Historic preservation in declining city neighbourhoods: Analysing rehabilitation tax credit investments in six US cities

Urban Studies ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (7) ◽  
pp. 1673-1691 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Ryberg-Webster ◽  
Kelly L Kinahan
Keyword(s):  
Historic Preservation ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Tax Credit ◽  
Market Rate ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Us Cities

Historic preservation is common practice across the world, including in US cities. At the same time, population decline, economic distress and vacancy prevalent in declining cities, also known as legacy, shrinking or post-industrial cities, creates a pressing threat to a vast array of urban historic buildings. In the USA, recent planning and policy emphasises strategic demolition and/or targeting resources in potentially viable neighbourhoods, with little attention paid to historic preservation. To fill this gap, we use a comparative case study of federal historic rehabilitation tax credit (RTC) investments from 2000 to 2010 across the neighbourhoods of six legacy cities: Baltimore, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Providence, Richmond and St. Louis. This is the first study to use disaggregated, longitudinal RTC data to analyse investment at the neighbourhood scale. We use the Hirschman-Herfindahl Index to evaluate investment concentration and US Census 2000 data to characterise neighbourhoods where developers chose to undertake RTC projects. The findings show that RTC investments occurred across a wide range of places, including very low- and low-income neighbourhoods, and produced both market-rate and affordable housing across each city’s neighbourhoods. The findings indicate that preservation occurs across a wide range of legacy city neighbourhoods and inform urban planners and policymakers about locations where the private sector is willing to invest with favourable financing.

Complementary policies for multidimensional problems: Does the low-income housing tax credit complement homeless services in the USA?

Urban Studies ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 004209802094168
Author(s):  
Saerim Kim ◽  
Andrew A Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Tax Credit ◽  
Housing Security ◽  
Homeless Services ◽  
Multidimensional Problems ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Urban Problems ◽  
Security Network ◽  
Low Income Housing

Governments use multiple policies targeting different severities of housing insecurity to address multidimensional urban problems such as homelessness, where poverty and unaffordable housing intertwine with many causes and contexts. Previous studies have focused on the determinants of housing insecurity or using affordable housing alone but not on how using multiple policies jointly reduces homelessness. We explore if affordable housing created by the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) complements homeless services through the housing security network in decreasing homelessness in communities. Utilising a first-differenced model with panel data from 2007 to 2015, results indicate that LIHTC unit developments complement homeless services in moderately reducing homelessness when both policies are used relative to only using homeless services. Studying multiple policies addressing homelessness creates a useful application of theory on complementary policies to see how affordable housing with homeless services affects homelessness at the community level.

scholarly journals State Earned Income Tax Credit policies and intimate partner homicide in the USA, 1990–2016

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 562-565
Author(s):  
Caitlin A Moe ◽  
Avanti Adhia ◽  
Stephen J Mooney ◽  
Heather D Hill ◽  
Frederick P Rivara ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Income Tax ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Earned Income Tax Credit ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
Adult Women ◽  
Tax Credit ◽  
Intimate Partner Homicide ◽  
Earned Income ◽  
The Usa

Economic insecurity is a risk factor for intimate partner homicide (IPH). The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is the largest cash transfer programme to low-income working families in the USA. We hypothesised that EITCs could provide financial means for potential IPH victims to exit abusive relationships and establish self-sufficiency. We conducted a national, quasiexperimental study of state EITCs and IPH rates in 1990–2016 using a difference-in-differences approach. The national rate of IPH decreased from 1.9 per 100 000 adult women in 1990 to 1.3 per 100 000 in 2016. We found no statistically significant association between state EITC generosity and IPH rates (coefficient indicating change in IPH rates per 100 000 adult female years for additional 10% in amount of state EITC, measured as the percentage of federal EITC: 0.02, 95% CI −0.03 to 0.08). Financial control associated with abuse and current EITC eligibility rules may prevent potential IPH victims from accessing the EITC.

scholarly journals Production of Light Weight Blocks Using Rice Husk

2021 ◽  
pp. 24-30
Author(s):  
C. U. Okpoechi ◽  
C. A. Emma-Ochu ◽  
L. C. Ibemere ◽  
P. Ibe ◽  
E. O. Onwuka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rice Husk ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Waste Product ◽  
Housing Construction ◽  
Management Problem ◽  
Solid Core ◽  
Structural Walls ◽  
Waste Products ◽  
Wide Range

Affordable housing has remained a major challenge in Nigeria, as housing costs have continued to rise beyond the reach of the low income population. This paper explores the use of waste products like rice husk as alternative materials for housing construction. Rice husk is abundant as a waste product in areas where rice is processed commercially in Southeast Nigeria. The aim of the study is to create rice husk blocks that are cheap, lightweight, and appropriate for use in low income housing construction. The study was conducted through experimentation in the Building Technology workshop of Federal Polytechnic Nekede. A series of trial mixes were done involving a wide range of materials and mix proportions. Rice husk, Portland cement, and cassava starch, were found to be the most appropriate components for the blocks. The blocks produced were of good appearance, and lightweight. Five samples of solid core blocks measuring 150x150x150mm were tested in Strength of Materials laboratory of the Federal University of Technology Owerri. The average compressive strength of the blocks was 0.26N/mm2, which is below the Nigerian Industrial Standard NIS 87:2007. The blocks produced were considered appropriate for use as non-load bearing partitions and not structural walls. The result of the study is promising because the rice husk blocks help address the waste management problem in affected areas, and could also be an important component of a potentially useful material. This paper recommends further research in the area of improving the strength of the blocks, to make them usable as structural components in low rise buildings.

