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Housing

How Hidden Property Owners and Bad Landlord Patterns Are Revealed in NYC

Housing tools in New York City demystify building ownership information and help renters, policymakers, and housing advocates spot and address problematic landlord behavior. Could tech-savvy groups outside The Big Apple replicate these tools in their communities?

An aerial view of East Palo Alto.
Housing

How Rent Control Helped Create East Palo Alto

The story of East Palo Alto’s incorporation is one marked by great contention among local stakeholders, but also provides valuable lessons for organizers in forging and mobilizing local coalitions.

HUD

Making Homeownership Work Better

Programs that help households of color buy homes haven’t made much of a dent in the racial wealth gap. But some strategies could generate better outcomes for buyers.

Opinion

Rethinking Homeownership Incentives to Shrink the Racial Wealth Gap

This set of federal tax policy recommendations could support first-time homebuyers, enable renters and owners to save money, and help close the wealth gap.

aerial view of suburban development
Homeownership

Increased Homeownership Won’t Close the Racial Wealth Gap

Despite the hopes pinned on it, homeownership is currently too affected by racism at every turn to be an equalizer.

Screenshot from game of a young Black woman holding a glowing key
Review

Dot’s Home, a Computer Game, Addresses History of Housing Discrimination

A new video game aims to educate players on the various housing barriers facing Black Americans through history. How well does it do that?

From the Field

Property Tax Relief Programs Don’t Reach Many Homeowners of Color

Property tax relief programs can be essential for helping older and lower-income homeowners keep their homes. But access to them isn’t universal, or equitable.

Housing

A Home’s True Worth—Getting Beyond Appraisal Bias

Homes owned by people of color are appraised for less than identical homes owned by white families. Nationwide, that’s led to more than $150 billion in lost equity. How can we stop appraisal bias?

Housing

When the Unemployed Fought Back

During the Great Depression, unemployed people organized and put their lives on the line to keep each other in their homes.

Housing

What if Vouchers Aren’t the (Only) Answer?

Rather than continue to find ways to make Section 8 work better, some affordable housing and tenant advocates argue the federal government should instead invest heavily in addressing the affordable housing shortage at its root.

Equity

Rethinking the Racial Wealth Gap With Anne Price

A lot of conversations about the racial wealth gap focuses too much on homeownership as the only solution. It’s much more complex. Shelterforce’s Miriam Axel-Lute talks with Anne Price, president of the Insight Center for Community Economic Development.

Housing

Does RAD Privatize Public Housing?

How exactly does HUD’s Rental Assistance Demonstration program work and why is there a raging debate over whether it’s putting tenants’ rights and housing affordability in peril?