New Updates on The Edge

Message from PD&R Leadership:
Introducing PD&R’s New Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy Development Ben Winter
In the leadership message, PD&R’s new deputy assistant secretary for policy development Ben Winter introduces himself and describes his previous work with HUD during the foreclosure crisis in 2009. Winter expresses his commitment to working with PD&R to deploy new COVID-19 resources, mitigating the disparate impact of the pandemic on disadvantaged communities, and preventing foreclosures and evictions.

Trending:
The 2020 Ivory Prize Winners
Each year, Ivory Innovations of the University of Utah's David Eccles School of Business recognizes innovative technologies and strategies to increase housing affordability with the Ivory Prize. In 2020, the academic center recognized 5 winners and 15 finalists over 4 prize categories: Finance; Policy and Regulatory Reform; Construction and Design; and Public Sector Outstanding Achievement. In January 2021, the five prize winners and several finalists discussed their work in a series of panels hosted by the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley.

In Practice:
Douglas Greene Apartments Provides Affordable Housing in Wildfire-Affected Kodak, Tennessee
In 2016, wildfires damaged or destroyed more than 2,000 houses in Sevier County, Tennessee, leaving the area with a shortage of housing that exacerbated the existing need for affordable units. In 2020, the 80-unit Douglas Greene Apartments became the first of 7 new complexes to open in the county and begin to relieve the housing shortage since the fires. Douglas Greene, a $14.2 million, four-building affordable complex, offers its residents amenities such as a gathering room with a kitchenette, a computer room, a gym, and a playground.

Research:
Findings of a Paired-Testing Pilot Study of Discrimination Against Same-Sex Couples and Transgender Individuals in the Rental Housing Market
A recently posted HUD-sponsored pilot study explores discrimination against same-sex couples and transgender individuals in the rental housing market. The study involved 1,800 paired tests of same-sex couples in the Dallas-Fort Worth and Los Angeles metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) and 200 paired tests of transgender individuals in the Washington, D.C. MSA. The study’s initial findings indicated that housing providers discriminated against gay men and transgender individuals on some treatment measures. The researchers suggested several areas that merited further inquiry, as well as possible modes of investigation, to answer questions raised by this pilot.

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