Urban Institute: Cities and Neighborhoods

How Do the Top 100 Metro Areas Rank on Racial and Ethnic Equity?

paffairs@urban.org ( Urban Institute ) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

The Urban Institute's MetroTrends research team has created an interactive report card on racial and ethnic equity in the nation's top 100 metropolitan areas. A brief commentary by Margery Austin Turner, the Institute's vice president for research, accompanies the map.

Urban Institute Launches Infrastructure Initiative Led by Transportation Scholar Sandra Rosenbloom

paffairs@urban.org ( Urban Institute ) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 EST

A multidimensional research initiative spanning America's fragile infrastructure systems debuts today at the Urban Institute with transportation planning expert Sandra Rosenbloom as its director.

Interactive Map Shows Local Job Strength by Sector

paffairs@urban.org ( Urban Institute ) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 EST

The Urban Institute's MetroTrends research team has created an interactive map that reveals the relative employment strength in 16 job sectors for the nations top 100 metropolitan areas. A brief commentary by Graham MacDonald accompanies the map.

Bringing Promise to Washington, DC : The DC Promise Neighborhood Initiative

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00:00 EST

The U.S. Department of Education's Promise Neighborhood Initiative is one of the Obama administration's major antipoverty initiatives and a core strategy of the White House's Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative. It is intended to improve educational outcomes by creating a continuum of school readiness, academic services, and family and community support for children from early childhood through college. The DC Promise Neighborhood Initiative (DCPNI) received one of the U.S. Department of Education's 21 Promise Neighborhood planning grants in October 2010. This policy brief summarizes DCPNI's planning year and how DCPNI intends to improve the educational outcomes of youth in the years to come.

DC Promise Neighborhood Initiative: Needs Assessment and Segmentation Analysis

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:00:00 EST

In October 2010, the DC Promise Neighborhood Initiative (DCPNI) became one of 21 recipients of a US Department of Education Promise Neighborhood planning grant. The Urban Institute partnered with DCPNI to act as the data analyst and local evaluator of this ambitious initiative. The Needs Assessment and Segmentation Analysis are intended to provide a timely understanding of the needs of the community and to inform the continuum of strategies developed by DCPNI and their workgroups.

Funding and Investing in Infrastructure

paffairs@urban.org ( Michael A. Pagano ) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:00:00 EST

Funding and investing in infrastructure are not only about finding adequate resources to meet the demands of citizenry, but rather requires understanding of how infrastructure fits into the broader functions of government. This brief examines the key role of pricing infrastructure projects and how the total cost of a project (including lifetime maintenance costs) should be included in funding decisions. Current federal and state policies often encourage new building rather than maintenance and care of existing infrastructure. The role of public-private partnerships in infrastructure projects is also sometimes more about political rather than economic considerations. The author presents options to better coordinate infrastructure financing and payments across levels of government.

Urban Institute Business Patterns Data Set: Technical Documentation : Second Edition

paffairs@urban.org ( Beata Bajaj, Kathryn L.S. Pettit, Randy Rosso ) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 00:00:00 EST

This document describes the Business Patterns series source data set and the summary indicators from this set that are included in the UI data file. It also discusses technical issues associated with preparing the Business Patterns data.

The Property Tax Exemption for Nonprofits and Revenue Implications for Cities

paffairs@urban.org ( Daphne A. Kenyon, Adam H. Langley ) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 00:00:00 EST

The charitable property tax exemption can have significant revenue implications for municipalities with large nonprofit sectors and heavy reliance on the property tax. Interest in policies to offset these revenue implications has grown because of the growth of the nonprofit sector in recent decades and the fiscal crisis currently facing many local governments. This policy brief discusses some of these policies, including nonprofit payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs), municipal service fees, heavier reliance on user fees and special assessments, in-kind contributions from nonprofits, state aid to municipalities hosting tax-exempt nonprofits, and local control over the charitable property tax exemption.

