Research Library

HousingForward Virginia’s Research Library is sorted by topic and geographic focus. All our resources can be sorted by geographic category: National, Virginia, and Other States. Our resources span some of the best and most widely cited housing and related research that is publicly available online. Our database is always growing as recent studies and reports are added, so please check back often.


Research
Policy Report: New Policies to Re-Integrate School Systems

In the decades since Civil Rights-era desegregation policies, school systems have become increasingly more segregated, leading to concentrated poverty and a cycle of poverty. This report is a policy proposal to re-integrate school systems in an attempt to fulfill the promise of the desegregation policies of the past.

Read More
Research
Norfolk Plan to Reduce Poverty

Norfolk's poverty rate was double the national average and in 2014 the City issued a comprehensive, holistic approach to address concentrated poverty and the cycle of poverty in Norfolk. The report develops concrete steps the City will undertake to alleviate poverty through education, workforce development and neighborhood revitalization.

Read More
Research
Rental Housing Discrimination on the Basis of Mental Disabilities: Results of Pilot Testing

Rental Housing Discrimination on the Basis of Mental Disabilities: Results of Pilot Testing finds that when compared to people without mental disabilities, those persons who are living with mental disabilities receive fewer responses to their rental inquiries, are informed of fewer available units, and are less likely to be invited to contact the housing provider. In addition, HUD’s study found that they are less likely to be invited to tour an available unit, are more likely to be steered to a different unit than the one advertised, and are treated differently depending on their type of disability.

Read More
Research
How Federal Dollars are Spent: The Case for New Priorities

This Terwilliger Foundation report reveals the striking imbalance of current federal housing assistance, where most of the benefits accrue to higher income households. It notes that the median income of homeowner households ($68,797) is more than double the median income of renter households ($33,784), but renters receive none of benefits of mortgage-related tax expenditures and most of these expenditures go to higher income homeowners.

Read More
Research
Preserving Affordability and Access in Livable Communities: Subsidized Housing Opportunities near Transit and the 50+ Population

This study analyzes the location of affordable housing in 20 metropolitan areas by mapping federally subsidized rental apartments in each area and measuring the amount of affordable housing within certain distances of transit. The study uses five areas as case studies—including site visits and interviews with residents 50 and older—to provide more information on the challenges and benefits of different locations of affordable housing.

Read More
Research
Increasing Home Access: Designing for Visitability

Visitability initiatives that support aging independently in one's home and community are the subject of this AARP Public Policy Institute Research Report. Authors Jordana Maisel and Edward Steinfeld of the Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access (IDEA) and Eleanor Smith of Concrete Change discuss the barriers to visitability implementation and opportunities for further acceptance of these design parameters in the construction of new homes.

Read More
Research
New Jersey Future Assessment of the NJ LIHTC Program

To evaluate whether those changes had their intended effect, New Jersey Future compared affordable housing projects that received federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) between 2005 and 2012 with projects that received credits between 2013 and 2015, after the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (NJHMFA), which administers the tax credits, made significant changes to the criteria it uses to award them.

Read More
Research
Urban Blight and Public Health

This Urban Institute report synthesizes recent studies on the complexities of how blight affects the health of individuals and neighborhoods while offering a blend of policy and program recommendations to help guide communities in taking a more holistic and coordinated approach, such as expanding the use of health impact assessments, tracking health outcomes, and infusing public health into housing policies, codes and practices.

Read More
Research
Not Telling the Whole Story: Media and Advocacy Discourse about Affordable Housing

The stories Americans hear about affordable housing can create opportunities for change or impede progress in the policy arena. FrameWorks researchers conducted a systematic analysis of the frames used by the media and by influential housing reform organizations. The result is a carefully drawn map of the narratives in play—with directions for navigating it strategically.

Read More
Research
Boston Residential Investigation on Green and Healthy Transitions (BRIGHT) Study

For more than 15 years, Boston Housing Authority (BHA) has executed efforts to improve residents’ health through changes in environment and behavior. One of these initiatives was the Boston Residential Investigation on Green and Healthy Transitions (BRIGHT) study, a collaborative effort with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Committee for Boston Public Housing to measure the impact of healthy housing features and practices on resident health, satisfaction, and comfort. The study compared the health of residents living in the old housing with residents’ health in new units with healthy housing features and practices. The redeveloped housing included smoke-free housing policies, improved ventilation, and tight building envelopes.

Read More

Can’t find what you’re looking for?
Contact us for more info.