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Housing Characteristics of Small and Mid-Sized Cities
In this post, we examine the population and housing characteristics in small and mid-sized cities in order to better understand their potentially unique needs and solutions. We focus on key indicators used to assess local housing needs and guide housing policy strategies and compare them across small, small-mid, mid-sized, and large cities. For these four groups of cities, we examine average population changes, rent levels and rent burdens by income, racial gaps in homeownership, and principal city/suburban rent differences.
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News & Events
Under One Roof: Building an Abolitionist Approach to Housing Justice
The NYU Furman Center hosted this virtual event, comprised of two panel discussions. The first panel provided a history and overview of abolitionist concepts, from the end of chattel slavery to present day impacts of American segregation. The second panel explored the application of an abolitionist lens to address racial injustice in the field of housing policy today.
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Data Update: Eviction Filings in New York City as Some Renter Protections Expire
In late September, we analyzed the magnitude of a potential deluge of eviction filings caused by pandemic-related income losses. Although the “tsunami” has thankfully not yet materialized and the volume of filings and evictions remains significantly below previous year levels, New York City housing courts are once again accepting filings, scheduling hearings, allowing parties to default, and executing warrants of eviction.
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News & Events
Policy Breakfast: Reforming State Zoning for Affordability, Integration, and Growth
The NYU Furman Center hosted a two-part virtual policy breakfast series reviewing efforts across the country to tackle exclusionary zoning, and discussing the lessons these initiatives hold for New York.
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Rental Assistance Need in Five of New York’s Mid-Sized Cities
Analyses of housing and urban policy often overlook renters in small and mid-sized cities. In this post, we pay special attention to this population by examining the impact of COVID-19 on renters in Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Yonkers, five critical regional anchors in New York State. We estimate the rental assistance need of renters who work in vulnerable occupations in these mid-sized cities.
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Research & Policy
Breaking Barriers, Boosting Supply
The Urban Institute’s Opportunity for All project aims to promote federal strategies that support strong and inclusive neighborhoods. In one of the project’s briefs, “Breaking Barriers, Boosting Supply,” Furman Center Faculty Director Ingrid Gould Ellen and the Urban Institute’s Solomon Greene advocate for the federal government to tie state funding opportunities to local affordable housing goals. They highlight the potential for national policy reform to incentivize communities to take action in improving land use and zoning regulations, ultimately allowing for more affordable housing and healthier, more diverse neighborhoods.
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Data Updates
Data Update: Eviction Filings in NYC Since COVID-19
The economic fallout from COVID-19 has led to fears of a “tsunami” of eviction filings, with an estimated 735,000 households having lost employment income in New York City as of early June. In this post, we summarize key data that provide insights into recent trends in eviction filings in New York City housing courts. Since March, a combination of federal, state, and local orders has limited the eviction process, and prevented the worst-case scenario thus far.
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Research & Policy
Gentrification and the Health of Legacy Residents
Given the well-researched connection between neighborhoods and health outcomes, it seems a reasonable assumption that gentrification has an impact on residents’ health. This is the topic of “Gentrification and the Health of Legacy Residents,” written by NYU Furman Center Faculty Director Ingrid Gould Ellen and Graduate Researcher Alexis Captanian, published in Health Affairs. In the article, Ellen and Captanian review existing literature on the effects of gentrification to explore how it might influence individual health outcomes for low-income households who stay in place even as the neighborhoods around them change.
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Research & Policy
Allocation of the Limited Subsidies for Public Housing
Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) face higher demand for their units than their available stock. This means that waiting lists are long and policies to prioritize access to certain groups become a crucial tool to allocate housing in a way that benefits the ones who most need it. This post describes the findings of the brief “Allocation of the Limited Subsidies for Public Housing”, that analyzes the effect of local priority systems in the type of households that benefit from this housing option.
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Research & Policy
Housing Justice in the Pandemic Age
In the wake of the pandemic, New York State housing courts shut down in early March. Governor Cuomo’s “New York State on Pause” executive order as well as internal directives prevented new eviction filings through June 20, and since then limitations on new filings have been gradually eased. These limitations included the suspension of evictions and residential foreclosures. Housing courts across the state have reopened, posing greater risk of increased evictions and COVID-19 transmission. There are several safety measures policymakers should consider to reduce this risk.