Changes in Prince George's County: 2000 through 2010

paffairs@urban.org ( Jennifer Comey, Graham MacDonald, Zach McDade ) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 00:00:00 EST

NeighborhoodInfo DC, an Urban Institute project, has amassed a data warehouse measuring the health and vitality of Washington, DC neighborhoods. This fact sheet is the first publication in our effort to extend our analysis to the council districts in Prince George's County, Maryland. The following information summarizes selected population and socioeconomic changes in Prince George's County between 2000 and 2010 using the latest tract-level 2010 U.S. Census population data and the 20052009 American Community Survey. We provide countywide averages, as well as the individual changes in the countys nine districts.

Revitalizing Distressed Older Suburbs

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 00:00:00 EST

While much has been written about the decline of central cities, very little research has examined the problem in their suburbs. This report focuses on the suburbs of older industrial cities and how best to address the challenges they face. Using census data, literature review, and four in-depth case studies, the authors provide a detailed portrait of the underlying forces shaping distressed suburbs. It highlights a range of best practices used in case study cities for fostering growth and reducing poverty. These lessons can be instructive both to local leaders working to turn their cities around and to the federal policy makers supporting them.

Evaluation of Camera Use to Prevent Crime in Commuter Parking Facilities: A Randomized Controlled Trial

paffairs@urban.org ( Nancy G. La Vigne, Samantha S. Lowry ) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:00:00 EST

This report evaluates the use of cameras to reduce car-related crimes in Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro) commuter parking facilities. Using a randomized controlled trial design, digital motion-activated cameras (akin to red light cameras) were installed at the exits of 25 Metro parking facilities, which were matched with 25 parking facilities serving as controls. Findings suggest that the cameras were not effective in reducing crime, and no evidence of displacement was found. Researchers concluded that cameras might have yielded their intended crime control impact if they had real-time surveillance capabilities and were fully employed for investigative purposes.

Helping Poor Families Gain and Sustain Access to High-Opportunity Neighborhoods

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:00:00 EST

The Moving to Opportunity demonstration (MTO) was launched in the early 1990s to evaluate the impacts of using housing vouchers to enable low income families to escape from high-poverty neighborhoods and move into low-poverty communities. This brief uses data from the most recent survey of MTO participants to explore patterns of residential mobility, including the extent to which families gained and sustained access to high-opportunity neighborhoods. Although MTO enabled families to escape from the most severely distressed neighborhoods, few enjoyed sustained access to high-opportunity neighborhoods, despite the provision of targeted vouchers and mobility counseling.

Evaluation of Cameras to Prevent Crime in Commuter Parking Facilities: A Summary

paffairs@urban.org ( Nancy G. La Vigne, Samantha S. Lowry ) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:00:00 EST

Implementing Best Start LA: Momentum Grows in Metro LA

paffairs@urban.org ( Ian Hill, Sarah Benatar ) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 00:00:00 EST

This second case study of the implementation of Best Start LA finds that the place-based investmentdesigned to improve the well-being, development and care experienced by children ages five and underhas made good progress during its second year, gaining momentum as it has become more firmly established in the downtown Metro LA pilot community. Welcome Baby! home visiting appears to be a high-quality service that could serve as a model throughout Los Angeles County. Community strategies have been funded through a series of "first step" contracts with various local agencies. And systems-level efforts appear to be laying the groundwork for important changes that could make Los Angeles communities more family-friendly for parents with young children.

Measuring the Social Value of Postal Services: Progress Report and Results

paffairs@urban.org ( Nancy M. Pindus ) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 00:00:00 EST

This slide presentation summarizes work undertaken for the Postal Regulatory Commission to examine various aspects of the social value of postal services to the nation: 1) the economic benefits of post offices; 2) the transportation and price leadership role of the Postal Service for parcels, expedited services, money orders, and post office boxes; and 3) community safety and public safety benefits from the presence of letter carriers and post offices. The first two studies were completed; the third was not completed due to budgetary cutbacks.

