December 13, 2001 | Read Time: 1 minute
Measuring the Economic Impact of Community-Based Homeownership Programs on Neighborhood Revitalization, by Lindley R. Higgins, assesses the economic impact of housing-development programs on five neighborhoods in Houston, Seattle, Washington, and Kalamazoo, Mich., in an effort to complement anecdotal evidence on the impact of such programs. Mr. Higgins, a public-policy doctoral candidate at George Mason University, examined changes in real-estate values, retail sales, crime rates, and other factors of economic health in each neighborhood, and found that in four of the five neighborhoods, housing efforts had led to a stronger economy. In Shaw, a neighborhood in Washington, positive economic changes were attributed to other factors such as changes in the city as a whole. Mr. Higgins found that neighborhoods experience “thresholds of development” — points at which changing perceptions and increased investment lead to a marked change in economic indicators. These points of change can lead to unintended consequences, such as increased housing costs, which can hurt the low-income people the programs are intended to help. The report was sponsored by the Local Initiatives Support Corporation’s Center for Home Ownership and George Mason University’s School of Public Policy.
Publisher: Local Initiatives Support Corporation, 1825 K Street, N.W., Suite 1100, Washington, D.C. 20006; (202) 739-9263; fax (202) 785-4850; hwilson@liscnet.org; http://www.liscnet.org/resources; 36 pages; free.
