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Housing
Housing matters. A stable, quality, affordable home is a foundation for so many other parts of life. How do we bring it in reach for everyone?
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Affordable Housing Financing Is Overpriced, But It Doesn’t Have to Be
Affordable housing construction finance reflects market norms, but its track record shows it’s far less risky than conventional market-rate housing loans. While lower default rates should lead to lower interest rates, they currently do not.
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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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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?