Studies of Social and Commercial Benefits of Postal Services: Economic Effects of Post Offices

paffairs@urban.org ( Christopher Hayes, Chris Narducci, Nancy M. Pindus ) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 00:00:00 EST

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.

Implementing Best Start LA in Metro LA - Slow but Steady Progress for the Place-Based Community Initiative

paffairs@urban.org ( Ian Hill, Sarah Benatar, Fiona Adams, Heather Sandstrom ) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 00:00:00 EST

A case study of the initial implementation of Best Start LA-a place-based community investment in Los Angeles County designed to improve the well-being, development, and care experienced by children ages five and under-finds mostly positive results, thus far.At the family level, home visiting for pregnant and parenting mothers is off to a strong start, rendering services to nearly 750 families by the end of 2010.Community-level efforts to mobilize community members and develop family-support strategies have been slower to develop.Systems-level investments to develop family-friendly policies and services across the county are proceeding on schedule.

Towards Evidence-Based Sustainable Communities : Report on Survey of Urban Sustainability Centers in the U.S. Universities

paffairs@urban.org ( Hilda Blanco, Genevieve Giuliano ) — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 00:00:00 EST

In an effort to better understand existing capacity for research on urban sustainability, researchers from the Center for Sustainability at USC conducted a survey of urban sustainability centers at U.S. universities. This analysis is the first phase of a larger project geared towards identifying a research agenda and developing common performance metrics to support federal sustainability initiatives. Results of the survey of 25 sustainability centers indicate that they are unevenly distributed throughout the country, operate on relatively low budgets, and face challenges securing funds for interdisciplinary sustainability research. A survey of current research activities suggests needed synthesis projects and framing papers on an array of sustainability topics.

Movin' Out: Crime and HUD's HOPE VI Initiative

paffairs@urban.org ( Meagan Cahill, Samantha S. Lowry, P. Mitchell Downey ) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 00:00:00 EST

This research evaluated the impact on crime of the closing, redevelopment, and subsequent reopening of three public housing developments in Milwaukee, Wis., and Washington, D.C., under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)'s HOPE VI initiative. We found a clear indication in all three sites that crime dropped at some point during redevelopment and we generally observed a diffusion of benefits from the redeveloped sites outward. The findings suggest that large-scale public housing redevelopment initiatives like HOPE VI can create a diffusion of benefits to nearby areas, which may also experience reductions in crime levels.

Neighborhood Indicators: Taking Advantage of the New Potential

paffairs@urban.org ( G. Thomas Kingsley ) — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 00:00:00 EST

This paper is an early assessment of the six original partners in the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership. It first notes the technical and institutional advances that have made computer-based neighborhood indicators systems feasible. Second, it reviews the range of potential uses of such systems, illustrated by a few examples. Finally, it presents ten lessons the author draws from experience with neighborhood indicators systems-lessons offered as guides to planners and other local leaders that are interested in a data intermediary in their own cities.

Rental Market Stresses: Impacts of the Great Recession on Affordability and Multifamily Lending

paffairs@urban.org ( Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University ) — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 00:00:00 EST

Analysis of the conditions of rental markets in the wake of the Great Recession reveals a troubling forecast for multifamily properties and the households that inhabit them. Despite increasing rental vacancies since the beginning of the housing bust, the number of low and extremely low income renters swelled, resulting in notable increases in households paying over acceptable levels on rent. Further, even as the rental property climate improves in some metropolitan areas, tenuous rental income and increases in operating costs will expose marginally viable properties to increased financial risks. For renters, this amounts to deteriorating physical conditions and a lower supply of decent, affordable housing. From What Works Collaborative, a partnership of academia and policy think tanks including the Urban Institute.

