News from HUD User

PD&R UPDATES

27 February, 2024

CASE STUDY

Transforming an Abandoned Car Dealership Into Affordable Housing in Boston

Cote Village is a residential development serving low- and moderate-income households in Boston’s Mattapan neighborhood. Two local nonprofits, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston’s Planning Office for Urban Affairs, Inc. and Caribbean Integration Community Development, completed the $48.5 million project in 2022 with funding from multiple public sources, including the city of Boston, which also provided the land. Fifty-two apartments are in a repurposed old car dealership and 24 townhomes are located in 4 adjacent newly constructed buildings. Residents are within walking distance of several amenities and a new commuter rail station, providing a quick connection to downtown Boston. Cote Village helped revitalize this long-vacant block while also contributing to the city’s goal of bringing new investments to this historically underserved neighborhood without pricing out existing residents. Read more at: https://www.huduser.gov/portal/casestudies/study-021624.html

REPORTS

Examining Increases in HUD Income Limits in Low-Income States
This report is a response to a Congressional directive that HUD received in the Joint Explanatory Statement for Division L of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, And Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2023, to “report to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations within 180 days of enactment of this act on how using a national AMI for nonmetropolitan areas as a floor would impact rent calculations in and the administration of any programs using income limits to set rents.” The report examines the shares of households that are eligible for HUD assistance across various geographic areas using HUD’s current methodology for calculating income limits and examines the potential impact on rent of setting minimum income limits based on the higher of an area’s state nonmetropolitan median family income or the national nonmetropolitan median family income. Read more at: https://www.huduser.gov/portal/publications/Examining_Increases_in_HUD_…

Examining the Housing and Neighborhood Trajectories for Former HUD-Assisted Households with Children
In July 2020, HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research released a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) titled “Examining Long-Term Outcomes Following Exit from HUD-Assisted Housing.” This study, conducted by the University of California, Berkeley, focused on families with children leaving HUD’s public housing and Housing Choice Voucher programs by analyzing the factors influencing the transition to homeownership and housing stability. Results indicated a significant decline in neighborhood poverty rates for households leaving public housing assistance and a positive impact on the likelihood of homeownership associated with participation in HUD’s Family Self-Sufficiency program. Read more at: https://www.huduser.gov/portal/publications/Examining-the-Housing-Neigh…

Evaluating Equity Efforts and Outcomes of CDBG-DR Funded Flood Resilience Efforts in Four Communities
This report describes a study on how Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) recipients incorporated equity into their disaster recovery and resiliency activities. Combining quantitative analyses with stakeholder interviews and document reviews, the study considered the experiences of four jurisdictions that received CDBG-DR funds following flood-based disasters that occurred between 2010 and 2013: the states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, Nashville-Davidson County in Tennessee, and the city of Chicago. The study’s findings reveal a range of challenges grantees face in serving low-income and other systemically marginalized communities, including conducting communication and outreach, assisting populations with specific post-disaster needs (e.g., seniors, renters), identifying effective recovery strategies, and overcoming administrative burdens. Read more at: https://www.huduser.gov/portal/publications/Evaluating-Equity-Efforts-a…

An Evaluation of the CDBG Formula’s Targeting to Community Development Need 2023
This report constructs a community needs index based on 20 variables for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) entitlement and nonentitlement communities and then assesses how well the current CDBG allocation formula aligns with the community needs index. The report finds significant disparities, suggesting funding inequities in the current formula. Such inequities include communities with similarly high levels of need receiving very different levels of funding per capita and communities whose allocated funding is very high relative to their need. The report then discusses the main problems with the current formula that contribute to these inequities. Read more at: https://www.huduser.gov/portal/publications/An-Evaluation-of-the-CDBG-F…