New Updates on PD&R Edge

PD&R Edge, an online magazine, provides you with a snapshot view of our newly released research, periodicals, publications, news, and commentaries on housing and urban development issues. Stay informed on current topics and check back frequently, as our content is routinely updated.

Featured: Fostering Neighborhoods: Faith-Based Organizations and the Development of Affordable Housing

Faith-based organizations (FBOs) can be important partners in efforts to expand the supply of affordable housing. Many FBOs own surplus or underdeveloped land and are mission-driven to serve their communities. In April 2024, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the New York University Furman Center co-hosted a panel discussion to explore policies and practices to encourage the development of affordable housing with faith-based partners, including ways to support interested FBO partners in their predevelopment phase and legislation that can ease affordable housing creation by FBOs specifically.

PD&R Leadership: Introducing Deputy Assistant Secretary for Technical Assistance Stephanie Stone

In the Leadership Message, deputy assistant secretary for technical assistance Stephanie Stone discusses the recent administrative reorganization that moved the HUD Technical Assistance team from the Office of Community Planning and Development to PD&R’s brand-new Office of Technical Assistance. The change reflects the insight that technical assistance and capacity building play important roles in creating and sustaining a viable policy development feedback loop by preparing and equipping practitioners to activate and apply policy and research findings in practice.

In Practice: In West Virginia, Innovative Financing Gives New Life to Two Distressed Senior Housing Developments

Despite being 150 miles apart, two affordable senior housing developments in West Virginia — Parkland Place and Chapmanville Towers — were recently renovated through a single, innovative rehabilitation process led by developer Heritage Housing. The renovated projects consist of 221 affordable apartments, including 88 units in Chapmanville Towers and 133 units in Parkland Place. The project is the first major renovation of the buildings’ interiors and systems since their original construction over 40 years ago.

Trending: TCTA Participant Syracuse, New York, Wins $180 Million Grant

Like many American cities, Syracuse is working to rectify persistent inequities created by its older public infrastructure projects. One of these is I-81, which, when built in the 1960s, divided the city’s 15th ward, a thriving Black community. In addition to removing the physical barrier of the I-81 elevated highway, Syracuse is working on community development efforts to empower local residents as stakeholders in their neighborhood’s future. To thoughtfully begin fostering connections following demolition, Syracuse city staff reached out to Thriving Communities Technical Assistance, a $5 million HUD technical assistance program designed to help local governments coordinate and integrate transportation and housing in infrastructure planning and implementation.

Research: Housing Counseling Works: 2023 Update

The “Housing Counseling Works: 2023 Update” is a HUD-authored white paper that reviews and summarizes existing studies on homebuyer education and housing counseling services, including mobility counseling. Research has shown that moving to high-opportunity neighborhoods can benefit low-income residents through greater access to employment and educational opportunities, and counseling plays an important role in helping HUD-assisted households make such moves.

International & Philanthropic Spotlight: The Reviving of Small Towns in England

In May 2024, a HUD delegation met with counterparts in the UK’s Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. During the visit, the delegation traveled to Darlington, a town in County Durham in northern England, to learn more about the government’s efforts to restore the town’s physical and economic vitality following deindustrialization. In addition to constructing new affordable housing and remediating older buildings, government efforts focus on creating quality jobs, providing youth opportunities, and reducing health inequalities among residents.

Subscribe to receive PD&R Edge here.