Most low-income households do not receive housing assistance or live in subsidized units. As an implicit foundation of U.S. housing policy, we rely on the market to deliver low-cost housing to these households. This delivery occurs not so much through direct construction of affordable properties, but rather through filtering, the process by which homes originally constructed for high-income households decline in value to an affordable level.(More)

The proposed study is a qualitative comparative analysis of the perspectives of rural organizational leaders on the potential effectiveness of technical assistance efforts at increasing affordable housing options for low-income special needs populations (that is, HIV/AIDS, elderly, disabled). The focus will be on rural organizations located in the Lower Mississippi Delta Region of Alabama to provide a community-based perspective on the provision of technical assistance and its potential impact to increase housing options through capacity development.(More)

The relationship between crime and communities has long been a focal point of criminological and sociological investigation. Most neighborhood level research, however, treats crime as an outcome of socioeconomic characteristics of places, but crime is also an important catalyst for community change. Increases in crime have negative consequences for neighborhoods, including increased residential mobility (Morenoff and Sampson, 1997) and decreased neighborhood satisfaction (Skogan, 1992). As homeowners relocate to safer communities, crime also initiates changes in the local housing market, such as reduced house values and increased vacant properties (Taylor, 1995). Additionally, changes in the market have consequences beyond the homeowners. Real estate agents' negative perceptions of high crime areas can steer potential buyers away and the out-migration of financially stable households reduces the local tax base. It is reasonable to assume then, that the level of crime in a neighborhood would lead to lower demand for that community, i.e., crime is a "dis-amenity" just as poorly performing schools or a lack of basic municipal services are dis-amenities. (More)