Shannon Van Zandt

Home Ownership and Access to Opportunity

Home ownership and access to opportunity are foundations of the American ethos. While little research has explicitly examined a relationship between home ownership and opportunity, considerable empirical work has examined how home ownership impacts important elements of local opportunity structures as well as individual subjective perceptions of those structures. Available evidence suggests that home ownership may affect the opportunity structure by enhancing neighbourhood stability and civic involvement in local voluntary and political affairs. Home ownership may also impact perceptions of opportunity by increasing financial resources, enhancing psychological and physical health, and influencing the behaviour of youth. There is a great need for additional research that directly assesses the impacts of home ownership on local objective opportunity structures and the perception of those structures.

Mapping social vulnerability to enhance housing and neighborhood resilience

Social factors influence the ability of coastal communities and their populations to anticipate, respond, resist, and recover from disasters. Galveston, TX, offers aunique opportunity to test the efficacy of social vulnerability mapping to identify inequalities in the ways that different parts of the community may react to a disaster. We describe spatial patterns of social vulnerability prior to 2008s Hurricane Ike and compare them to outcomes related to response, impact, recovery resources, and early stages of the rebuilding. Households and neighborhoods identified using vulnerability mapping experienced negative outcomes: later evacuation, a greater degree of damage sustained, fewer private and public resources for recovery, and slower and lower volumes of repair and rebuilding activity. Findings support using community vulnerability mapping as a tool for emergency management, hazard mitigation, and disaster recovery planning, helping communities to reduce losses and enhance response and recovery, thereby strengthening community resilience and reducing inequalities.

Inequities in Long-Term Housing Recovery After Disasters

Problem, research strategy, and findings: Disaster impacts result from interactions between hazard exposure, physical vulnerability, and social vulnerability. We report empirical work from 1992′s Hurricane Andrew in Miami-Dade (FL) and 2008′s Hurricane Ike in Galveston (TX) to assess long-term trends in housing recovery. Longitudinal, parcel-level data on housing units along with neighborhood sociodemographic data permit analysis of the pace of recovery for different neighborhoods, populations, and housing types. Housing recovery is highly uneven for different population groups. Unsurprisingly, damage has major consequences; even after four years, the effects of damage are evident in the rebuilding process. Social vulnerability factors play differently in different settings. In Miami, income and race and ethnicity were critical determinants of higher losses and slower recovery rates, while in Galveston income was the more critical factor, with housing in lower-income areas suffering more damage and lagging significantly in the recovery process. Takeaway for practice: Effective land use policy and building codes can reduce physical vulnerability and ultimately damage, thus enhancing resilience for all. Differentials in impact and recovery trajectories suggest that assessment and the monitoring of recovery is critical to target resources to areas that are lagging. Perhaps most important is having an effective plan in place that addresses housing recovery issues to help reduce long-term consequences. Pre-event planning for housing and social change can help support community vision and overcome inequities.

Mitigation Planning Why Hazard Exposure, Structural Vulnerability, and Social Vulnerability Matter

Increasing interest in fostering resilient communities requires a more comprehensive approach to hazard mitigation planning that overcomes the limitations of traditional hazard assessments, notably the failure to explicitly incorporate an analysis of social vulnerability. We statistically analyzed a random sample of 1500 damage assessments of single-family homes collected following Hurricane Ike to assess the contributions of hazard exposure, structural vulnerability, and social vulnerability. The results indicate that hazard exposure, structural characteristics, and socioeconomic characteristics are significant predictors of structural damage. The implications suggest that comprehensive hazard assessments can provide additional insights for mitigation planning and community resiliency.

HOMEOWNERSHIP AND NEIGHBORHOOD SATISFACTION AMONG LOW- AND MODERATE-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS

ABSTRACT: Most research on homeownership is conducted on nationally representative samples of homeowners and fails to isolate the unique experience of low- and moderate-income (LMI) homeowners. Given the interest of policymakers in promoting homeownership among LMI households over the past 20 years, along with the apparent role played by risky borrowers—many of whom are low-income—in the current housing market crisis, it is important to evaluate both economic and social outcomes for this subgroup of homeowners. Using a matched set of LMI owners and renters in the 2007 Community Advantage Program (CAP) panel, we assess the effect of homeownership on neighborhood satisfaction. By including various individual and neighborhood characteristics as covariates, we employ multilevel modeling and propensity score matching to address the nested structure of the data and endogeneity issues. Findings indicate that homeownership is an important predictor of neighborhood satisfaction among LMI households, even when controlling for a host of socioeconomic, demographic, and neighborhood characteristics. This may suggest that homeownership can serve as a viable way to improve neighborhood satisfaction among LMI households. This is important as neighborhood satisfaction is highly associated with overall quality of life.