Neighborhood Early Warning Systems: Four Cities' Experience and Implications for the District of Columbia

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 00:00:00 EST

To alert community stakeholders to buildings at risk, institutions in several cities created neighborhood early warning systems (NEWS) in the 1980's and 1990's. These online systems integrated and mapped public administrative data to pinpoint deterioration in housing. City agency staff, housing practioners, and neighborhood groups consulted NEWS to locate troubled properties or to craft strategies to revive distressed neighborhoods. This paper reviews four neighborhood early warning systems Chicago NEWS, Neighborhood Knowledge Los Angeles, the Philadelphia Neighborhood Information System, and the Minneapolis Neighborhood Information System to explore the value and feasibility of developing a system for Washington, D.C.

A Silver Lining with Holes? Losses and Gains in Homeownership for Families with Children during the Foreclosure Crisis

paffairs@urban.org ( Leah Hendey, C. Eugene Steuerle ) — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 00:00:00 EST

Using data from the Making Connections Cross-site Survey, this brief explores movement into and out of homeownership for families with children in selected low-income neighborhoods. We find that poor families and those with less home equity are more likely to move out of homeownership. With the reduction in home prices in many areas, brought on by the housing crisis, there are increasing opportunities for affordable homeownership. However, we find that two-parent and Hispanic families may be relatively more likely, and blacks and single-parent families relatively less likely, to take advantage of these new chances for homeownership.

Improving Home Affordability through Low Interest Rates : How Much Would Homeowners in Low-Income Areas Save?

paffairs@urban.org ( Robert I. Lerman, Leah Hendey ) — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 00:00:00 EST

Using data from the Making Connections Cross-site Survey, this fact finds that, on average, families would save about $276 per month in mortgage payments with a new five percent interest rate, 30-year mortgage. Lower interest rates both increase housing affordability and allow families to accumulate equity in their homes more quickly. This fact highlights the importance of improving financial literacy, information and education around mortgage pricing, and of helping families build good credit. Families included in the data live in selected low-income neighborhoods in six cities and were surveyed as part of the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Making Connections initiative.

Opportunity-Rich Schools and Sustainable Communities : Seven Steps to Align High-Quality Education with Innovations in City and Metropolitan Planning and Development

paffairs@urban.org ( Deborah McKoy, Jeffrey M. Vincent, Ariel H. Bierbaum ) — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 00:00:00 EST

Policies and strategies at all levels of government are increasingly associating educational outcomes with community planning and housing. Challenges remain for local officials and practitioners trying to align these policy areas, including persistent spatial inequity and rigid institutional silos. This report develops seven steps to link education and planning policy at the local level. The authors draw from a national scan of model activities, interviews with key experts and agency staff members, and the authors' experience working with local governing bodies. The report identifies practical solutions that encompass assessing the current educational environment, engaging the community, strategic planning and implementation of investment, and institutionalizing successful innovations.

A Rent Control Report for the District of Columbia

paffairs@urban.org ( Peter A. Tatian, Ashley Williams ) — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 00:00:00 EST

This report summarizes the work of NeighborhoodInfo DC in compiling a list of residential properties potentially subject to rent control regulation in the District of Columbia under the D.C. Rent Stabilization Program. Despite its importance, at present there is no definitive list or database of properties subject to rent control. The report provides a basic overview of rent control in D.C., methods for compiling the database, basic characteristics of those properties and owners, and the limitations. Based on this work, our initial estimate is that there are currently 4,818 properties with 79,145 housing units potentially subject to rent control regulation in the city.

Where Kids Go: The Foreclosure Crisis and Mobility In Washington, D.C.

paffairs@urban.org ( Jennifer Comey, Michel Grosz ) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 00:00:00 EST

The ripple effects of the foreclosure crisis have created increased instability for children and families. In this brief we focus on two such sources of instability in the lives of public school students in Washington, D.C.: moving homes and switching schools. We find high rates of residential and school mobility for students in general, and even higher rates associated with students who lived in buildings that entered the foreclosure process. These mobile students tended to stay in the same neighborhood or move to areas that were similarly poor and high-crime. In this policy brief, we make a series of low-cost recommendations to school districts and nonprofit housing counseling agencies in order to minimize the harm of additional instability on children.

