Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center
Understanding how housing and place shape people's lives.

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  • Summary

    How could policymakers design a policy to maximize positive benefits for renters with low incomes?




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    Our Impact
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    We have pioneered innovative research methods to produce more reliable, nuanced investigations of vulnerable populations. Paired testing—using applicants who are nearly identical in every way except race—is one of the most effective ways to uncover housing discrimination. And our National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership is teaching the community development field to look more closely at cities—into blocks, census tracts, and neighborhoods—to focus scarce resources and measure impact. Our rigorous methods give policy researchers more effective tools and policymakers more confidence to act.
    Learn more about this Policy Center
    Featured Experts
    Vice President, Housing Finance Policy
    Interim Vice President, Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy
    Associate Vice President, Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy


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    Our Issues

    Housing and place matter. Quality, affordable housing anchors families. And the communities where people live can influence nearly everything in their lives: where they work and how they get there, the quality of schools that their children attend, their health and safety, even their longevity. With an emphasis on place—from cities and suburbs to tribal lands—we investigate the factors that shape the quality of life in American communities.

    Our Approach

    • We evaluate the effectiveness of federal, state, and local policies that govern urban housing and the programs—such as HOPE VI and Promise Neighborhoods—that use housing as a platform for change.
    • We work on the ground in cities and neighborhoods: documenting families’ experiences in public housing, testing programs to combat homelessness, and evaluating community-wide strategies for improving children’s lives.
    • We provide residents with neighborhood indicators that allow them to tackle problems in their own communities.
    • We think about what the next generation of housing programs should look like.
    • We test programs designed to help households and distressed neighborhoods build wealth.
    • We build models, like our population projection tool, that help neighborhoods, metropolitan areas, and rural communities imagine and prepare for change.

    Our Impact

    We have pioneered innovative research methods to produce more reliable, nuanced investigations of vulnerable populations. Paired testing—using applicants who are nearly identical in every way except race—is one of the most effective ways to uncover housing discrimination. And our National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership is teaching the community development field to look more closely at cities—into blocks, census tracts, and neighborhoods—to focus scarce resources and measure impact. Our rigorous methods give policy researchers more effective tools and policymakers more confidence to act.

    Staff
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    • Vice President, Housing Finance Policy
      Interim Vice President, Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy
    • Special Assistant and Project Coordinator
    • Senior Fellow
    • Project Administrator
    • Principal Research Associate
    • Senior Research Associate
    • Research Analyst
    • Research Assistant
    • Research Analyst
    • Research Associate
    • Research Assistant
    • Research Associate
    • Senior Fellow
      Director, Community Engagement Resource Center
    • Director, Media Relations
    • Principal Research Associate
      Research Director, Land Use Lab at Urban
    • Project Administrator
    • Research Analyst
    • Principal Research Associate
    • Research Assistant
    • Associate Vice President, Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy
    • Research Associate
    • Director of Center Operations
    • Research Associate
    • Principal Research Associate
      Codirector, National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership
    • Research Analyst
    • Project Manager
    • Senior Research Associate
    • Research Analyst
    • Research Analyst
    • Principal Research Associate
    • Research Assistant
    • Research Assistant
    • Research Associate
    • Research Assistant
    • Communications Manager, Housing and Communities
    • Research Associate
    • Research Analyst
    • Research Associate
    • Principal Research Associate
      Colead, Climate and Communities Practice Area
    • Research Analyst
    • Research Analyst
    • Research Associate
    • Senior Research Associate
    • Senior Fellow
    • Senior Fellow
      Codirector, National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership
    • Senior Research Associate
    • Urban Institute Associate
    • Senior Programmer, Research
    • Senior Policy Fellow
    • Principal Research Associate
    • Institute Fellow
      Codirector, Disability Equity Policy Initiative
    • Research Assistant
    • Senior Research Associate
    • Research Associate
    • Data Scientist
    • Research Assistant
    • Senior Fellow
      Colead, Climate and Communities Practice Area
    • Research Assistant
    • Research Analyst
    • Senior Research Associate
    • Manager, Training and Technical Assistance
    • Senior Research Associate
    • Research Associate
    • Research Analyst
    • Research Analyst
    • Senior Fellow
      Research Director, Urban–Greater DC
    • Principal Research Associate
    • Senior Fellow
    • Principal Research Associate
    • Nonresident Fellow
    • Training and Technical Assistance Specialist
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