Searching for Affordability and Opportunity: A Framework for the Housing Choice Voucher Program

Abstract

Affordability, a key factor in the housing search process, becomes critical when locating rental housing in opportunity-rich areas. The Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program accommodates low-income households searching for housing and encourages recipients to reside in low-poverty areas. Affordable neighborhoods that are accessible to public transportation are often found in distressed areas, and not all HCV recipients succeed in locating qualified housing. To address these challenges, a housing search framework is developed to assist HCV households in the housing search process. This framework builds on the methodology of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the Location Affordability Index and Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing assessment tool by creating multivariate indices that incorporate housing supply, accessibility to opportunity, and neighborhood conditions. The framework serves as a foundation for an online housing search application for public housing authorities to further fair housing goals, HCV recipients to locate qualified housing units, and local governments to assess affordability and opportunity.     

The Geography of the Recent Housing Crisis: The Role of Urban Form

This study maps the geography of the recent housing crisis within and across American metropolitan areas, and evaluates how it is related to a series of spatial and socioeconomic variables at neighborhood and metropolitan levels. It finds that the spatial patterns of housing recessions vary widely by region. In general, fast-growing metropolitan areas in the Southwest and Florida experienced not only deeper but also longer housing recessions. In contrast, metropolitan areas in the South (except in Florida) saw shallower and shorter housing recessions. Metropolitan areas in the Midwest and Northeast had fewer price declines in the crisis, but their housing recessions tended to be longer. Housing recessions tend to be deeper and longer in larger metropolitan areas. Neighborhoods located closer to city centers experienced shallower and shorter recessions compared with those in fringe areas. Even after controlling for many other variables, automobile dependency is still a strong and positive predictor of housing recession depth and duration. The effects of other urban form variables, such as land-use density and mixed use, are mixed and vary by region. The significance of the effects of neighborhood demographic variables on recession depth is highly dependent on the inclusion of high-risk loan in the model, suggesting that predatory and high-risk lending is one major reason why lower income and minority neighborhoods were hit harder by the recent housing crisis. The effects of high-risk loan and neighborhood demographic variables on housing recession duration, however, are rather weak.     

Family Shelter Entry and Re-entry During the Recession in Hennepin County: The Role of Race,Residential Location,and Family Earnings

This article examines the extent to which shelter entry and re-entry increased during the Great Recession (December 2007–December 2009) in Hennepin County, Minnesota. Among successive cohorts of families entering the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), Black families were 23% more likely to enter shelter if they were in the 2008–2009 cohort and 28% more likely to enter shelter if they were in the 2010 cohort than if they entered SNAP in 2004–2005. In addition, families who left shelter in 2009 were 39% more likely and families leaving shelter in 2010 were 63% more likely to re-enter shelter than those leaving shelter in 2004–2006. Only a small part of the increases in shelter entry and shelter re-entry was explained by reductions in family earnings. This suggests that the increases in shelter entry and re-entry may have been caused by other factors, such as the decline in the availability of affordable housing.     

The Cost and Affordability Paradox of Transit-Oriented Development: A Comparison of Housing and Transportation Costs Across Transit-Oriented Development,Hybrid and Transit-Adjacent Development Station Typologies

Abstract

This study presents a comparison of housing and transportation costs (H+T) in 4,399 fixed-route transit station areas across the United States. Each station area is classified as a transit-oriented development (TOD), hybrid, or transit-adjacent development (TAD) based on walkability and housing density targets. Station areas with a Walk Score of 70 or greater and a gross housing density of 8 units per acre or more are classified as TOD. Station areas that meet just one of these criteria are classified as hybrids, and those that do not meet either of these criteria are categorized as TAD. The findings reveal a paradox that whereas TOD are more expensive places to buy and rent housing, they are more affordable than hybrids and TAD because the lower cost of transportation offsets housing costs. We argue that policies to increase the density and walkability of hybrid and TAD station areas, which account for two thirds of all station areas across the United States, should be a top priority for both housing and transportation officials.     

Economic Prosperity and Housing Affordability in the United States: Lessons from the Booming 1990s

The United States is facing an acute shortage of reasonably priced housing with over 35% of households paying more than 30% of their income for housing costs in 2015. As the U.S. economy recovers from the Great Recession, will housing become less unaffordable as incomes rise and households could potentially pay a lower share of their income for housing costs? To see if this is likely, I examined the change in housing affordability in the 100 largest metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in the United States between 1990 and 2000, a period of exceptional economic prosperity. I used the percentage of housing cost-burdened households (those that pay more than 30% of their gross income on ownership or rental costs) as a measure of the availability of reasonably priced housing. I used discriminant analysis techniques to detect statistically significant differences in the percentage of cost-burdened households in the 100 MSAs based on a variety of factors. I found that despite the phenomenal economic prosperity of the 1990s, about 30% of households were cost-burdened both in 1990 and 2000. High MSA median income was correlated with a greater shortage of reasonably priced housing. Neither economic growth rate nor poverty rate nor population growth rate distinguished high-shortage MSAs from low-shortage ones. Large MSAs and MSAs in the West had greater shortages than other MSAs. Economic prosperity did not alleviate the problem of lack of reasonably priced housing in the past, and is not likely to do so in the near future. Planners and policy-makers need to enact new policies at local, regional, state, and federal levels to effectively address America’s chronic affordable housing shortage.     