State of Washington, D.C.'s Neighborhoods, 2010

paffairs@urban.org ( Jennifer Comey, Chris Narducci, Peter A. Tatian ) — Tue, 10 May 2011 00:00:00 EST

The District of Columbia has undergone many demographic and economic shifts over the past decade. While high rates of home foreclosures and unemployment persist, sustained population growth and development of neighborhoods continue to change the face of the city. This report is an update of the Urban Institutes 2008 neighborhood report prepared for the D.C. Office of Planning. It provides a comparative analysis of the following: demographics; jobs and income; housing; education; health; family, youth, and seniors; safety and security; and the natural and built environment and transportation (new to the 2010 report).

Strategic Plan for a Collaborative Neighborhood-Based Crime Prevention Initiative

Mon, 02 May 2011 00:00:00 EST

A promising approach to reducing and preventing crime at the neighborhood level involves addressing both immediate and long-term risk factors for crime. This strategic plan outlines a collaborative Neighborhood-Based Crime Prevention Initiative (NCPI) that combines law enforcement-led crime suppression activities with human and social service efforts to address longer-term risk factors for crime. This plan focuses on the initiative's structure, and data and administrative requirements. Objectives, associated suppression and prevention activities, and performance measures are related to initiative goals and measurable crime outcomes. This sets the stage for an initiative that could be monitored and ultimately evaluated.

The Federal Role in Supporting Urban Manufacturing

paffairs@urban.org ( Nisha Mistry, Joan Byron ) — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 00:00:00 EST

Though the nation's manufacturing sector has decreased significantly over the past half century, these businesses remain critical to the strength of the innovation economy and the mobility of low-income households. A large portion of small manufacturers are clustered in urban areas, but federal policy has neglected or hindered these valuable assets. This paper identifies ways that government can facilitate the growth of small-scale urban manufacturers within a greater economic development scheme. Government agencies can utilize this sector by first identifying the unique manufacturing assets of local and regional areas and prioritizing them within policy, regulation, and public investment.

The District of Columbia Mayor's Focused Improvement Area Initiative: A Review of Past Practice

paffairs@urban.org ( Jocelyn Fontaine, Joshua Markman ) — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 00:00:00 EST

In partnership with local agencies, the DC Mayor launched the Focused Improvement Area Initiative in select high-crime areas. The Initiative aimed to reduce crime and increase the quality of life in at-risk communities by combining community policing with human and social services delivery. This report reviews the Initiative's past efforts based on stakeholder interviews, programmatic materials, administrative records, and field observations. While many aspects of the Initiative were implemented as designed, it was not designed in such a way as to ensure sustained interagency, collaborative efforts focused on measuring and addressing outcomes. The report concludes with considerations for next steps.

The District of Columbia Mayor's Focused Improvement Area Initiative: Review of the Literature Relevant to Collaborative Crime Reduction

paffairs@urban.org ( Jesse Jannetta, Megan Denver, Additional Authors ) — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 00:00:00 EST

This document presents the results of a literature review on approaches to reducing crime and improving neighborhoods that were intended to produce community-level impacts, involved multiple approaches, and were carried out by cross-agency partnerships. The review included efforts focused solely on reducing or preventing crime as well as efforts with broader goals concerning improving neighborhood or resident well-being. The first section covers programmatic elements of initiatives: the strategies, interventions, and activities that successful efforts have employed. The second section covers process and structural elements, with subsections devoted to interagency collaboration, community engagement, and sustainability.

