Tag: fair housing

Westchester to the Future -or- Will the Teacher Finally Start Checking Homework?

by justin

*this post was co-authored by Rob Breymaier

Today, it is likely that most if not all of the 1,200+ states, counties, and municipalities across the country that receive CDBG funds are revisiting their plans and procedures. The Anti-Discrimination Center of Metro New York v. Westchester County settlement, announced last week, requires Westchester to make up for years of neglect regarding the affirmative furthering of fair housing – namely, addressing the impediments to fair housing choice that perpetuate segregation. As HUD’s Deputy Secretary Ron Sims noted during the press conference announcing the settlement, after nearly a decade of lax federal oversight communities around the nation are now “on notice”.

The case makes clear that recipients of federal housing and community development funds “must comply with, inter alia, the provisions of the Housing and Community Development Act, including the requirement that it affirmatively further fair housing”, which it goes on to define as pro-integrative housing policies. Long ignored and often misunderstood, affirmative furthering of fair housing has always been about promoting, fostering, and sustaining integration in the housing market.

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new post: “How Much is Too Much Neighborhood Data?”

by justin

A new post is up at Rooflines.org asking some difficult questions about the flood of neighborhood data now available online and how it might shape individual behavior:

Individual behavior plays a significant role in perpetuating residential racial and ethnic segregation. Illegal discrimination, including racial steering, and housing affordability both play a role, but neither can fully explain the severe segregation that plagues so many of America’s metropolitan regions. With a large majority of housing seekers now beginning their search online, how Web sites organize and display listings and data is becoming increasingly important.

In the bluntly-titled and disturbing Web Tools Whites Can Use To Avoid Accidentally Moving Into A Black Majority Or Latino Majority Neighborhood In The United States, a white supremacist blogger details precisely how a number of popular Web sites can be used to identify segregated neighborhoods and school districts. As he notes in the post, “You’re the head of a White family. You’re moving to a new city, and you’ve just found a home you think you can afford. What’s the next question you want to ask the estate agent? Yeah, you know what question I’m talking about. The question, “How many of THEM live in this neighborhood.”

Read the full post at Rooflines.org.

new article: "Equity 2.0: The Missing Pieces"

by justin

From Shelterforce magazine:

Under President Obama, data transparency, private-sector innovation, and a renewed commitment to expanding opportunity could revolutionize housing and urban planning. But just as proponents of equity, open government data, and social entrepreneurship are being appointed to key positions, and while the administration is still young, the new HUD/DOT sustainable communities initiative illustrates why the devil is in the details.

Click here to read the full article.

new post: "Missing Priorities…"

by justin

A new post up at Rooflines.org on the missing priorities of the new HUD/DOT Sustainable Comunities Initiative:

At a US House of Representatives hearing last week on “Livable Communities, Transit Oriented Development, and Incorporating Green Building Practices into Federal Housing and Transportation,” HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced an new partnership. A joint task force, the “Sustainable Communities Initiative,” will address the intersection of transportation and housing affordability.

While any genuine effort to address housing affordability is welcome, this new HUD/DOT task force is particularly exciting because it reflects a new understanding of the complex issues that confront metropolitan regions and the sometimes surprising ways they intersect. Encouraging smarter planning, expanding the definition of affordability, and researching the livability of communities work in tandem to increase the use of public transportation, decrease our carbon footprint, reduce urban sprawl, enable the smarter use of regional resources, and improve affordable housing options for families. In short, this is one of those rare initiatives that seem to naturally align a multitude of interests.

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