Subsidized affordable housing development reduces costs for lower-income households directly. It also reduces costs indirectly, by increasing the overall supply of housing — or does it? Michael Eriksen joins to discuss the issue of “crowd out” in affordable housing production. Show notes: Eriksen, M. D., & Rosenthal, S. S. (2010). Crowd out effects of place-based subsidized rental housing: New evidence from the LIHTC program . Journal of Public Economics, 94(11-12), 953-966. Cummings, J. L.,...
Apr 03, 2024•57 min•Season 3Ep. 11
In this final installment of the Pathways Home series on homelessness policy and research, we discuss lessons and key takeaways from the previous seven episodes with our UCLA colleague, Janey Rountree. Show notes: Click here to find all eight episodes of the Pathways Home limited series on homelessness. Blackwell, B., & Santillano, R. (2023). Do Time-Limited Subsidy Programs Reduce Homelessness for Single Adults? California Policy Lab....
Mar 06, 2024•1 hr 8 min•Season 3Ep. 10
Since 2009, homelessness among U.S. veterans has fallen by more than half. Among the overall population, it hasn’t budged. Monica Diaz and Shawn Liu of the Department of Veterans Affairs share some of the story behind the VA's success. Show notes: Read more about the VA Homeless Programs Office at their website. Khadduri, J., de Sousa, T., Andrichik, A., Prestera, E., Rush, K., Tano, C., and Wheeler, M. (2023). The 2023 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress. Part 1: Point-In-T...
Feb 21, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Season 3Ep. 9
The Housing First approach starts with providing homes to chronically unhoused people, but it doesn’t stop there — and that’s what makes it so effective. Tim Aubry shares findings from a major Housing First study and the keys to a successful program. Show notes: Goering, P., Veldhuizen, S., Watson, A., Adair, C., Kopp, B., Latimer, E., Nelson, G., MacNaughton, E., Streiner, D., Rabouin, D., Ly, A., Powell, G., & Aubry, T., (2014). National Final Report: Cross-Site At Home/Chez Soi Project . ...
Feb 07, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Season 3Ep. 8
What happens when you provide unhoused people with a large sum of money? Jiaying Zhao shares the results of a study in Vancouver, BC, which include reduced shelter use, more spending on food and rent, and no increase in spending on “temptation goods” like drugs and alcohol. Show notes: Dwyer, R., Palepu, A., Williams, C., Daly-Grafstein, D., & Zhao, J. (2023). Unconditional cash transfers reduce homelessness . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(36), e2222103120. Mullainatha...
Jan 24, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Season 3Ep. 7
“We have the resources, as a society, to prevent and end homelessness. And the knowledge.” Beth Shinn discusses the Family Options Study, which found that long-term housing subsidies, like housing vouchers, led to much better outcomes at similar cost compared to rapid rehousing, transitional housing, and “usual care.” Show notes: Gubits, D., Shinn, M., Wood, M., Bell, S., Dastrup, S., Solari, C., Brown, S., McInnis, D., McCall, T., & Kattel, U. (2016). Family options study: 3-year impacts of...
Jan 10, 2024•56 min•Season 3Ep. 6
In Los Angeles County, unhoused people living in cars, trucks, and RVs outnumber those in tents and makeshift shelters by 50%, yet vehicular homelessness receives relatively little attention. Many cities don’t even measure or report on it — at least not yet. The Lewis Center’s Madeline Brozen joins to discuss her research on the distinct demographics and experiences of unhoused people living out of their vehicles, and the promise of safe parking programs to support the transition back into stabl...
Dec 27, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Season 3Ep. 5
Many people think they know about the lives of people experiencing homelessness, but those perceptions are often based on anecdote. Margot Kushel, MD joins us to talk about her work on the largest representative study of homelessness since the 1990s, and what it says about who experiences homelessness, why they become homeless, their experiences while living without housing, and barriers to re-entering stable housing. Show notes: Kushel, M., & Moore, T. (2023). Towards a New Understanding: T...
Dec 13, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Season 3Ep. 4
Part one of Pathways Home, a six-part series on homelessness. Gregg Colburn, author of Homelessness is a Housing Problem, dispels myths about the causes of homelessness and identifies two key risk factors that explain why rates vary so much between cities: high rents and low vacancies. Show notes: Colburn, G., & Aldern, C. P. (2022). Homelessness is a Housing Problem: How structural factors explain US patterns . University of California Press. O’Flaherty, B. (2004). Wrong person and wrong pl...