How to Evaluate Choice and Promise Neighborhoods

paffairs@urban.org ( Robin E. Smith ) — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 00:00:00 EST

Living in concentrated poverty stifles the life chances of adults and children. Efforts to transform neighborhoods of extreme poverty into places of opportunity must grapple with concentrated disadvantages including distressed housing, failing schools, joblessness, poor health, and violence. Two federal initiatives seeking to address neighborhood deficiencies simultaneously are the Department of Education's Promise Neighborhoods effort and the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Choice Neighborhoods program. Evaluating these efforts presents many methodological challenges. This brief provides a framework for designing evaluations of Choice and Promise Neighborhoods including key research questions, different research approaches, and components of an evaluation strategy.

Cutting Carbon Costs: Learning from Germany's Energy Saving Program

paffairs@urban.org ( Anne Power, Monika Zulauf ) — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 00:00:00 EST

Germany is leading the way in developing "green" technologies and has the most ambitious energy-saving program in Europe, aiming for a 30 percent reduction in energy usage by 2020, and a 30-percent renewable energy share, consisting mainly of biomass, wind, and solar. Germany's experience - its success and lessons learned - provide a solid evidence base from which nations like the United States can "leapfrog" Europe, and tackle even more pressing energy and climate change demands through deliberate public and private action.

The Potential for Public-Private Partnerships: Philanthropic Leaders Housing as a Platform

paffairs@urban.org ( M. Katherine Kraft, Rebecca R. Riley ) — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 00:00:00 EST

This paper reports on the opportunities and challenges of creating partnerships between foundations and government agencies in promoting housing as a platform. Through discussions with philanthropists, the authors examine evidence for "housing as a platform" and assess the challenges that impede public private partnerships. They find that there is a wide interpretation of philosophies that can make partnerships more difficult to establish. While foundation leaders harbor considerable skepticism about developing effective partnerships, they also recognize the benefits of collaborating with public agencies. The authors identify specific topics related to HUD's strategic interests where improvement might advance closer relationships between HUD and private foundations.

Urban Institute Project Will Test Services Aiding Low-Income Public Housing Residents and Their Communities

paffairs@urban.org ( Urban Institute ) — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 00:00:00 EST

The Urban Institute launched a project in Portland, Oregon, and Chicago testing innovative ways for human service providers to help impoverished residents find and keep jobs, assets, and stay healthy. The three-year, approximately $6-million initiativecalled Housing Opportunities and Services Togetherwill evaluate ways to coordinate public housing and human services to maximize positive outcomes for parents and children.

Challenges and Policy Options for Creating and Preserving Affordable Housing near Transit and in Other Location-Efficient Areas

paffairs@urban.org ( Rick Haughey, Ryan Sherriff ) — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 00:00:00 EST

One goal of the new Interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities is the promotion of affordable housing near transit. This report synthesizes discussions with practitioners and experts about the challenges of addressing this goal. These focus areas include developing inclusive, sustainable communities, ensuring long-term affordability, serving low-income residents, and promoting affordable housing in the broader neighborhood.

Connecting Residents of Subsidized Housing with Mainstream Supportive Services: Challenges and Recommendations

paffairs@urban.org ( Rebecca Cohen ) — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 00:00:00 EST

This report outlines a series of non-statutory policy options that HUD could adopt to improve access to mainstream supportive services by residents of subsidized housing. These policy options respond to commonly reported challenges, including lack of onsite specialized capacity, limited and unreliable funding, and constraints on the use of common space to deliver services.In addition to policy recommendations, this report identifies four critical pathways to improving access: promoting co-location and coordination among housing and service providers, enabling housing providers to use existing funding more effectively, supporting access to service coordinators, and developing and initiating a forward-looking research agenda.

Long-Term Low Income Housing Tax Credit Policy Questions

paffairs@urban.org ( Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University ) — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 00:00:00 EST

In response to the federal government considering broader issues surrounding the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program this paper compiles research findings and discussion from industry experts that can inform changes to the program moving forward. The consensus is that the LIHTC program is durable, politically resilient and benefits from its enabling legislation as part of the tax code, its wide geographic scope, and its state-level implementation. There are a number of longer-term questions about the future of the program, however. This report discusses responses from experts surrounding program targeting, tax credit investment demand, and ongoing asset management for LIHTC properties.

