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Dear friend,
Welcome to Frontier, the monthly newsletter from the Future of Property Rights Program at New America. We have a new Twitter account—please be sure to follow @FPRatNewAmerica. This month, we wrote about the implications of climate change for property rights, and continued our research on housing loss in the United States. Here's what we've been up to:
What We're Doing
The Case for 'Managed Retreat'
In the coming years, millions of Americans will lose their homes to climate change. So, why aren’t we talking about a national strategy for relocating residents from the coasts? Yuliya Panfil wrote for Politico, making the case for 'managed retreat' in the face of rising waters.
Eviction Court Diaries in Indianapolis
New America Local researcher Abbey Chambers recently wrote for NUVO about her experience as a fly on the wall in an Indianapolis eviction court. As Abbey writes, low-income renters don’t stand much chance when facing off against landlords and their lawyers, and eviction filings pile up.
FPR and its partner DataKind were also featured on The Rockefeller Foundation's blog, highlighting how our census tract-level housing loss maps helped Indianapolis leadership decide where to allocate CARES Act housing funds.
Hiding in Plain Sight: Housing Insecurity in the US
U.S. eviction and foreclosure filings have not reached the historic levels predicted by policymakers and the media. And yet, more than a quarter of American households reported feeling housing insecure in a new U.S. Census Bureau survey. Yuliya Panfil and Tim Robustelli wrote for Thomson Reuters Foundation News about how this survey data can function as an early warning system, helping U.S. policymakers prevent housing loss before it occurs.
What We're Reading
30 years ago, a standoff near Montreal over the expansion of a golf course onto Mohawk Territory lasted 78 days, and sparked Indigenous activism across Canada. Three decades later, Morgan Lowrie writes, the dispute over the land remains tense and unsolved. But to the south, the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled in favor of tribal sovereignty throughout eastern Oklahoma. Is something similar possible in Canada's future?
"Why Puerto Ricans Fear Opportunity Zones" - Next City
98 percent of Puerto Rico is declared an Opportunity Zone by the U.S. Government, setting the stage for intensive private investment in communities across the island. Luis Gallardo writes of the historic connection between outside investment and displacement in Puerto Rico, and warns of more relocations unless protections for communities are put in place. We wonder what innovative development models could bring economic growth to the island, while also respecting citizens' rights?
"Adani power plant and coal plans threatened by land owner court action" - Australian Broadcasting Corporation
In eastern India, a fight over a proposed power plant has erupted, with Indigenous groups and affected villagers filing suit to stop construction. Stephen Long notes that local residents claim Adani, a multinational conglomerate, used corruption, police violence, and undue influence to acquire land and push the project forward without property impact assessments. There’s been an increase in dialogue surrounding issues such as police brutality, structural inequities, and Indigenous land rights in the U.S. and other countries—is it time for a more global conversation?
Thoughts on our work or where we're headed? Feel free to reach out to us at FPR@NewAmerica.org.
Until next month, the FPR Team.
About New America
New America is dedicated to renewing the promise of America, bringing us closer to our nation’s highest ideals. We’re a different kind of think tank: one dedicated to public problem solving. Our team of visionary researchers, changemakers, technologists, and storytellers study and seize the opportunities presented by dramatic social and technological change. We search for powerful ideas, wherever they are, and collaborate with civic innovators around the world to develop evidence-based solutions.
The Future of Property Rights Program at New America aims to help solve today’s property rights challenges, both at home and abroad. Through our research, writing, and convening, we strive to connect new constituencies and shed light on underreported issues in the property rights space.
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