Past Place-Based Work

Growth patterns in the United States have left low-income residents with substandard housing, high concentrations of poverty, racial segregation, poor schools, high housing costs, limited access to jobs, and a crumbling infrastructure.

Strategies to address these disparities include creating new revenue streams for producing more affordable housing and legislating zoning and production requirements, such as inclusionary zoning which tie affordable housing to private development. IZ is one of the strategies discussed in the PolicyLink Equitable Development Toolkit. The Toolkit, created in partnership with community organizations from dozens of metropolitan regions, draws on information collected from research, convenings, and coalition building efforts to impact public policy.

Effective policy impact requires flexibility and endurance, and organizations often need various kinds of capacity building to support data collection, develop media strategies, inform leaders and constituencies, and provide training and technical assistance in creating effective campaigns. Our work includes assisting campaigns seeking inclusionary zoning policies, research to identify permanent sources of revenue to finance the development of affordable housing; communications to highlight promising practices across the country that have been used to promote and develop affordable housing; and capacity building to forge connections between affordable housing and other critical issues of regional equity such as transportation, employment, and environmental justice.

The production, preservation, and equitable distribution of affordable housing across regions is a key determinant to advancing equity and opportunity. We are currently engaged in several major research projects and policy campaigns in support of fair share affordable housing.

Past Affordable Housing Projects

Atlanta, GA
Atlanta has many of the attendant problems that come with sprawl, such as high rates of concentrated poverty and an extreme housing/jobs imbalance that has created a need for affordable housing throughout the region. The Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership (ANDP), a regional community development intermediary, is working with PolicyLink to address the housing/jobs imbalance issue through a region-wide campaign focused on building support for affordable housing and mixed-income communities.

ANDP's Mixed Income Communities Initiative (MICI), launched in November 2002, makes the case for the equitable distribution of affordable housing in the Atlanta region. MICI develops civic leadership for expanding affordable housing, and supports policy strategies to implement affordable and mixed-income housing throughout the region.
PolicyLink partners with ANDP to assist in building the policy capacity of local organizations and build media visibility on the problem and potential solutions.

Portland, OR
Over the last three years, PolicyLink served as a technical advisor to community organizations in the forefront of advancing equity through the urban renewal process in the Interstate neighborhood, Portland 's most racially diverse neighborhood. PolicyLink helped community representatives to codify the principles of equitable development into the guiding documents for the renewal area, slated to receive $550 million for housing and transportation. In 2005, working with the Coalition for a Livable Future (CLF), and its 40 member organizations-representing civil rights, affordable housing, environmental and transportation organizations- PolicyLink co-produced a Regional Equity Atlas (REA) that mapped Portland's regional equity status and reflected the distribution of affordable housing, access to jobs, transportation and open space.

New York City
Two dozen neighborhoods in New York City are in the midst of dramatic changes as the administration of Mayor Michael C. Bloomberg undertakes substantial redevelopment plans that could alter the pattern of growth for generations to come. At the same time, the city's housing costs have marched upward, making it increasingly difficult for many New Yorkers to afford housing. The proposed changes will either deepen the challenges of affordability or set a new course toward ensuring a diverse, stable housing stock that serves the needs of a spectrum of New Yorkers. The mayor's initiative provides an opportune moment for residents, housing advocates, and community leaders to push for a policy to insure affordable housing. PolicyLink and the Pratt Institute Center for Community and Environmental Development co-authored Increasing Housing Opportunity in New York City: The Case for Inclusionary Zoning, which examines the options for achieving more affordable housing through the rezonings that are part of the mayor's plan. Since its release in the fall of 2004, the report has been used extensively by a broad coalition of over 80 organizations to build its case for inclusionary zoning in every neighborhood where zoning changes are proposed. PolicyLink is part of the media advisory group that is working with the coalition to build the case for inclusionary zoning.

California State Housing Trust Fund Campaign
In partnership with Housing California, PolicyLink conducted state and national research to inform an effort to pass a statewide housing trust fund in California. The work encompassed research into potential revenue sources for California; a survey of statewide housing trust funds across the country that identified best practices for structure, allocation methods, revenue sources, and winning coalitions; interviews with key state stakeholders to identify key motivations for establishing such a fund; and an economic impact analysis of such a fund. Our continuing work supports a California State Housing Trust Fund, providing research support to a trust fund campaign coalition.