Dissecting the Eviction Crisis

Attention to the human and economic costs of evictions predate the pandemic, but the economic disruption of the past two years has increased the need for better tools to measure and respond to evictions.

1 minute read

November 29, 2021, 12:00 PM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Eviction Crisis

Kevin RC Wilson / Shutterstock

An eviction crisis has loomed over the United States since the lockdowns and stay-at-home orders of Spring 2020, but it's always been hard to tell how bad the effects if the pandemic would be for vulnerable renters.

To clarify an assessment of the eviction crisis, an article for the National league of Cities, written by Lauren Lowery, Tina Lee, Samantha Carr, Sabiha Zainulbhai, and Nóra Al Haider, advocates for the resources necessary for cities to grapple with the ongoing waves of evictions.

The organization of the article reveals the work being done here: 1) What cities need, 2) barriers, 3) addressing data gaps, and 4) what cities can do to increase access to eviction data. While the first two sections of the article lay out the scope of the problem, the second two sections provide case studies of best practices and lay out a forward looking agenda for improving the ability of cities to assess and respond to the eviction crisis.

Monday, November 22, 2021 in National League Of Cities

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I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

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