Housing

As we progress into 2025, Policies for Action reflects on a year of compelling policy research published in 2024. A wide range of studies that connect to health equity in America provided evidence and insights for policymakers, advocates, and community leaders.

A new study published in Health Affairs explores how housing-sensitive health conditions can serve as predictors of poor-quality housing.

The study highlights the collaborative efforts of UC Merced’s HOPe Lab, Faith in the Valley, and Cultiva Central Valley in engaging residents, enhancing leadership capacity, and fostering communication between residents and elected officials.

While safe, stable, and dignified housing is a cornerstone of health and well-being, providing affordable housing for everyone remains a critical challenge for communities across the nation.

Opening up neighborhoods that offer greater opportunities for social mobility to low- and moderate-income households remains a challenge in the United States. Exclusionary zoning practices act as a barrier to current efforts by restricting the supply of affordable housing.

The Center for Community Resilience (CCR) within the George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health has been working alongside a broad coalition of community groups in Cincinnati, Ohio on a Truth & Equity initiative aimed at dismantling decades of inequitable policies and practices rooted in structural racism.

Bad housing conditions such as lead exposure, poor insulation, mold, and pests have been linked with elevated risks of physical and mental illnesses.

Despite substantial government investment aimed at reducing health disparities, large differences in health persist across geographic and racial lines in the United States. One prominent theory is that these health disparities are driven in part by disparities in the neighborhood environments where people live.

This comprehensive report unveils the systemic challenges and aspirations of Asheville's Black community through participatory research. It emphasizes the community's perspectives on systemic racism affecting various sectors such as housing, education, employment, healthcare, and the criminal justice system.

A deeper, more complex story lies in the picturesque city of Asheville, North Carolina, known for its vibrant arts scene and historic architecture. It's the story of the Black community - a narrative woven with challenges, resilience, and hope. The "Every Black Voice" report, a comprehensive study conducted by the Racial Justice Coalition, reveals Black residents' lived experiences, struggles, and aspirations in Asheville, particularly in light of the city's reparations journey.

Opportunity Zones (OZs) are a government strategy introduced in 2017 to attract increased investment in low-investment census tracts. But are low- to middle-income neighborhoods being elevated and integrated, or are OZs contributing to the darker side of gentrification: rising taxes and neighborhood displacement? Are Opportunity Zones achieving their purpose? New research suggests that they are not.

Using data from a unique survey of small-scale landlords who owned residential, non-owner occupied units in Pittsburgh, this study provides experimental evidence for the potential effectiveness of an asset-framing approach to increasing landlords’ participation in the City of Pittsburgh’s Mobility Voucher program.