Nov 29, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Season 3Ep. 3
The federal government passed the Fair Housing Act more than 50 years ago. In that time considerable progress has been made at reducing discrimination in the housing market, but the law’s mandate to “affirmatively further fair housing” and reverse patterns of segregation has been only lightly enforced. Katherine O’Regan of NYU, and formerly of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, joins Mike and Shane to talk about the legacy of the Fair Housing Act, the changing nature of neighbor...
Nov 15, 2023•1 hr 3 min
Housing scarcity is linked to higher rents and house prices, but it’s rarely connected to the cost and reach of safety net programs — and it should be. Kevin Corinth joins to share his research on how increasing housing production in supply-constrained cities can help the government serve many more households with rent assistance. Show notes: Corinth, K., & Irvine, A. (2023). JUE Insight: The Effect of Relaxing Local Housing Market Regulations on Federal Rental Assistance Programs . Journal ...
Nov 01, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Season 3Ep. 2
Does discretion delay development, or do deliberate decisions divert disaster? Paavo and Mike M. share new Lewis Center research comparing approval timelines for discretionary and by-right projects, and they discuss the consequences of slow and uncertain approval processes for housing production, affordability, and public trust. Show notes: Manville, M., Monkkonen, P., Gray, N., & Phillips, S. (2023). Does Discretion Delay Development? The Impact of Approval Pathways on Multifamily Housing’s...
Oct 18, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Season 3Ep. 1
How does the neighborhood you live in affect your health? Craig Pollack, MD, joins to discuss the relationship between neighborhood poverty and asthma symptoms, the medical establishment’s growing role in the housing sector, and how better housing policy can lead to improved public health. Show notes: Pollack, C. E., Roberts, L. C., Peng, R. D., Cimbolic, P., Judy, D., Balcer-Whaley, S., ... & Matsui, E. C. (2023). Association of a Housing Mobility Program With Childhood Asthma Symptoms and ...
Sep 06, 2023•59 min•Season 2Ep. 32
The modern mortgage: fixed-rate, low interest, 30-year term, 80% loan-to-value, amortizing. It wouldn’t exist without the backing of the federal government, but how and why was it created? And what were the consequences for the housing market and broader economy? Judge Glock joins us to share the surprising history of the modern home mortgage, the strange bedfellows who fought for its creation, and its relationship to a century of bank bailouts. Show notes: Glock, J. E. (2021). The Dead Pledge: ...
Aug 23, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Season 2Ep. 31
Studies in Latin America show that “secure tenure” —- protections against displacement by the government — can encourage resident-led development and economic growth in slum areas, as well as improve public health. Is the same true in the African context? And what happens if the government also provides quality, affordable housing along with secure tenure? Singumbe Muyeba joins us to share the results of his research on a slum upgrading program in Nairobi, Kenya. Show notes: Muyeba, S. (2023). P...
Aug 09, 2023•58 min•Season 2Ep. 30
Condos don’t cause gentrification; gentrification causes condos. That’s the verdict of Leah Boustan and Robert Margo, who come on the show to discuss their research on condominium conversion restrictions in US cities. In addition to their research results, we talk about the (surprisingly short) history of condo ownership, the unintended consequences of condo restrictions, and the way other policies like HOA governance and rent control influence the popularity of owner-occupied multifamily housin...
Jul 26, 2023•50 min•Season 2Ep. 29
In our last episode we talked with Vinit Mukhija about how informal and incremental development is reshaping single-family housing cities in the Global North. This time Prof. Mukhija is back, getting into the weeds of the policies and politics driving those changes. What are the keys to successful accessory dwelling unit and second unit housing policy, and how do we find the right balance between local control and the intervention of state legislatures? Show notes: Mukhija, V. (2022). Remaking t...
Jul 12, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Season 2Ep. 28
Does your neighbor have an unpermitted home in their backyard? It’s more likely than you think, and it may be filling a valuable niche in the housing market. Vinit Mukhija of the UCLA Dept. of Urban Planning joins us to talk about his new book, Remaking the American Dream , and how informal and incremental housing is reshaping single-family neighborhoods. This is part one of a two-part series; in part two we’ll get into the weeds on accessory dwelling units (aka backyard cottages, granny flats, ...
Jun 28, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Season 2Ep. 27
We spend billions of dollars on affordable housing development every year, but many units lose their protections and return to market prices after a few decades. Why do we do things this way? Annette Kim joins us to discuss this problem, community land trusts as a strategy for solving it, and the benefits and obstacles to scaling them up. Show notes: Kim, A. M., & Eisenlohr, A. (2022). Community Land Trusts for Sustainably Affordable Rental Housing Redevelopment . Cityscape, 24(1), 233-256. ...