Housing Production Needs for the District of Columbia

paffairs@urban.org ( Margery Austin Turner ) — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 00:00:00 EST

Policymakers who are developing city housing strategies need solid estimates of the level of production required to accommodate anticipated growth. This Housing in the Nation's Capital Brief provides estimates of the number of new housing units needed between 2005 and 2020, under alternative assumptions about the mix of households that can be attracted to live in the city. Commissioned by the Fannie Mae Foundation, the brief supported the work of the District of Columbia's Comprehensive Housing Strategy Task Force by providing reliable estimates of the scale of production that would be required to support the city's aspirations for growth.

Scaling the Nationwide Energy Retrofit of Affordable Multifamily Housing: Innovations and Policy Recommendations

paffairs@urban.org ( Lori Bamberger ) — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 00:00:00 EST

Ensuring the energy and water efficiency of federally subsidized multifamily housing would reduce operating costs, increase building longevity, and offer health and affordability benefits, in addition to reducing carbon emissions. Despite these benefits, several barriers prevent retrofitting from scaling, including the lack of a sophisticated capital market system and regulatory impediments. This paper recommends a variety of HUD initiated actions that will reduce regulatory barriers, promote a capital market that incentivizes retrofits, and cultivate a cross-silo funding stream.

Immigration Trends in Metropolitan America, 1980-2007

paffairs@urban.org ( Ajay Chaudry, Karina Fortuny, Paul A. Jargowsky ) — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 00:00:00 EST

Growth in immigration flows in the past three decades has almost tripled the size of the foreign-born population in the United States: from 14 million in 1980 to 38 million in 2007. Immigrants are still heavily concentrated in the six traditional immigrant destination states (California, New York, Texas, Florida, Illinois, and New Jersey), but immigrant numbers grew rapidly in many western, midwestern, and southeastern states. Not surprisingly, many metropolitan areas outside the traditional destination states saw high immigration growth. This brief examines immigration and poverty trends between 1980 and 2007 across the 100 metropolitan areas with the largest immigrant populations.

Evaluating Community and Economic Development Programs : A Literature Review to Inform Evaluation of the New Markets Tax Credit Program

paffairs@urban.org ( Martin D. Abravanel, Nancy M. Pindus, Brett Theodos ) — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 00:00:00 EST

Numerous programs administered by scores of federal, state and local government entities have supported community and economic development through grants, loans, loan guarantees, tax credits, and other means. The most recent such federal program involves New Markets Tax Credits (NMTCs), which encourage private capital investment in low-income communities that are, or are perceived to be, high investment risks. In preparation for designing an evaluation of NMTCs, this document reviews the broad literature on community and economic development programs to identify key evaluation concepts, questions, methods and measures, as well as to highlight significant challenges inherent in evaluating these programs.

An Overview of the Chicago Family Case Management Demonstration : Brief 1

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 00:00:00 EST

The Supporting Vulnerable Public Housing Families policy briefs present findings from the evaluation of the Chicago Family Case Management Demonstration, an innovative effort to test the feasibility of using public and assisted housing as a platform for providing services to vulnerable families. The Demonstration involved a unique partnership of city agencies, researchers, social service providers, and private foundations, including the Urban Institute, the Chicago Housing Authority, Heartland Human Care Services, and Housing Choice Partners. The briefs in this series describe service implementation and costs, along with participant outcomes across four domains: employment, health, housing and relocation, and children and youth.

Moving "Hard to House" Residents to Work: The Role of Intensive Case Management : Brief 4

paffairs@urban.org ( Joe Parilla, Brett Theodos ) — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 00:00:00 EST

The Chicago Family Case Management Demonstration was an innovative effort to test the feasibility of providing wraparound supportive services, including work supports, for vulnerable public housing families. This brief explores the employment experiences of Demonstration participants. Surprisingly, despite an extremely difficult labor market, employment increased. Further, the intensive Transitional Jobs program appears to have contributed to these employment gains. Yet, despite increases in employment, the economic situation for most Chicago Housing Authority families remains tenuous. For those who remained unemployed, the Demonstration's services failed to address a multitude of personal and structural barriers to work.

