Untangling Housing Cost and Transportation Interactions: The Location Affordability Index Model—Version 2 (LAIM2)

Abstract

It is now accepted that to have an understanding of housing affordability one must consider not only housing costs, but also the transportation costs associated with that household location. To make this information readily accessible to the public, the United States government created an Internet resource, the Location Affordability Portal – Version 2 (www.locationaffordability.info), to provide housing and transportation costs for every neighborhood in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Although the statistical model at the heart of this resource was designed for predictive accuracy, its design and parameter estimates can provide additional insights into the interaction of housing cost and transportation choices (and thus its cost). This study describes the development and explores the policy implications (and limitations) of this structural equations model, the Location Affordability Index Model – Version 2 (LAIM2).     

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.     

Colonia Housing Conditions in Model Subdivisions: A Déjà Vu for Policy Makers

The informal self-help settlements in Texas known as colonias have received considerable attention as a public policy problem at both the state and federal levels. These settlements proliferated throughout the border region since the late 1970s and research has highlighted the extreme poverty, austere levels of infrastructure, exploitative land sale practices, and poor housing conditions that characterized these settlements. However, both scholars and policymakers have overlooked the continued spread of self-help settlements known as “model subdivisions,” which barring the presence of basic water, wastewater, and electricity services, are nearly identical to colonias. We present the results of household surveys conducted with residents in 24 model subdivisions in Hidalgo County, Texas, in June 2014. The results suggest that, unbeknown to legislators, many of the problems that characterized colonias are now being reproduced in hundreds of model subdivisions that have formed since the 1990s, and which now require concerted attention and intervention by policy makers.     

Do Shrinking Cities Allow Redevelopment Without Displacement? An Analysis of Affordability Based on Housing and Transportation Costs for Redeveloping,Declining, and Stable Neighborhoods

Abstract

Plans and policies to combat or mitigate gentrification typically pursue affordable housing production and preservation as the primary mechanism to avoid displacement. However, it is unclear whether affordable housing financing mechanisms function as designed in weak market cities. As such, we question whether the housing-only approach is a complete one and whether increased transportation investments in redeveloping neighborhoods in shrinking cities can be leveraged to improve the lives of the poor. Our results suggest that funding for subsidized housing does not produce units affordable to the poor in declining cities, limiting the efficacy of a housing-only approach. Furthermore, we find that transportation costs make up a larger proportion of household budgets among families living in declining neighborhoods. These results suggest that transportation improvements—particularly those aimed at bicycling and pedestrian accessibility—may be the most efficient approach to mitigating displacement and improving quality of life for low-income households in shrinking cities.     

The road home: an examination of the successes and challenges of housing non-profits in New Orleans since Katrina

Hurricane Katrina claimed the lives of nearly 1000 Louisiana residents and damaged about 80% of the building stock in New Orleans. Unequal protection from the hurricane and uneven recovery patterns have left some communities (predominantly low-income and black) with few options to rebuild their homes. These factors have created a high demand for housing non-profits specializing in new construction as well as low-cost home repairs. Drawing from interviews with a number of stakeholders including non-profits completing home repairs and new construction for low-income residents, this article identifies the type, amount and target areas for work done by housing non-profits in post-Katrina New Orleans. Additionally, it identifies the challenges for future work and limitations in the non-profits’ ability to address housing inequity in New Orleans.     

完善我国城镇住房保障制度的思考

完善我国住房保障制度,是保障中低收入者的居住权,构建社会主义和谐社会的重要方面,需要从科学定位政府职能、增加经济适用房与廉租房的有效供给、完善福利住房保障体系、多渠道保障住房资金来源、制定相关的法律法规等方面,保证住房保障制度的建立与完善。     

夫妻房产约定的法律适用——基于我国约定夫妻财产制的考察

关于房产归属,夫妻之间可采夫妻财产约定形式加以变动,也可以订立赠与合同。前者与夫妻身份密切相关,具有附随身份的特性;后者内容及效力均与夫妻身份无关。在适用法律上,前者适用身份法,约定直接产生物权变动效力,即使未变更登记也无任意撤销权行使余地;后者适用财产法,未变更登记之前赠与方可以撤销赠与。夫妻之间订立的内容不明确的房产变动协议,其性质应推定为夫妻财产约定。     

住宅价格如何影响城镇居民消费——基于状态空间模型的研究

基于时变参数状态空间模型,利用1999年到2016年的季度数据测算了我国住宅价格对城镇居民消费影响的时变特征。结果表明,我国住宅价格对消费的影响整体上呈现微弱的财富效应,住宅价格的MPC位于0.0543到0.1155之间。2004年之前住宅价格上升对消费的影响波动剧烈,2004年后大致呈现先上升,2013年后开始下降的“倒U”型趋势。这说明近年来房价上升对消费的挤出效应迅速增强。鉴于此,从挤出效应传导机制入手,政府应该谨慎平稳调整房价、增加保障性住房供给,并提高城镇化进行中外来人口收入。     

我国保障性住房制度建设的进展、 问题与对策简

我国的保障性住房制度建设起步于上世纪90年代末,在2005年以后进入快速发展和不断完善阶段.建设保障性住房是弥补市场缺陷、减少社会矛盾、实现社会公平、促进社会和谐的重要战略举措之一,各级政府部门在其中扮演着重要角色,担负着重要职责.当前,我国在保障性住房制度建设方面还存在供需矛盾尖锐,法律体系建设滞后,配套政策成效有限,监管体制机制匮乏等问题.因此,充分发挥市场机制的主导作用,建立健全相关的法律法规体系,高度重视配套政策体系化建设,加快监管体制机制建设步伐,是进一步推进我国保障性住房制度建设的着力点.     

拍卖、招标在国有建设用地使用权出让中的利弊研究

抑制房价过快上涨一直是当前宏观调控的重要目标之一。而地价作为组成房价的重要部分,其上涨状况直接关系到房价的调控效果。针对目前地价不断上涨的状况,国家草拟了《深化国有建设用地有偿使用制度改革实施方案》,已上报国务院审批实施。文件的主要内容是要对当前国有土地出让手段中拍卖和招标的比例进行调整,降低拍卖在土地出让总量中的比例、提高招标的比例,希望通过这一手段起到抑制地价的作用。然而,地价的上涨是一个复杂的过程,拍卖和招标作为两种出让手段,确实在其中发挥了一定的作用,但是其对地价的真正影响仍需要检验。同时,考虑到二者在出让过程中公开性上的差异,笔者认为,不能轻易调整二者比例,而是需要经过详细的比较验证过程。本文拟通过比较拍卖、招标两种土地出让方式在对推动地价上涨的效果、出让过程的公开透明度以及对土地价值实现程度的影响程度,分析推动地价上涨的其他原因,进而客观评价拍卖、招标作为出让手段的利弊,同时对当前政策给出相关建议。