Market Rental Housing Affordability and Rapid Transit Catchments: Application of a New Measure in Canada

Abstract

In high-income cities, the availability of affordable rental housing in locations served by fast and frequent public transportation enables low-income households access to more opportunities, including jobs, without the costs of owning and operating automobiles. This study operationalizes a residual income approach to identify market rental housing that is affordable to two household configurations (couples with children and couples without children) in two categories below the median income. The study is carried out on Canada’s least and most expensive major metropolitan housing markets, Montreal and Vancouver. In addition to spatially disaggregating the results into inside and outside rapid transit walking catchments, the results are spatially disaggregated into four zones (Urban Core, Inner City, Inner Suburbs, and Outer Suburbs). Implications of the uneven distribution of affordable rentals with respect to transit access are discussed.     

The Impact of Housing Submarkets and Urban Form on the Foreclosure Crisis in U.S. Urban Counties

In this article, the authors introduce a novel way to define and measure housing submarkets in relation to foreclosures. Instead of the traditional methods of identifying submarkets a priori, this study uses an approach that empirically delineates housing submarkets based on spatial contiguity and housing attributes. The spatial clustering algorithm developed for this study identified submarkets in each of the urban counties. A spatial regression model was then used to assess the impact of submarket structure on foreclosure rates. In addition, the study also incorporates a measure of sprawl in its analysis. It was found that sprawling counties are not more likely to have higher rates of foreclosures compared with average rates. However, the counties with smaller and more fragmented housing submarkets are likely to have lower rates of foreclosures. The results suggest that urban form is less consequential than housing market structure in affecting U.S. housing market dynamics.     

Quality of Life,Transportation Costs,and Federal Housing Assistance: Leveling the Playing Field

Abstract

Federal housing subsidies are allocated without regard to spatial differences in the cost of living or quality of life. In this article, we calculate housing subsidy payments for participants in the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program and demonstrate that these subsidies are significantly related to metropolitan quality-of-life differentials. We then estimate amenity-adjusted subsidies and compare these estimates with data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Location Affordability Portal. Our analysis yields three insights regarding the relationship between federal housing assistance payments (HAP), metropolitan quality-of-life differentials, and transportation cost burdens. First, HCV HAP show a strong inverse correlation with household transportation expenditures, and this is particularly pronounced for low-income households. Thus, HAP do not address location affordability because those living in high-transportation cost metropolitan areas receive the lowest housing subsidies. Second, we present evidence that HAP are positively related to metropolitan quality-of-life differentials. This suggests that high-amenity metropolitan areas also tend to be the most affordable from a transportation cost perspective. Third, our proposed amenity-adjusted HAP strongly reduce the inverse relationship between HAP and transportation cost burdens.     

Legacy of the Housing Act of 1949: The Past,Present, and Future of Federal Housing and Urban Policy

Abstract

This article summarizes a special issue of Housing Policy Debate, which commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Housing Act of 1949. The act is best remembered for its declaration that every American deserves a “decent home and a suitable living environment.” The articles in this collection offer varying perspectives on how this act helped shape the postwar metropolis. The authors—urban planners, historians, and public officials—each consider a different part of the legacy.

The first three articles deal primarily with the act's creation and social and political ramifications, while the next three look at how Titles I, II, and III have influenced the past 50 years of housing and urban policy. The record of the Housing Act of 1949 is mixed, and so are its lessons. There remains an ongoing struggle to find the right mix of housing support to reach the goals first expressed in this landmark legislation.     

农民工城市融合概念及对城市感知关系的影响——基于上海农民工的调查研究

数以亿计的农民工和谐融入城市是当前以及未来中国社会发展中的重大问题。为了研究文化融合、经济融合、政治融合和社会融合等诸方面的因素是如何影响农民工对城市的感知关系水平的,基于2010年在沪农民工的问卷调查数据,考察了农民工城市融合诸因素对城市感知关系(生活满意度、认同度、未来发展意愿)的影响。发现:文化融合程度越高,农民工对上海的认同程度就越高,也会更愿意留在上海发展,但其生活满意度未必越高;经济融合程度越高,城市生活满意度、城市认同度和未来留在上海发展的意愿都越高;政治融合只对未来发展意愿有影响;社会融合越高,农民工对城市的认同度越高,对生活也越满意。研究为政府引导和促进农民工和谐融入城市提供了新的视角。     

Beyond Neighborhood Quality: The Role of Residential Instability,Employment Access,and Location Affordability in Shaping Work Outcomes for HOPE VI Participants

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between neighborhood quality, residential instability, employment access, location affordability, and work outcomes among individuals relocated as part of the Boulevard Homes HOPE VI redevelopment in Charlotte, North Carolina. We found that, contrary to expectations, relocation to private-market units with vouchers, as compared with public housing, did not always result in better neighborhood outcomes. Whereas voucher holders relocated to better quality neighborhoods, relocatees who moved to other public housing lived in neighborhoods with better employment access and lower costs. We also found a positive correlation between locational affordability (housing + transportation costs) and work outcomes.     

