Housing Policy Debate 

About: Housing Policy Debate is an academic journal published by Taylor & Francis. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Affordable housing & Public housing. It has an ISSN identifier of 1051-1482. Over the lifetime, 1240 publications have been published receiving 41475 citations.

Wrestling sprawl to the ground - Defining and measuring an elusive concept

Abstract: The literature on urban sprawl confuses causes, consequences, and conditions. This article presents a conceptual definition of sprawl based on eight distinct dimensions of land use patterns: density, continuity, concentration, clustering, centrality, nuclearity mixed uses, and proximity. Sprawl is defined as a condition of land use that is represented by low values on one or more of these dimensions. Each dimension is operationally defined and tested in 13 urbanized areas. Results for six dimensions are reported for each area, and an initial comparison of the extent of sprawl in the 13 areas is provided. The test confirms the utility of the approach and suggests that a clearer conceptual and operational definition can facilitate research on the causes and consequences of sprawl.

Does neighborhood matter? Assessing recent evidence

Abstract: This article synthesizes findings from a wide range of empirical research into how neighborhoods affect families and children. It lays out a conceptual framework for understanding how neighborhoods may affect people at different life stages. It then identifies methodological challenges, summarizes past research findings, and suggests priorities for future work. Despite a growing body of evidence that neighborhood conditions play a role in shaping individual outcomes, serious methodological challenges remain that suggest some caution in interpreting this evidence. Moreover, no consensus emerges about which neighborhood characteristics affect which outcomes, or about what types of families may be most influenced by neighborhood conditions. Finally, existing studies provide little empirical evidence about the causal mechanisms through which neighborhood environment influences individual outcomes. To be useful to policy makers, future empirical research should tackle the critical question of how and ...

The Spatial Mismatch Hypothesis: Three Decades Later

Abstract: This paper provides a comprehensive review of the extensive scholarly literature dealing with the effect of housing market discrimination on the employment and earnings of Afro‐American workers. From a historical perspective, it examines a variety of empirical studies that are as relevant today (particularly in light of recent events in Los Angeles) as they were when this discussion began nearly 30 years ago. More specifically, it reviews studies that have attempted to determine the extent to which serious limitations on black residential choice, combined with the steady dispersal of jobs from central cities, are responsible for the low rates of employment and low earnings of Afro‐American workers. The paper concludes with a discussion of policy recommendations and suggestions for continued areas of research. Three major categories in need of policy prescriptions are examined: housing, employment, and schooling. There is an assessment of the gains made since the inception of the spatial mismatch ...

The spatial mismatch hypothesis: A review of recent studies and their implications for welfare reform

Abstract: In 1992, Housing Policy Debate published John Kain's comprehensive review of the extensive scholarly literature on the spatial mismatch hypothesis. This hypothesis maintains that the suburbanization of jobs and involuntary housing market segregation have acted together to create a surplus of workers relative to the number of available jobs in submetropolitan areas where blacks are concentrated. Since Kain's review, more than two dozen new studies on the spatial mismatch hypothesis have been completed. Generally, these studies use more suitable data and superior methodologies than earlier studies and therefore provide the most reliable evidence to date on the spatial mismatch hypothesis. This article critically reviews the new studies and assesses what implications can be drawn for welfare reform.

Brown kids in white suburbs: Housing mobility and the many faces of social capital

Abstract: Social capital has many faces in the geography of urban opportunity, and as such, particular housing policies might have positive effects on some forms of social capital and negative effects on others. The author defines social support and social leverage as two key dimensions of social capital that can be accessed by individuals. A sample of 132 low‐income African‐American and Latino adolescents is used to examine the early impacts of a Yonkers, NY, housing mobility program on social capital.1 Overall, program participants (‘’movers‘’) appear to be no more cut off from social support than a control group of “stayer” youth. On the other hand, movers are also no more likely to report access to good sources of job information or school advice— to leverage that might enhance opportunity. Adding just one steadily employed adult to an adolescent's circle of significant ties has dramatic effects on perceived access to such leverage.