New Updates on The Edge

Message from PD&R Leadership:
Why Local Codes Matter
In the leadership message, PD&R's associate deputy assistant secretary for research, evaluation, and monitoring Mark Shroder examines the significance of local building and land use codes. Shroder discusses three recent cases that demonstrate the role of code in public safety, housing affordability, and housing fairness. Local determinations regarding building and land use shape many aspects of life – or death – in the nation's cities and towns.

Spotlight on PD&R Data:
Employment Losses and Declining Homeownership in Toledo
The latest article in a series focusing on HUD's Comprehensive Housing Market Analyses (CHMAs) examines the Toledo housing market area (HMA). Situated in Ohio and bordered by Michigan and Lake Erie, the Toledo HMA includes the counties of Fulton, Lucas, and Wood. Over the past two years, the number of jobs has declined in the area, although unemployment fell by 0.6 percent during this time. The sales and rental housing markets are balanced, though the rate of homeownership has fallen since 2010.

In Practice:
Historic Fort Restored for Use as Affordable Housing in Des Moines, Iowa
Opened in 2018, the Fort Des Moines Living Apartments occupy 10 historic buildings on a 13-acre parcel of the grounds of the historic Fort Des Moines. The fort, a U.S. Army post, was built in the early 1900s and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. Local developer Blackbird Investments began an intensive renovation in 2013, and today the restored site provides 142 units of affordable housing in Des Moines' Southside.

Please send your comments and suggestions to editor@huduser.gov.