation.

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 describes the EEXCEL concept—the integration of educational services for children into privately owned affordable housing apartment buildings—in terms of both the educational services component and the financing and development component. Experiences—both beneficial and challenging—during the first year of operations are recounted. The report also discusses the process for qualifying tenants, onsite management of the EEXCEL buildings, and implications for broader application of the concept.

This report is a comprehensive analysis of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program. The research took two and one-half years to complete and included field research in 61 U.S. cities, more than a thousand mail and telephone surveys, and extensive use of Housing and Urban Development's automated program budget and expenditure data. The study addressed questions on the characteristics of CDBG-funded programs, benefits to income and ethnic groups and neighborhoods, the nature of CDBG decisionmaking and program management, and impacts of the program over its life span.

This study examines the nonprofit housing developers' record in housing production and community development tasks; identifies the barriers encountered; reviews steps to overcome barriers; and assesses the implications of institutional and policy changes for future nonprofit housing production. Researchers examined previous analyses, analyzed data from a national survey of community development corporations, assembled primary source materials from nonprofit organizations and support institutions, and conducted field research. Also discussed are the data sources used in this study and their limitations, as well as the national policy interest in affordable housing sponsorship.

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