Homeownership and Race in DC Communities East of the Anacostia River

Even as Washington, DC, experiences increasing home and rent prices, many communities east of the Anacostia River have seen their housing costs remain lower than those of the rest of the city. These communities also historically have had the highest shares of Black residents. But as gentrification moves eastward across DC, the area's demographics are changing. Based on an analysis of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data, we find the proportion of home purchase mortgages sold to Black home buyers in communities east of the Anacostia River is declining. In 2021, 75 percent of home purchase mortgages in these areas went to Black households, compared with 92 percent in 2007. Given the long legacy of racist policies and practices to exclude Black Americans from homeownership, and acknowledging that homeownership is an important tool for wealth creation, we suggest four ways the DC government could provide more robust support to communities east of the Anacostia River

The East Baltimore Development Initiative: A Long-Term Impact Evaluation of a Comprehensive Community Initiative

East Baltimore Development Initiative (EBDI), one of the nation's largest, longest-standing, and most prominent comprehensive community initiatives. EBDI has directly invested or leveraged more than $1 billion into the East Baltimore community since 2003. This report uses the synthetic control method to conduct the first impact assessment of the initiative. The study finds some changes to population levels and rents, but not to income, poverty rates, or racial composition

Balancing Affordability and Opportunity: An Evaluation of Affordable Homeownership Programs With Long-Term Affordability Controls

Examines seven shared equity programs that allow low-income families to purchase homes at below-market prices with resale restrictions and their outcomes in terms of preserving affordability, personal wealth creation, security of tenure, and mobility

A promising way forward for homeownership: assessing the benefits of shared equity programs

In the wake of the foreclosure crisis, what programs can help low-income families become homeowners in a sustainable way? Shared equity programs offer one model, successfully balancing both affordability and asset building goals. In this article, researchers from the Urban Institute evaluate the effectiveness of 7 shared equity homeownership programs from across the country. They find that without exception, the programs provide long-term affordable homeownership, opportunities for low-income families to build equity, and sustainable tenure. This study suggests that shared equity programs could be cost effective way of supporting homeownership going forward.Home ownership

Inclusive Public Housing: Services for the Hard to House

Evaluates the Chicago Family Case Management Demonstration, a model for comprehensive services targeting families with multiple complex problems that are ineligible for mixed-income housing or unable to negotiate the private market. Outlines implications

Preparing Youth for College and Career: A Process Evaluation of Urban Alliance

Urban Alliance, headquartered in Washington, DC, serves at-risk youth through its high school internship program, which provides training, mentoring, and work experience to high school seniors from distressed communities in Washington, DC; Baltimore; Northern Virginia; and Chicago. The program serves youth before they become disconnected, helping them successfully transition to higher education or employment after graduation. Urban Alliance has commissioned the Urban Institute to conduct a six-year, randomized controlled trial impact and process evaluation of its high school internship program. This report provides a process analysis of the program; the analysis is informed by extensive evaluator observation and interviews with staff, stakeholders, and youth. It also presents baseline information about Urban Alliance and the youth participating in its high school internship program in Washington, DC, and Baltimore in the 2011–12 and 2012–13 program years. Subsequent reports as part of the impact study will describe the early-adulthood impacts of the Urban Alliance internship program on the youth it serves. Below is a summary of the findings in this first of three reports

The Chicago Family Case Management Demonstration: Developing a New Model for Serving "Hard to House" Public Housing Families

Describes the design, development, and implementation of an initiative to provide families with enhanced case management, including relocation services, workforce support, and financial literacy training. Presents baseline findings from a resident survey

A New Era of Racial Equity in Community Development Finance: Leveraging Private and Philanthropic Commitments in the PostGeorge Floyd Period

The brief first reflects on gaps in economic opportunity for capital access and wealth accrual in disadvantaged communities and by race, explaining why it is essential to align community development finance and corporate and philanthropic commitments to community need if the country is to successfully unlock more equitable opportunity for all. Part 1 then examines racial equity commitments made between June 2020 and May 2021; the types of organizations and priorities targeted by these financial commitments; adherence to disbursement timelines; and changes in financial products, services, and grantmaking approaches. Part 2 looks at the uses of community development capital, the role of community development finance in supporting disinvested communities, challenges reported in capital deployment, and 11 potential solutions for addressing these challenges equitably. In part 3, "The Path Forward," we discuss how the federal government can more effectively mobilize the private sector and share four strategies for the corporate and philanthropic sectors, in turn. These steps include strategies to maximize current resources and sustain momentum—such as greater transparency and collaboration and embedding equity in investment decisions—and those that can support longer-term, systemic change that extends more flexible and patient financing, responding to the needs with an even bolder commitment, and embracing equity as a business imperative

An Examination of the Long-Term Impacts of Three Comprehensive Community Initiatives

The use of community revitalization efforts has grown considerably in recent years, from federal programs to “comprehensive community” initiatives backed by philanthropic and anchor institutions. While the prevalence of these efforts has grown considerably, our knowledge of their effects has not grown commensurately. Like the communities they seek to change, comprehensive community initiatives are complex and have proven difficult to evaluate well. This dissertation explores the definition, and theory behind initiatives, their rationale for existence, and their models for operation. It assesses the impacts of three large and long-standing comprehensive community initiatives: Atlanta’s East Lake Initiative, Baltimore’s East Baltimore Development Initiative, and San Diego’s City Heights Initiative. Findings for the three interventions varied, reinforcing that local context and strategy matter when forming a place-based redevelopment effort

Family Mobility and Neighborhood Change: New evidence and implications for community initiatives

Americans change residences frequently. Residential mobility can reflect positive changes in a family’s circumstances or be a symptom of instability and insecurity. Mobility may also change neighborhoods as a whole. To shed light on these challenges, this report uses a unique survey conducted for the Making Connections initiative. The first component measures how mobility contributed to changes in neighborhoods’ composition and characteristics. The second component identifies groups of households that reflect different reasons for moving or staying in place. The final component introduces five stylized models of neighborhood performance: each has implications for low-income families’ well-being and for community-change efforts