Exploring the persistence of racial segregation as a result of U.S. housing policies—policies intended to break patterns of segregation, not reproduce them.
Eva Rosen asks a question of the obvious trend of people with Housing Choice Vouchers moving into impoverished and racially segregated neighborhoods: "Why are these patterns of segregation being recreated under a system that was meant to undo them?"
To answer that question, the article identifies and explores role that landlords plan in "sorting residents in and out of neighborhoods." According to Rosen's research, "there is a hierarchy of tenants, just as there is a hierarchy of homes. If the landlord plays the matching game wisely, 'there's a tenant for every house.' What this means though, is that the tenants at the bottom of the social ladder are also being matched to the worst homes, in the worst neighborhoods." The article goes on to describe more about how the matching process works and why landlords make their decisions about prospective tenants.
Rosen also recommends a proposed policy that could address the problem: "The formula that calculates Fair Market Rent should be reformed to use numbers for individual neighborhoods, rather than citywide averages." Notably, the Department of Housing and Urban Development recently proposed just such a policy [pdf].
FULL STORY: The Power of Landlords

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power
Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns
MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant
A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.
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