Affordable housing through the low-income housing tax credit program and intimate partner violence-related homicide

2021 ◽  
pp. 106950
Author(s):  
Anna E. Austin ◽  
Christine Piette Durrance ◽  
Carol W. Runyan ◽  
Desmond K. Runyan ◽  
Sandra L. Martin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Tax Credit ◽  
Credit Program ◽  
Low Income Housing

Millennial ‘YIMBYs’ and boomer ‘NIMBYs’: Generational views on housing affordability in the United States

2020 ◽  
pp. 003802612091612
Author(s):  
Max Holleran
Keyword(s):  
Baby Boomers ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Rental Housing ◽  
The United States ◽  
Housing Affordability ◽  
Single Family ◽  
Market Rate ◽  
Job Opportunities ◽  
Housing Costs

This article examines housing activism in five American cities using interviews with millennial-age housing activists, seeking more apartment development, and baby boomers who are members of neighbourhood groups that oppose growth. Many of the groups supporting growth have banded together under the banner of the ‘Yes in My Backyard’ (YIMBY) movement which seeks fewer zoning laws and pushes for market-rate rental housing. In desirable cities with thriving job opportunities, housing costs are pricing out not only low-income renters but also the middle class. The millennial activists sampled blame baby boomers for the lack of affordable housing because of resistance to higher density construction in neighbourhoods with single-family homes (characterising these people as having a ‘Not in My Backyard’ [NIMBY] mindset). The research shows that boomers and millennials not only disagree over urban growth but also more fundamental questions of what makes a liveable city.

scholarly journals Green Affordable Housing: Cost-Benefit Analysis for Zoning Incentives

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (22) ◽  
pp. 6269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Armin Jeddi Yeganeh ◽  
Andrew Patton McCoy ◽  
Steve Hankey
Keyword(s):  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Spillover Effects ◽  
Housing Cost ◽  
Listing Service ◽  
Transaction Prices ◽  
Market Rate ◽  
Housing Units

In the year 2017, about 89% of the total energy consumed in the US was produced using non-renewable energy sources, and about 43% of tenant households were cost burdened. Local governments are in a unique position to facilitate green affordable housing, that could reduce cost burdens, environmental degradation, and environmental injustice. Nonetheless, limited studies have made progress on the costs and benefits of green affordable housing, to guide decision-making, particularly in small communities. This study investigates density bonus options for green affordable housing by analyzing construction costs, transaction prices, and spillover effects of green certifications and affordable housing units. The authors employ pooled cross-sectional construction cost and price data from 422 Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) projects and 11,016 Multiple Listing Service (MLS) transactions in Virginia. Using hedonic regression analyses controlling for mediating factors, the study finds that the new construction of market-rate green certified houses is associated with small upfront costs, but large and statistically significant price premiums. In addition, the construction of market-rate green certified houses has large and statistically significant spillover effects on existing non-certified houses. Existing non-certified affordable housing units show small and often insignificant negative price impacts on the transaction prices of surrounding properties. The study concludes that the magnitude of social benefits associated with green building justifies the local provision of voluntary programs for green affordable housing, where housing is expensive relative to its basic cost of production.

scholarly journals Measuring the Differentiated Impact of New Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Projects on Households’ Movements by Income Level within Urban Areas

Urban Science ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 79
Author(s):  
Sohyun Park ◽  
Aram Yang ◽  
Hui Jeong Ha ◽  
Jinhyung Lee
Keyword(s):  
Residential Mobility ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Negative Binomial ◽  
Tax Credit ◽  
Mobility Patterns ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Mixed Income ◽  
Low Income Housing

Social mixing is one of the key objectives of the housing policy in OECD countries. The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program, the largest affordable housing construction program in the US since 1986, has recently set creating mixed-income communities as one of the standards. As a project-based program, LIHTC developments are likely to influence residential mobility; however, little is known about its empirical effects. This study investigated whether new LIHTC projects are effective at attracting heterogeneous income groups to LIHTC neighborhoods, thereby contributing to creating mixed-income communities. Using unique individual-level household movement data combined with origin–destination neighborhood characteristics, we developed zero-inflated negative binomial (ZINB) models to analyze the LIHTC’s impact on residential mobility patterns in Franklin County, Ohio, US, from 2011 to 2015. The results suggest that the LIHTC attracts low-income households while deterring higher-income families, and therefore the program is not proved to be effective at creating mixed-income neighborhoods.