Spotlight on the Main Actors: How Land Banks and Community Development Corporations Stabilize and Revitalize Cleveland Neighborhoods in the Aftermath of the Foreclosure Crisis

Cleveland, Ohio provides a useful case for examining and contrasting property transfer practices among certain key actors before, during, and after the foreclosure crisis. Transfers among key actors—Cleveland’s two land banks, the State of Ohio, Fannie Mae, investors, and community development corporations (CDCs)—differed considerably. This article empirically shows that inappropriate property transfer practices by financial institutions and speculator-type investors negatively impacted neighborhoods, compounding the damage brought on by the foreclosure crisis. By contrast, a case study of one of the hardest hit neighborhoods in Cleveland finds that the land banks and CDC are producing positive outcomes. A proactive land bank as a conduit and robust CDCs as a project promoter are an effective combination to cope with vacant and abandoned properties.     

Free Wheel,Free Will! The Effects of Bikeshare Systems on Urban Commuting Patterns in the U.S.

Urban bikeshare systems have become increasingly popular in the U.S. in recent years. In this paper, I examine the effects of bikeshare systems on patterns of commuting to and from work in U.S. cities. To study this, I link cities across 2008 through 2016 American Community Survey (ACS) data and estimate the effects of bikeshare systems using both individual-level ACS records and city panel data. Event-study estimates suggest that bikeshare systems lead to a rise in bicycle commuting to and from work, and the effects of bikeshare systems are statistically and economically significant. I also find evidence of modal shifts after the introduction of bikeshare systems: While bicycle commuting rates increase, there is a decline in automobile commuting to and from work.     

Beyond Worst Case Needs: Measuring the Breadth and Severity of Housing Insecurity Among Urban Renters

ABSTRACT

Many indicators of renter household insecurity remain widespread or have shown signs of worsening in the past decade, including unaffordability, poor unit conditions, overcrowding, and evictions. Most research to date has examined each of these conditions as a standalone problem, without examining the extent and severity of simultaneously occurring housing problems. This study closes that gap by examining the suitability of measuring housing insecurity as an index of multiple variables within four identified dimensions: unaffordability, poor conditions, overcrowding, and forced moves. Results show that dimensions of housing insecurity are highly correlated and suitable for measurement as an index. The proposed index shows that housing insecurity is widespread among U.S. renters, but varies greatly in severity and type.     

论患者知情同意权的行使与紧急救治的关系

随着公众观念的转变和法律意识的增强,医患之间的冲突已成为当今社会的一个突出矛盾。医疗纠纷多与患者知情同意权有关,在对患者知情同意权详细了解的基础上,重点分析紧急情况下患者的知情同意权与医生紧急救治措施实施之间的冲突,以期寻找到合理解决之道。     

两大法系检警关系及其借鉴

检警关系是刑事诉讼中的重要法律关系,科学构建检警关系对于打击犯罪和保障人权有着十分重要的意义。比较研究世界两大法系检警关系的基本模式和我国现行检警关系存在的问题,在甄别和借鉴的基础上,可构建符合我国国情的检警制度。     

The Dilemmas of Frontline Staff Working With the Homeless: Housing First,Discretion, and the Task Environment

This article examines staff discretion in permanent supportive housing facilities run by a nonprofit agency claiming to use a Housing First approach. Field observation, archival data, and individual and group interviews with staff and clients were examined to better understand agency processes involved in intake, sanctions, and disposal of clients to evaluate Housing First fidelity. In their day-to-day interactions with clients, frontline workers' discretion is affected by working conditions such as lack of resources and heavy workloads, as well as by demands placed on the agency by members of its task environment. Implications for Housing First programs and homeless clients are discussed.     

Homelessness Interventions in Georgia: Rapid Re-Housing,Transitional Housing,and the Likelihood of Returning to Shelter

Since 1987, billions of dollars in homeless assistance have been allocated annually by the U.S. federal government. Yet few evaluations of homelessness interventions exist. This study analyzes the likelihood that households in Georgia returned to shelter within two years of leaving one of three interventions: rapid re-housing (RRH), transitional housing (TH), and emergency shelter (ES), with the latter serving as a reference. Using propensity scores, RRH households were matched to comparable TH and ES households. Generalized linear mixed modeling then controlled for household characteristics as well as variation between intervention implementations. We find that the likelihood of returning to shelter did not seem to be affected by whether study households were gradually transitioned or rapidly placed into housing. Additionally, the effect of TH for households without children seems highly dependent on the intervention’s implementation, which deserves further study. Our findings are generalizable to a small, better resourced segment of the general homeless population.