reference library

In the U.S., nearly 60% of recently built single-family houses, and 80% of houses in new subdivisions, are part of a homeowners association (HOA). We construct the first near-national map…
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These neighborhoods—which we call America’s most diverse, mixed-income neighborhoods—have high levels of racial, ethnic and income diversity. This report identifies, maps and counts the nation’s most diverse mixed-income neighborhoods. In…
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Housing is the most important asset for the vast majority of American households and a key driver of racial disparities in wealth. This paper studies how residential segregation by race…
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This paper presents evidence that job suburbanization caused significant declines in black employment from 1970 to 2000. I document that, conditional on detailed job characteristics, blacks are less likely than…
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We study gentrification at a micro-geographic scale using information on residents and businesses in New York from 1990 to 2010. We exploit atypical location decisions of businesses to identify the…
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There is significant evidence that restrictions on residential land use reduce housing supply, increase house prices, and limit inflows of low‐income households. Local decision‐makers often argue that their efforts are…
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California cities have some of the highest housing prices in the United States, but most of the state’s urbanized land is set aside for the least efficient uses. Using data…
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This paper focuses on colocation rather than segregation in the context of Japanese large cities. Using the time cost of commuting from traditional urban economic theory, we analyze how different…
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We use new longitudinal census microdata to provide the first causal evidence of how gentrification affects a broad set of outcomes for original resident adults and children. Gentrification modestly increases…
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The Greater Boston Housing Report Card serves as an annual assessment of housing conditions in Greater Boston and what needs to be done to meet the region’s goals for current…
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Since the ’80s the US has experienced not only a steady increase in income inequality, but also a contemporaneous increase in residential segregation by income. Using US Census data, we…
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This report finds that increases in housing prices in San Francisco were correlated with shifts in where low-income people of color lived between 2000 and 2015. It also provides evidence…
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This report finds that increases in housing prices in Contra Costa County were correlated with shifts in where low-income people of color lived between 2000 and 2015. It also provides…
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This report finds that increases in housing prices in Alameda County were correlated with shifts in where low-income people of color lived between 2000 and 2015. It also provides evidence…
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In today’s economically vibrant and high-cost cities like New York, San Fran- cisco, and Washington, D.C., housing growth and housing affordability are a function of two variables: zoning and politics….
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Low-income families in the United States tend to live in neighborhoods that offer limited opportunities for upward income mobility. One potential explanation for this pattern is that families prefer such…
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This paper investigates the distribution of and motivations for zoning decisions that decreased allowed residential density or prevented denser residential development in urbanized portions of Durham, North Carolina, from 1945…
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High levels of racial segregation persist in the United States. We argue that land use control is an important tool for maintaining this pattern. Cities have the capacity to make…
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Theories about the importance of space in urban labor markets have emphasized the role of employment access, on the one hand, and neighborhood composition, on the other hand, in affecting…
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This paper synthesises a series of empirical analyses investigating the role of urban space in affecting minority employment outcomes. It broadens the focus beyond transport and the ‘friction of space’…
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Spatial separation of racial and ethnic groups may theoretically have positive or negative effects on the economic performance of those groups. We examine the effects of segregation on outcomes for…
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Most major urban areas remain segregated by race, especially in terms of black segregation from whites. We replicate and extend the innovative approach developed by Farley and colleagues for understanding…
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It is something of a natural law of urban development that population pressure is exerted from the center of the city outward. Increasing dilapidation of housing in central cities, plus…
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This paper contributes to the growing literature that aims at identifying and measuring the impact of social context on individual economic behavior. We develop a model of housing structure demand…
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Urban containment and state‐imposed mandatory housing elements in comprehensive land use plans attempt to reshape development patterns. Urban containment programs reign in the outward expansion of urban areas by restricting…
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The strong negative correlation between a city’s level of residential racial segregation and its outcomes, particularly for black residents, is well-established. The interpretation of this relationship, however, is confounded by…
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The impact of segregation on Black political efficacy is theoretically ambiguous. On one hand, increased contact among Blacks in more segregated areas may mean that Blacks are better able to…
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The study reported in this article tested connections between five land use controls and the racial composition of the communities that use them. A survey of localities in the 25…
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As the nation has become more diverse, our neighborhoods, cities, metropolitan areas, and rural communities have strained to keep up. Some have accommodated change well. But for many it has…
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We consider the relationship between cultural dynamics, urban segregation and inequality. To this end, we develop a model of neighbourhood formation and cultural transmission. The tension between culture preservation and…
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We estimate the causal effect of each county in the U.S. on children’s incomes in adulthood. We first estimate a fixed effects model that is identified by analyzing families who…
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This paper introduces a new measure of residential segregation based on individual-level data. We exploit complete census manuscript files to derive a measure of segregation based upon the racial similarity…
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This paper sets out a new mechanism involving the emergence of middle-class black neighborhoods that can lead segregation in American cities to increase as racial inequality narrows. The formation of…
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Local zoning regulations such as minimum lot size requirements and restrictions on the permitting of multi-family housing may exacerbate racial segregation by reducing in some neighborhoods the construction of units…
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This paper uses unique panel data covering over two million repeat-sales housing transactions from four metropolitan areas to test for the presence of racial price differentials in the housing market….
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The authors argue that anti-density zoning increases Black residential segregation in U.S. metropolitan areas by reducing the quantity of affordable housing in White jurisdictions. Drawing on census data and local…
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