New Updates on The Edge

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Message from PD&R Leadership:
Reflection as Inflection
In recognition of HUD's 50th anniversary, PD&R created a suite of resources now available in a special section of the HUD User website. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy Development Lynn Ross highlights the centerpiece of these new resources, a book entitled HUD at 50: Creating Pathways to Opportunity, and discusses how reflecting on the legacy of HUD's first 50 years will aid PD&R in creating the next Research Roadmap.

Trending
The Innovation in Affordable Housing Student Design and Planning Competition, An Interview with Claire Desjardins
HUD's Innovation in Affordable Housing (IAH) Student Design and Planning Competition, in which multi-disciplinary graduate student teams are invited to submit proposals in response to a real-life planning and design challenge faced by a public housing authority, is currently entering its third year. In an in-depth Q & A, Claire Desjardins, a Program Analyst in of the Office of Policy Development and Research and the Program Manager for IAH, describes the competition and discusses why graduate students should participate.

In Practice:
Historic Police Station Converted to LGBTQ-Friendly Senior Housing in Chicago
A former police station in Chicago's Lake View Community was recently transformed into the Town Hall Apartments, an affordable housing development friendly to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) seniors, who may have fewer resources in retirement because of historic discrimination during their prime working years. Town Hall Apartments contains 30 studio and 49 one-bedroom units, split between the historic police station and a newly constructed six-story apartment tower.

Policy Update:
Obstacles, Solutions, and Self-Determination in Indian Housing Policy
Native Americans nationwide are more likely to live in crowded, physically inadequate, and unaffordable homes, when compared with the U.S. population as a whole. The federal government has a legal obligation to promote the welfare of Native Americans in Indian Country, which it fulfills through a self-determination framework. Efforts to improve housing conditions in Indian Country, however, are complicated by factors such as remote locations, weak tribal economies, and restrictions on the use of tribal land.