Just Released: Evidence Matters Spring/Summer 2019 Issue

HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
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The Spring/Summer 2019 issue of Evidence Matters: Transforming Knowledge Into Housing and Community Development Policy, which focuses on place-based, tax-incentivized economic and community development, is now available. This issue reviews research on the efficacy of past place-based initiatives; introduces Opportunity Zones, which were created through the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and represent the latest effort to encourage development of distressed areas through tax incentives; discusses methodological challenges to evaluating place-based tax incentives; and examines the strategies of five states and cities to ensure the success of Opportunity Zones.

Key Findings:

  • Past place-based tax incentives have attempted to promote broad economic development by directing capital to low-income areas, and Opportunity Zones build on lessons from those efforts.
  • An ongoing challenge in evaluating programs similar in nature to Opportunity Zones is the difficulty in isolating the effect of zone designation on housing prices and job growth.
  • State and local governments can play supportive and coordinating roles to help ensure that Opportunity Zone investments flow to distressed communities.

To subscribe to Evidence Matters, please click here.

Posted September 19, 2019



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