Publications Policy Briefs
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Policy Brief
Distribution of the Burden of New York City’s Property Tax
The analysis from the 2011 State of New York City’s Housing and Neighborhoods report finds that owners of New York City’s large rental apartments are subject to a higher effective property tax rate than owners of one- to three-family homes, and bear a disproportionate share of the city’s overall property tax burden. Condominiums and cooperative apartments also are subject to much lower effective tax rates than rental properties with similar characteristics.
The Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy. May 2012.
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Policy Brief
Searching for the Right Spot: Minimum Parking Requirements and Housing Affordability in New York City
The policy brief examines New York City’s minimum residential parking requirements in communities throughout the city and explores the possible effects on housing affordability and on the city’s sustainability goals. The brief finds that the requirements may be causing developers to supply more off-street parking spaces than they expect tenants and homebuyers to demand, potentially driving up the cost of housing and promoting inefficient car ownership.
Vicki Been, Caitlyn Brazill, Josiah Madar, Simon McDonnell. March 2012.
affordable housing, housing prices, land use, parking, zoning
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Policy Brief
Foreclosure and Kids: Does Losing Your Home Mean Losing Your School?
The second in a two-part series on the effects of the foreclosure crisis on children, this report addresses the relationship between foreclosure and student mobility. New York University’s Institute for Education and Social Policy (IESP) and Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy find that New York City public school students living in buildings entering foreclosure are more likely to switch schools than their peers, less likely to leave the school system, and that their new schools tend to be lower performing than the ones they left.
Vicki Been, Ingrid Gould Ellen, Amy Ellen Schwartz, Leanna Stiefel, Meryle Weinstein. April 2011.
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Policy Brief
Kids and Foreclosures: New York City
While researchers have noted the deleterious effects of foreclosure on surrounding properties and neighborhoods, little is known about the effects of foreclosure on children. This report by researchers at New York University’s Institute for Education and Social Policy (IESP) and Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy begins to address the issue by estimating the number of students in New York City affected by the current foreclosure crisis.
Vicki Been, Ingrid Gould Ellen, Amy Ellen Schwartz, Leanna Stiefel, Meryle Weinstein. October 2010.
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Policy Brief
How Have Recent Rezonings Affected the City’s Ability to Grow?
How Have Recent Rezonings Affected the City’s Ability to Grow? is the first comprehensive statistical analysis of the City’s rezoning strategy. The report examines the net impact of the 76 rezonings initiated by the City between 2003 and 2007. It finds that, of the 188,000 rezoned lots citywide, 86% were rezoned to reduce or limit new development through either a downzoning or a contextual-only rezoning. Nevertheless, the 14% of lots that were upzoned resulted in a net gain of 100 million square feet of new capacity citywide. The report explores the likelihood that this new capacity will be developed for residential use, and examines the characteristics of neighborhoods that gained new capacity and of those that lost capacity.
Amy Armstrong, Vicki Been, Josiah Madar, Simon McDonnell. March 2010.
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Policy Brief
The High Cost of Segregation: The Relationship Between Racial Segregation and Subprime Lending
This study examines whether the likelihood that borrowers of different races received a subprime loan varied depending on the level of racial segregation where they live. It looks both at the role of racial segregation in metropolitan areas across the country and at the role that neighborhood demographics within communities in New York City played.
Amy Armstrong, Vicki Been, Ingrid Gould Ellen, Josiah Madar. November 2009.
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Policy Brief
Public Housing and Public Schools: How Do Students Living in NYC Public Housing Fare in School?
This report examines the school performance of children living in NYCHA housing and finds that children living in NYCHA housing perform less well on standardized math and reading tests than other students, even after controlling for the characteristics of the individual students and the schools they attend.
Amy Armstrong, Ingrid Gould Ellen, Brian McCabe, Amy Ellen Schwartz. November 2008.
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Policy Brief
The Impact of Supportive Housing on Surrounding Neighborhoods: Evidence from New York City
This study on the neighborhood impacts of supportive housing examines the effects that 123 supportive housing developments across New York City’s five boroughs have had on surrounding property values over an 18-year period.
Amy Armstrong, Vicki Been, Ingrid Gould Ellen, Michael Gedal, Ioan Voicu. November 2008.
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Policy Brief
The Effects of Inclusionary Zoning on Local Housing Markets
This study evaluates the impact of Inclusionary Zoning policies on housing markets in the San Francisco, Washington D.C. and suburban Boston areas. The analysis provides local decision-makers with valuable evidence on the impacts of IZ—a popular but often-controversial affordable housing policy. The policy brief includes an update from February 2010, summarizing additional research that has been completed since the original publication in March, 2008.
Amy Armstrong, Vicki Been, Rachel Meltzer, Jenny Schuetz. March 2008.
affordable housing, housing prices, inclusionary zoning, land use
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Policy Brief
The Benefits of Business Improvement Districts: Evidence from New York City
This study is the first large-scale study of the impact of Business Improvement Districts on commercial property values. The report explores what these findings mean and how they can be used to better understand the role these organizations play in local economic development.
Amy Armstrong, Ingrid Gould Ellen, Amy Ellen Schwartz, Ioan Voicu. July 2007.
business improvement districts, economic development, property values
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