Tag: explainer
Q: Can Supporting Community Development Improve Outcomes for the Health Sector?
Yes! Over 50 percent of premature deaths in the U.S. can be attributed to preventable non-medical factors, specifically behavioral, environmental, and social conditions.
Q: Do Rent Regulations Make the Housing Crisis Worse?
A: No! Despite common fears, decades of evidence shows that rent regulation doesn't restrict housing supply and quality.
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Q: Is It Time to Bury Racially Loaded Planning and Development...
Shelterforce has gathered some racially loaded terms that are common in our field. We suggest you use these sparingly and carefully, if at all.
Q: Is scattered-site rehab always more expensive than new construction?
A: No! A long-running program in Philadelphia is showing that scattered site rehab can be cheaper and have a larger revitalizing effect at the same time.
Q: Do economic development incentives support small businesses?
A. Not very much. Despite the claims of many states, when you look at the numbers, the vast majority of taxpayer dollars directed to economic development go to big corporations.
Q: Why don’t low-income families save?
A. Actually they do! However, they tend to be saving for the short term, rather than the long term.
Q: Isn’t the foreclosure crisis over?
A: Not for everyone. Even after significant recovery, most of the country still has record high levels of . . .
Q: Do inclusionary housing requirements make housing prices go up for...
A: No, they do not. Market-rate developers are business people. They charge as much as the market will bear. When housing prices go up . . .
Q: Do Immigrants “Take Our Jobs”?
A: No! This is a common fear, especially for people who are already struggling to get by. But it’s not true. Here are the facts:
Q: Do inclusionary zoning requirements halt development?
A: No! Research shows that hasn't been the case. And here's what local officials in places that have implemented it had to say . . .
Q: Do Section 8 Voucher Holders Increase Crime in a Neighborhood?
A: No! This is a perennial fear, but research shows that additional voucher holders don't change the crime rate at all. However it does show that . . .
Q: Is a Land Bank the Same as a Land Trust?
A: Nope. They are totally different, though complementary tools. This chart will walk you through the differences.
Q: Are manufactured homes a bad form of affordable housing?
A: Not any more! There are many myths out there about manufactured (or "mobile") homes, but in fact they can be a very important source of quality affordable housing...
Q: Why doesn’t the market produce enough affordable housing where people...
A: The market is supposed to meet demand, but the importance of location, location, location, plus other factors, keep this from working for affordable housing.
Q: Does Affordable Housing Development Lower Nearby Property Values?
A. No. No. No. Are 56 studies enough no for you?
Q: What’s the Point of Shared-Equity Homeownership in Weak Market Areas?
Shared-equity homeownership is best known as a tool to fight displacement in hot-market areas. But in fact, it has many advantages in weak-market areas too.
Q: Does Shared-Equity Homeownership Build Assets?
A: Yes! And keeps them safer than traditional homeownership does.
Q: Did the housing crisis prove low-income people can’t be successful...
No! Two at-scale, long-term lending programs show that if the process is done right, low-income homeowners can be as successful as prime borrowers--or more.