Winter 2018-19
Issue #193
Housing Markets
After the housing crash of 2008, one of the pieces of wisdom many people said we had learned from it was that there wasn’t “a national housing market,” but rather a whole bunch of very different regional markets and neighborhood submarkets. Like many lessons, it may have only been partially absorbed, however. Thanks to the big-data work of researchers like Raj Chetty, there is significant widespread understanding about the vast differences in life outcomes that statistically come with different neighborhoods. The housing markets in these regions and neighborhoods also differ. And yet, as prices skyrocket in popular, high-profile cities (and a small handful of neighborhoods in other places), there's a growing assumption that that’s what’s happening, or about to happen, everywhere. In this issue we look at many different kinds of housing markets and their implication for our work.
Seniors Cannot Age in Place Without Access to Oral Health Services
Maintaining good health—including good oral health—as long as possible is a critical component of aging in place.
(The Urgent Case for) Middle Neighborhoods, One of the Most Overlooked Assets in America
Middle neighborhoods are places where home prices are generally affordable to the average household. But, these neighborhoods are often on the edge between growth and decline.
What Happens When a CDC Pivots to a Health-First Focus?
Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation in Cleveland finds that being an early adopter of a community health focus has its advantages.
Vermont’s SASH Program Keeps Seniors in their Homes
The statewide program connects elderly residents with community-based services and saves money in urban areas by reducing emergency room and specialist visits.
The Struggle for Housing in Los Angeles: A Review of City of Segregation
Andrea Gibbons’ City of Segregation shows why empowering capitalist processes and actors is the last thing we should do to fight gentrification.
What We Don’t Know About Development and Displacement
The data on the relationship between new development, affordability, and displacement is not nearly as clear-cut as advocates (of all persuasions) often imply.
Q: Does Airbnb Cause Rents to Increase?
A: Yes! Since hosts can make 50 to 200 percent more on short-term rentals than on long-term rentals, Airbnb affects purchase prices as well.
Millennials and the Affordability Crisis: A Review of Generation Priced Out
As tenant struggles become a bigger focus of activist recruitment, Randy Shaw’s new book, Generation Priced Out, is an essential organizing guide.
Injecting Racial Equity into an Election Cycle in St. Louis
A group of 10 St. Louis organizations joined together to encourage mayoral candidates to address racial equity and make it a focal point in an election.
Single-Family Subsidies Are Needed Outside Hot Markets
There isn’t a tax credit program available to spur investment in single-family residential neighborhoods, but an alliance of national real estate, housing, community development, lending, and construction organizations is working to change that.
Preserving Affordable Housing by Buying, Not Building
Two organizations are quietly furthering income integration in higher-income Chicago neighborhoods without new development.
Medicaid Dollars for Housing?
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary says his department is exploring ideas to pay for non-health services like housing and nutrition with Medicaid, but it’s unclear whether that would, or could, actually happen.
Why Voters Haven’t Been Buying the Case for Building
It’s not because they’re stupid. If we want to convince people, we need to stop yelling and start listening.
YIMBY, White Privilege, and the Soul of Our Cities
A common narrative being promoted about why there is a housing crisis ignores history and serves to assuage new residents’ guilty feelings. But we can craft a new narrative together.
YIMBYs: Friend, Foe, or Chaos Agent?
The relationship between pro-building “Yes in My Back Yard” activists, longtime housing advocates, and anti-displacement organizers varies across the country, but has often been fraught with difficulties. Is there a way forward?
Whose Affordable Housing Crisis?
Being priced out of appreciating neighborhoods is not the housing affordability problem most Americans face. But they are facing one.
Housing Markets Vary—So Must Our Tactics
There is widespread understanding about the vast differences in life outcomes that statistically come with different neighborhoods.