This is one of two research reports drafted to inform, refocus, and help prioritize housing policy dialogues in two key jurisdictions: the city of Philadelphia and the state of California. Most of the housing reform initiatives to date in these two areas of focus have failed to acknowledge the ways that racially biased policymaking has contributed to the current housing crisis and, as a result, have perpetuated the racialized nature of how we got here. To better understand how such disparities have continued to persist for so long, these reports examine the history of the housing systems in each jurisdiction and outline a housing justice agenda that mitigates the threat of displacement, preserves communities, and increases access to neighborhoods of opportunity.

• Download Facing History, Uprooting Inequality: A Path to Housing Justice in California
• Download The Case for Housing Justice in Philadelphia

Over one third of residents in the United States are renters, including the majority of Black and Latino residents. Many renters were already facing a crisis due to soaring rents before the pandemic, and they have been hit hard by the virus and its economic impacts. Without long-term eviction protections, these renters are at risk of being caught in a coming wave of evictions which could force them out of their neighborhoods or even onto the street. In partnership with Our Homes, Our Health, the National Equity Atlas team created a series of fact sheets to support their work across the country to advance policies that protect renters at risk of eviction during the Covid-19 emergency. Our Homes, Our Health is a collaborative initiative of the National Housing Justice Grassroots Table, including the Center for Popular Democracy, Partnership for Working Families, People’s Action, the Right to the City Alliance, and Alliance for Housing Justice.

You can download fact sheets for the following states: California, Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, Oregon, and Washington. Fact sheets for the following local geographies are also available for download: Bay Area, CA; Bedford County, TN, Contra Costa County, CA, San Mateo County, CA, and Sonoma County, CA. More fact sheets to come.

See the accompanying methodology for the state fact sheets. For the county fact sheets, please see the notes at the end of the individual fact sheets for a link to the methodology.

The majority of young children living in the United States today are children of color, cared for by parents and caregivers across a spectrum of identities. These children face increased economic insecurity as their parents navigate the high cost of leaving work to care for them or assume crippling child care costs, all while earning stagnantly low wages. Their families may also experience considerably unequal challenges to living in safe and secure housing, enrolling in affordable and high-quality early learning experiences, and accessing healthy food. Additionally, the emergency triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, with its significant impact on families’ health and economic well-being, threatens to widen these gaps, especially for families of color who are disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and its economic fallout. This brief looks at how to leverage and expanding public funding to support a more equitable recovery for young children, families, and child care workers.

The Covid-19 pandemic has created a set of dire public health and economic challenges for communities across the country. The crisis strikes our most vulnerable communities and communities of color even harder, magnifying existing racial disparities in health, housing, and economic security. This brief is designed to help local government leadership and staff design public processes that use this crisis as an opportunity to further racial equity and build community capacity.

This process guide:

• Outlines the reasons for pursuing an inclusive process (even in times of crisis)
• Describes a developmental path that moves from simple, but ineffective, public engagement to authentic and meaningful community partnership
• Provides real-world examples of steps that communities are taking to ensure that traditionally excluded communities have a real seat at the table when it comes to planning Covid-19 recovery efforts
• Illustrates specific strategies and tools (both online and off) that local government agencies are using to effectively facilitate public input in the absence of face-to-face public meetings

Our companion guide, Strategies to Advance Racial Equity in Housing Response and Recovery: A Guide for Cities during the Covid-19 Pandemic, outlines policy and program design actions that communities can take to support an equitable recovery and advance racial equity in housing during and after the coronavirus pandemic.

The Covid-19 pandemic has created a set of dire public health and economic challenges for communities across the country. The crisis strikes our most vulnerable communities and communities of color even harder, magnifying existing racial disparities in health, housing, and economic security.

This brief provides a set of recommendations to advance racial equity in housing through the implementation of Covid-19 relief and recovery strategies, organized into four areas of action:

1. Prevent evictions and protect tenants.
2. Address homelessness and advance housing as a human right.
3. Sustain and increase community ownership and permanently affordable housing.
4. Divest from the police and invest in racial equity.

Our companion guide, Inclusive Processes to Advance Racial Equity in Housing Recovery: A Guide for Cities during the Covid-19 Pandemic, outlines principles and steps local government leadership and staff can take during this time of crisis to design public processes that further racial equity and build community capacity.

In recent years, public space advocates and park conservationists have become increasingly vocal about the need for “park equity,” or the idea that all residents should have reasonably equal access to quality park space. Much of the emphasis on park equity focuses on access, funding, and the degree to which residents perceive public space to be welcoming and inclusive. Without  a critical analysis of power dynamics in the decision­-making process and how differing visions and concerns are considered, conversations about parks perpetuate and sometimes accelerate historic structural inequities in low-income communities of color. These dynamics can be observed in this case study of Philadelphia Chinatown and the Rail Park, an ambitious adaptive reuse project which recently completed its $11 million first phase of construction. This report offers guidance for the broader field of community development practitioners and planners working in gentrifying neighborhoods on this critical question: How can public spaces contribute to equitable development?

Download the report, the summary, and translated summary in Chinese.