IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/fip/fedbpc/2011-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Housing policy and poverty in Springfield

Author

Listed:
  • Marques Benton
  • Lynn E. Browne
  • Sol Carbonell
  • Prabal Chakrabarti
  • DeAnna Green
  • Yolanda Kodrzycki
  • Ana Patricia Munoz
  • Anna Steiger
  • Richard Walker
  • Bo Zhao

Abstract

This essay considers whether housing policies may have contributed to the concentration of poverty in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts ? a question that emerged in conversations with local leaders. Springfield is not alone in having large numbers of lower income households living downtown. This pattern is common in American cities. Recent research emphasizes the role of public transportation in causing lower income households to live closer to downtown. However, spillover effects and government policies, including housing policies, have reinforced this tendency. The essay reviews federal housing policy, with a focus on Springfield. A dilemma for Springfield today is that housing and community development policies and resources tend to reflect the needs of communities with strong housing markets where preserving affordable housing is critical. In Springfield, with a much weaker housing market, these policies may perpetuate the status quo. A higher priority for Springfield is attracting a more economically diverse population.

Suggested Citation

  • Marques Benton & Lynn E. Browne & Sol Carbonell & Prabal Chakrabarti & DeAnna Green & Yolanda Kodrzycki & Ana Patricia Munoz & Anna Steiger & Richard Walker & Bo Zhao, 2011. "Housing policy and poverty in Springfield," Public and Community Affairs Discussion Papers 2011-1, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedbpc:2011-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.bostonfed.org/commdev/pcadp/2011/pcadp1101.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Edward L. Glaeser & Matthew E. Kahn & Jordan Rappaport, 2000. "Why Do The Poor Live In Cities?," Harvard Institute of Economic Research Working Papers 1891, Harvard - Institute of Economic Research.
    2. Edward L. Glaeser & Joseph Gyourko, 2005. "Urban Decline and Durable Housing," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(2), pages 345-375, April.
    3. Brueckner, Jan K. & Thisse, Jacques-Francois & Zenou, Yves, 1999. "Why is central Paris rich and downtown Detroit poor?: An amenity-based theory," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 91-107, January.
    4. Jan K. Brueckner & Stuart S. Rosenthal, 2009. "Gentrification and Neighborhood Housing Cycles: Will America's Future Downtowns Be Rich?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 91(4), pages 725-743, November.
    5. Glaeser, Edward L. & Kahn, Matthew E. & Rappaport, Jordan, 2008. "Why do the poor live in cities The role of public transportation," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 1-24, January.
    6. Peter Mieszkowski & Edwin S. Mills, 1993. "The Causes of Metropolitan Suburbanization," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 7(3), pages 135-147, Summer.
    7. repec:cor:louvrp:-1370 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. LeRoy, Stephen F. & Sonstelie, Jon, 1983. "Paradise lost and regained: Transportation innovation, income, and residential location," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 67-89, January.
    9. Yolanda Kodrzycki & Ana Patricia Munoz, 2009. "Lessons from resurgent cities," Annual Report, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, pages 9-31.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lena Edlund & Cecilia Machado & Maria Micaela Sviatschi, 2019. "Bright Minds, Big Rent: Gentrification and the Rising Returns to Skill," Working Papers 2019-32, Princeton University. Economics Department..
    2. JunJie Wu, 2010. "Economic Fundamentals And Urban–Suburban Disparities," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(2), pages 570-591, May.
    3. Glaeser, Edward L. & Kahn, Matthew E., 2004. "Sprawl and urban growth," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: J. V. Henderson & J. F. Thisse (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 56, pages 2481-2527, Elsevier.
    4. Nathaniel Baum-Snow & Byron F. Lutz, 2011. "School Desegregation, School Choice, and Changes in Residential Location Patterns by Race," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(7), pages 3019-3046, December.
    5. Rosenthal, Stuart S. & Ross, Stephen L., 2015. "Change and Persistence in the Economic Status of Neighborhoods and Cities," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 1047-1120, Elsevier.
    6. Edlund, Lena & Machado, Cecilia & Sviatschi, Maria, 2015. "Bright Minds, Big Rent: Gentrification and the Rising Returns to Skill," IZA Discussion Papers 9502, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Duranton, Gilles & Puga, Diego, 2015. "Urban Land Use," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 467-560, Elsevier.
    8. Wu, JunJie & Sexton, Steven & Zilberman, David, 2019. "Energy price shocks, household location patterns and housing crises: Theory and implications," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 691-706.
    9. Hans R. A. Koster & Jos N. van Ommeren & Piet Rietveld, 2016. "Historic amenities, income and sorting of households," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 16(1), pages 203-236.
    10. Rafa Madariaga & Joan Carles Martori & Ramon Oller, 2011. "Income, distance and spatial effects in the Monocentric model. The Barcelona Metropolitan Area case," ERSA conference papers ersa11p511, European Regional Science Association.
    11. Picarelli, Nathalie, 2019. "There Is No Free House," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 35-52.
    12. Garcia-López, Miquel-Àngel & Moreno-Monroy, Ana I., 2018. "Income segregation in monocentric and polycentric cities: Does urban form really matter?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 62-79.
    13. Kahn, Matthew E. & Walsh, Randall, 2015. "Cities and the Environment," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 405-465, Elsevier.
    14. Glaeser, Edward L. & Kahn, Matthew E. & Rappaport, Jordan, 2008. "Why do the poor live in cities The role of public transportation," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 1-24, January.
    15. Ulrich B. Morawetz & H. Allen Klaiber, 2022. "Does housing policy impact income sorting near urban amenities? Evidence from Vienna, Austria," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 69(2), pages 411-454, October.
    16. Leah Platt Boustan & Devin Bunten & Owen Hearey, 2013. "Urbanization in the United States, 1800-2000," Working Papers 2013-7, Princeton University. Economics Department..
    17. Waights, Sevrin, 2018. "Does gentrification displace poor households? An ‘identification-via-interaction’ approach," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 88691, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    18. Sanghoon Lee & Jeffrey Lin, 2018. "Natural Amenities, Neighbourhood Dynamics, and Persistence in the Spatial Distribution of Income," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 85(1), pages 663-694.
    19. Jan K. Brueckner & Stuart S. Rosenthal, 2009. "Gentrification and Neighborhood Housing Cycles: Will America's Future Downtowns Be Rich?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 91(4), pages 725-743, November.
    20. Lena Edlund & Cecilia Machado & Maria Sviatschi, 2022. "Gentrification and the Rising Returns to Skill," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 89(354), pages 258-292, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Housing policy; Housing policy - Massachusetts; Poverty - Massachusetts; Transportation;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:fip:fedbpc:2011-1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Spozio (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/frbbous.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.