Neighborhoods/Community Building

This report was designed to shine a spotlight on the immediate physical and social environment of residents who were living in two distressed public housing developments in 2007. While past research has similarly described the high incidence of depression and the high levels of disorder and violence within older, urban public housing developments, this report was intended to bring those factors together to uncover the pathways that influence mental health. We find evidence that suggests that physical and social disorder create cues that take a toll on residents through negative feelings about neighborhood cohesion and the neighborhood's ability to come together in a time of need. In addition, we find that economic stressors, which include threats of eviction, not being able to pay bills, or buy food for oneself, is associated with depression.

Rolf Pendall, an expert on land use controls and the former director of graduate studies in city and regional planning at Cornell University, joined the Urban Institute today as the director of the Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center.

Many of the nation's older, industrial cities have experienced a sharp drop in jobs and population over the last several decades, and the recession has only aggravated this problem. The federal government's role in addressing urban decline has historically been uncoordinated and inconsistent, even as these cities are home to invaluable institutional and physical assets. If the government chooses to promote remediation and growth, a new unified approach will be required. This paper examines the causes and effects of widespread urban decline and proposes strategies for a renewed federal response that targets assets and facilitates new uses for vacant space.

The Choice Neighborhoods Initiative proposed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is intended to transform neighborhoods of extreme poverty and severely distressed housing into revitalized mixed-income communities. This paper considers how to effectively evaluate outcomes and measure success in comprehensive community transformation efforts like Choice Neighborhoods. It is divided into two parts: (1) a general framework for performance management in Choice Neighborhoods, including a logic model, and (2) a detailed, evidence-based approach to Choice Neighborhoods performance measurement, including proposed management reports and performance indicators.

Approximately 50 stakeholders came together at Brookings to identify and prioritize the biggest barriers within key federal programs that hinder timely, quality, and flexible post-disaster recovery efforts at the state and local levels. The roundtable also served as an opportunity for stakeholders to provide concrete recommendations on how to remedy the federal approach and those programs (or provide new tools) for improving the overall federal partnership with states, localities, nonprofits and the private sector in post-disaster recovery. This brief summarizes the key takeaways, barriers, and suggestions for improvement that emerged from that discussion.