Jun 14, 2023•53 min•Season 2Ep. 26
Where are evictions most common? You might assume the answer is gentrifying neighborhoods, but evictions are actually most prevalent in areas of concentrated, persistent disadvantage. Joined by co-author (and regular co-host) Mike Lens, Kyle Nelson discusses his research on two eviction types in Southern California — court-based “at-fault” evictions and administrative “no-fault” evictions — including the different motivations behind them, where they’re distributed, and how we might prevent them....
Jun 01, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Season 2Ep. 25
In the years leading up to the Global Financial Crisis, Spain’s housing prices doubled and its immigrant population increased by 1000%. How did immigrants fare when the market crashed? Carlos Delclós joins us to discuss the “citizen gradient” among Spanish citizens, EU citizens living in Spain, and non-EU citizens and how citizenship status influences housing precarity and displacement outcomes. Show notes: Delclós, C. (2022). The burden of the border: Precarious citizenship experiences in the w...
May 17, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Season 2Ep. 24
It’s difficult to sustain a social housing program, but it’s even harder to build one from scratch. Housing Europe, a coalition of social, public, and cooperative housing providers, is trying to do both. Sorcha Edwards, who serves as Secretary General of Housing Europe, joins us to share their efforts to expand the footprint of non-profit and limited-profit housing across the continent — maintaining established programs like those in Austria and Finland, and growing them in places like Spain, wh...
May 03, 2023•52 min•Season 2Ep. 23
Housing is the largest source of wealth for most U.S. households, and wealth influences household decisions and opportunities in myriad ways. One is work: when people experience a significant loss of wealth, such as during an economic recession, they may remain in the workforce longer than planned, or even come out of retirement and return to work. But housing wealth is different from a stock portfolio or other assets, and previous research has failed to establish clear links between rising or f...
Apr 19, 2023•53 min•Season 2Ep. 22
Does gentrification lead to increased displacement of vulnerable low-income households? To date, research findings have been surprisingly mixed. One explanation may be that most gentrification studies focus on individual cities, which vary substantially from place to place, or the entire U.S., which may overlook local or regional differences. Hyojung Lee joins us to discuss his new study with coauthor Kristin Perkins which categorizes the country into eight unique geographies according to shared...
Apr 05, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Season 2Ep. 21
Manufactured housing is the largest source of unsubsidized affordable housing in the U.S., and one of the only ways that low-income households are able to access homeownership. Due to a mix of public policies and social stigma, these homes are often found in manufactured housing communities, colloquially known as mobile home parks or trailer parks — and in recent years, these communities have increasingly been under threat by predatory investors or by closures, whether for redevelopment or other...
Mar 22, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Season 2Ep. 20
In 2016, Auckland, New Zealand did something nearly unprecedented in the English-speaking world: It upzoned the majority of land in the city, and not just for three or four units per parcel. They went much further than that, and by one estimate increased the legal capacity for housing in the city by 300%. The goal of the reform, known as the Auckland Unitary Plan, was to increase production of multifamily housing and slow or stop rapidly rising housing prices. Did they succeed? Ryan Greenaway-Mc...
Mar 08, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Season 2Ep. 19
HOPE VI was a federal program running from 1993–2010 that sought to redevelop distressed, poor, racially segregated public housing into mixed-income communities. In that time it helped build nearly 100,000 new homes for people of varying incomes, and with the involvement of both the public and private sectors. Its goal was to reduce concentrated poverty and racial segregation; so how did it do? Rebekah Levine Coley joins us to share her research into the impacts of HOPE VI redevelopment on neigh...
Feb 22, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Season 2Ep. 18
In recent years, the story of residential segregation and discrimination — and especially the practice of redlining — has gained well-deserved prominence in U.S. housing discourse. Equally important, the federal government has been directly implicated in the development and institutionalization of redlining and similar practices. A key early player in this history is the Home Owners Loan Corporation, or HOLC, which commissioned the infamous “residential security” maps that separated residential ...
Feb 08, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Season 2Ep. 17
Social housing — housing built for limited or no profit, often with government support — came to account for huge portions of the housing market in many Western European countries following World War II, but its prominence has declined since the 1980s, when many governments began to shift their housing investments away from construction and toward direct financial support for renters. This shift is arguably one cause of the housing affordability crisis many cities find themselves in today, but i...
Jan 25, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Season 2Ep. 16
Shared-equity homeownership programs help low- and moderate-income people afford buying a home, but they come with a catch. In exchange for help with your loan or a discount on your purchase, you need to pay back the government when you sell. That leaves them with less money to buy their next home, so many who participate in shared-equity programs end up stuck in place or back on the rental market. As William Cheung and Kelvin Wong put it, these programs provide great “entry affordability,” but ...
Jan 11, 2023•54 min•Season 2Ep. 15