scholarly journals Green Affordable Housing: Implications of Costs and Benefits for Municipal Incentives

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Armin Jeddi Yeganeh ◽  
Andrew Patton McCoy ◽  
Steve Hankey
Keyword(s):  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Spillover Effects ◽  
Listing Service ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Construction Costs ◽  
Market Rate ◽  
Housing Units

In the year 2017, about 89 percent of the total energy consumed in the US was produced using non-renewable energy sources, and about 43 percent of tenant households were cost-burdened. Local governments are in a unique position to facilitate green affordable housing that could reduce cost burdens, environmental degradation, and environmental injustice. Nonetheless, limited studies have made progress on costs and benefits of green affordable housing to guide decision-making, particularly in small communities. This study investigates density bonus options for green affordable housing by analyzing construction costs, sale prices, and spillover effects for green certifications and affordable housing units. The authors employ construction costs and sale data from 422 Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) projects and 11,418 Multiple Listing Service (MLS) transactions in Virginia. Using hedonic regression analyses controlling for mediating factors, we find that the new construction of market-rate green certified houses is associated with small upfront costs but large and statistically significant price premiums. The construction of market-rate green certified houses has large and statistically significant spillover effects on existing non-certified houses. Existing non-certified affordable housing units show small and statistically insignificant negative price impacts on transactions of surrounding properties. The magnitude of social benefits associated with green building justifies the local provision of voluntary programs for green affordable housing where housing is expensive relative to its basic costs of production to promote sustainable development.

scholarly journals Russian Pro-Natalist Policy and Its Hidden Dilemma

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 389-402
Author(s):  
Y.V. Latov ◽  
◽  
N.V. Latova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Birth Rate ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
International Studies ◽  
Russian Government ◽  
Less Is More ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Middle Class Families

The demographic policy of the Russian government, which aims to ‘preserve and increase the people’, combines two qualitatively different approaches to understanding the problem of population decline. Most often, the emphasis is placed on stimulating fertility, although there is also an understanding that it is important to raise the quality of their upbringing and education. While the focus on increasing human capital is economically justified, the desire to increase the birth rate has no such justification. The theory of demographic transition proves that stimulating the birth rate is an erroneous goal. The ‘cash for babies’ policy applied in Russia is based on the conviction that children, even those born in poor and dysfunctional families, inevitably ‘pass’ through the education system and become qualified workers. On the basis of this stereotype, the system of pro-natalist incentives is built in such a way that, in accordance with the law of diminishing marginal utility, it creates stronger incentives for poorer families and is therefore actually aimed at increasing the birth rate primarily in the poor strata, having little effect on middle-class families. Meanwhile, modern theories of social capital and labor market signals prove the limited ability of schools and universities to play the role of social elevators. International studies (in particular, in the USA) shows that state benefits for children of poor and disadvantaged families contribute to the reproduction of a culture of poverty. Therefore, when the Russian authorities provide assistance primarily to low-income and single-parent families with children, they create problems for the future. The study proposes to replace the current policy based on the principle ‘more babies but cheaper’ with a policy aimed at middle-class families and based on the principle ‘less is more’. Thus, an orientation towards stimulating population growth is replaced by an orientation towards fostering human capital.

Historic preservation as a community development tool in legacy city neighbourhoods

2018 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 581-604
Author(s):  
Kelly L Kinahan
Keyword(s):  
Community Development ◽  
Real Estate ◽  
Historic Preservation ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Economic Restructuring ◽  
Tax Credit ◽  
Development Tool ◽  
Real Estate Developers ◽  
Physical Assets ◽  
Legacy Cities

Abstract For legacy cities, population decline and economic restructuring contributed to the challenges facing their built environments including low demand, oversupply, and high rates of vacancy and abandonment. Amidst this backdrop, there is intense pressure for demolition, yet legacy cities also possess rich stocks of historic resources that can potentially serve as physical assets for community development. Market-based historic preservation incentives such as historic rehabilitation tax credit (RTC) programs are important tools for facilitating reinvestment in legacy cities. These tools are also criticized for primarily benefiting the real estate developers spearheading these projects or creating inequitable neighbourhood change. This research analyzes federal historic RTC projects in two St. Louis, Missouri neighbourhoods – Lafayette Square and Midtown Alley – between 1997 and 2010 and asks: in what ways do investments supported by historic tax credit programs function as a tool for legacy city community development? Through interviews and document analysis, I find that historic tax credit projects support neighbourhood stabilization by minimizing vacancies and shifting redevelopment approaches away from demolition and towards preservation. These projects help build capacity among real estate developers to take on historic preservation redevelopments in other neighbourhoods. However, residents and community-based organizations are often disconnected from these projects, limiting their usefulness as a community development tool.

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