Building Community Resiliency: Spatial Links between Household and Business Post-disaster Return

Rapidly urbanising areas along the world’s coasts are exposing greater numbers of households to more frequent and severe natural and man-made disasters. Knowledge gained from disaster situations can provide insight into larger urban forces and play a role in developing and prescribing policies that influence the creation of more resilient communities. This article explores the interdependency of households and businesses in post-disaster return following 2008’s Hurricane Ike in Galveston, Texas. Geocoded data from 980 households and 145 businesses collected in the months after the storm allow the spatial correlation of the household occupancy and business operation, controlling for damage. Findings suggest that the return of households and businesses are mutually dependent across space. The re-opening of businesses can influence nearby households’ decisions to return to their homes and the return of households in the market area will increase the chances for businesses to return.

DO FIRST‐TIME HOME BUYERS IMPROVE THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD QUALITY?

ABSTRACT: This study examines the changes in neighborhood quality in communities where low-income buyers have recently purchased homes. Three questions are addressed: Do lower-income buyers buy in higher quality neighborhoods than the ones in which they rented? Are lower-income buyers locating in higher quality neighborhoods than a comparison group of continuing renters? Are the neighborhoods of new buyers improving or deteriorating relative to those of continuing renters? Results of an analysis of a sample of persons who graduated from home buyer education classes in eight cities indicate that home buyers located in neighborhoods that were similar in quality to those in which they rented. Continuing renters in the sample, however, improved the quality of the neighborhoods between the first and second surveys, while home buyers did not. Finally, while the neighborhoods to which new buyers moved are improving, they are doing so at a slower rate than both the neighborhoods from which they moved and those of the continuing renters.

The sustainability of low-income homeownership: the incidence of unexpected costs and needed repairs among low-income home buyers

Until the recent housing market crisis, the United States was producing first-time, low-income homeowners at an unprecedented rate. In a longitudinal study of low-income renters participating in a multi-site homeownership education program, we examine the ability of low-income homebuyers to pay housing related costs after home purchase, including maintenance or repairs costs. After less than two years of ownership, we find the sustainability of low-income homeownership in jeopardy for sizeable portion of home buyers. About half of the more than 350 new home owners surveyed face unexpected costs, and about a third confront home repairs they cannot afford. More than half carry greater non-housing debt, and about a quarter were 30 days late or more in debt repayment. The findings raise concerns about the long term sustainability of low-income homeownership and emphasize the importance of requiring effective pre-purchase services and effective and ongoing post-purchase counseling.

Growing Pains: Perpetuating Inequality Through the Production of Low-Income Housing in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex

New regional growth may perpetuate social and economic inequalities caused by uneven urban development, or may reverse such trends by expanding housing options that make possible the dispersal of lower-income households among suburban areas offering better social, economic, and educational opportunities. Supply-side housing approaches can facilitate a more equitable redistribution of housing options. In this research, we examine the role of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program in expanding the geography of opportunity in one fast-growing region—the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Findings suggest that although LIHTC developments are penetrating the suburbs, they are not expanding opportunities for these households. Just under half of LIHTC units are found in highly clustered areas characterized by high poverty rates, minority concentrations, poor educational opportunities, and rampant crime. The remaining units are dispersed in areas with moderate conditions. Suggestions are made for altering program guidelines to achieve better dispersal, income-mixing, and regionwide distribution.

Racial/ethnic differences in housing outcomes for first‐time, low‐income home buyers: Findings from a National homeownership education program

Federal housing policies aimed at making homeownership more accessible through education and affordable lending have been successful in raising the homeownership rate among minorities. By marketing homeownership to underserved populations and helping them overcome financial and informational obstacles, such programs might be expected to promote equality in housing outcomes, including housing quality, neighborhood composition, and neighborhood conditions, for minority homeowners. This article examines the experience of participants in a national home‐ownership education program. While the transition to homeownership has been associated with modest progress, it does not overcome persistent disparities in housing quality. Homeownership appears to lead to poorer neighborhood conditions for all lower‐income buyers—not just minorities—and may be exacerbating social and spatial isolation rather than helping to overcome it. Differences in neighborhood outcomes, however, may be due to locational preference rather than discrimination in housing and mortgage markets.Abstract Federal housing policies aimed at making homeownership more accessible through education and affordable lending have been successful in raising the homeownership rate among minorities. By marketing homeownership to underserved populations and helping them overcome financial and informational obstacles, such programs might be expected to promote equality in housing outcomes, including housing quality, neighborhood composition, and neighborhood conditions, for minority homeowners. This article examines the experience of participants in a national home‐ownership education program. While the transition to homeownership has been associated with modest progress, it does not overcome persistent disparities in housing quality. Homeownership appears to lead to poorer neighborhood conditions for all lower‐income buyers—not just minorities—and may be exacerbating social and spatial isolation rather than helping to overcome it. Differences in neighborhood outcomes, however, may be due to locational preference rather than discrimination in housing and mortgage markets.