New Updates on The Edge

Featured Story

Message from PD&R Leadership:
ConnectHome: Demonstrating How to Close the Digital Divide
In July 2015, President Barack Obama and HUD Secretary Julián Castro announced ConnectHome, a pilot initiative that helps provide access to free or discounted high-speed Internet, computers, and digital literacy training for HUD-assisted residents in 27 communities and one tribal nation. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research, Evaluation, and Monitoring Calvin Johnson discusses how ConnectHome will help close the digital divide and how HUD will evaluate the pilot initiative's effectiveness.

In Practice:
Portland, Oregon's Erickson Saloon and Fritz Hotel Transformed into Mixed-Income Housing
Developer Innovative Housing transformed two historic buildings in Portland, Oregon — the Erickson Saloon and Fritz Hotel — into the mixed-income Erickson Fritz Apartments. Opened in July 2015, the renovation provides 52 affordable and 10 market-rate apartments in Old/Town Chinatown, Portland's oldest neighborhood. The development also offers bike storage, two community rooms, and two light-filled atriums that feature art installations commissioned for the renovated buildings.

Policy Update:
Leveraging the Health-Housing Nexus
A robust body of research has established links between health and housing. Findings indicate that various aspects of housing, ranging from the physical quality of a home to the conditions of the surrounding neighborhood, affect residents' health. Recent changes in health policy under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act have created new opportunities to combine housing and health funds and test new coordinated models of care.

Spotlight on PD&R Data:
A Closer Look at Employment in North Dakota and Region 8
The latest Spotlight on PD&R Data from the U.S. Housing Market Conditions portal focuses on employment trends in North Dakota and the other states within in HUD's Region 8 and compares the data to national trends.