Tackling the Biggest Challenge: Intensive Case Management and CHA Residents' Health : Brief 3

paffairs@urban.org ( Susan J. Popkin, Liza Getsinger ) — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 00:00:00 EST

The Urban Institute's HOPE VI Panel Study highlighted the health crisis hidden in distressed public housing developments in Chicago and in other communities across the nation. As a result of the HOPE VI research, one key goal of the Chicago Family Case Management Demonstration was to improve participants' mental and physical health. This brief reviews the findings from the Demonstration, considers possible explanations for differences from the Panel Study, and discusses the implications for policy and practice. Participants' health did not deteriorate over time, and their anxiety levels improved. Unfortunately, rates of chronic illness and mortality remain extremely high.

Relocating Vulnerable Public Housing Families : Brief 5

paffairs@urban.org ( Brett Theodos, Joe Parilla ) — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 00:00:00 EST

The Chicago Family Case Management Demonstration was an innovative effort to improve the circumstances and life chances of CHAs most vulnerable families, with the goal of ensuring stable housing in better conditions. This brief explores relocation outcomes for Demonstration participants, including their experiences with relocation services. Generally, participants live in much better housing in neighborhoods where they feel safer. However, most still live in public housing, and their new neighborhoods are still poor, racially segregated, and crime ridden. To better serve vulnerable families, relocation counseling needs to be intensive, long term, and integrated with other services.

Reaching the Next Generation: The Crisis for CHA's Youth : Brief 6

paffairs@urban.org ( Liza Getsinger, Susan J. Popkin ) — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 00:00:00 EST

By the late 1990s, the Chicago Housing Authority's troubled developments were home to thousands of vulnerable residents, many of them children.The hypothesis of the Chicago Family Case Management Demonstration was that using a family-focused approach would benefit both children and parents. While the Demonstration successfully engaged adults, there is no evidence that these benefits produced better outcomes for children and youth. Instead, the findings paint a portrait of children in crisis. This brief profiles these vulnerable children and suggests strategies for building on the successes of the Demonstration to improve the life chances of CHA's children and youth.

Business Patterns and Trends: National Summary

paffairs@urban.org ( Beata Bajaj, G. Thomas Kingsley, Kathryn L.S. Pettit ) — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 00:00:00 EST

The brief examines employment and establishments for two periods that differed markedly in economic performance: 1998-2000 and 2000-2002. It compares trends in the cities and suburbs of metropolitan areas. It then looks at how the economic performance of ZIP codes varied by resident poverty rates, showing that high-poverty areas had the worst records overall. It next examines differences in economic structure between ZIP codes with concentrated economic activity and residential areas. Finally, the brief compares residential service establishments per capita (e.g., grocery stores, restaurants, doctors' offices, and banks) in the different types of areas, finding that high-poverty ZIP codes had fewer service establishments than low-poverty ones for most, but not all, kinds of services.

Balancing Affordability and Opportunity: An Evaluation of Affordable Homeownership Programs with Long-term Affordability Controls

paffairs@urban.org ( Kenneth Temkin, Brett Theodos, David Price ) — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 00:00:00 EST

Shared equity initiatives provide homeownership opportunities to income-eligible families who buy homes at below-market prices; the appreciation that can be earned by resellers is limited to preserve the homes' affordability at resale. This report analyzes affordability, personal wealth, security of tenure, and mobility outcomes for seven shared equity programs across the country. Homebuyers earned competitive returns, but homes remained affordable to lower income buyers over time. Homeownership under these programs was sustainable: there were very low delinquency and foreclosure rates and many families who sold their homes were able to use their sales' proceeds to purchase market-rate homes.