Dear friend,

Welcome to Frontier, the monthly newsletter from the Future of Land and Housing Program at New America.

🔊 FLH is developing a cohort of jurisdictions for an Eviction and Foreclosure Data Response Network that will bring together city and county government leaders who are committed to using housing loss data and analysis to keep people in their communities stably housed. Read our flyer and fill out our interest form here.

Here's what else we've been up to:

What We're Doing

New Report—Climate Migration’s Impact on Housing Security in the United States: Recommendations for Receiving Communities

📑 Read the full report here.

Millions of Americans will move in the coming decades as hurricanes, wildfires, and other impacts of climate change intensify. A new report from FLH explores how climate impacts will influence future migration in the U.S., and how these population flows will affect housing security in receiving communities. It provides recommendations for policymakers to better ensure that their communities' housing, infrastructure, and job markets can support large demographic increases.

Related, an article in this month's edition of The Thread examines how Cincinnati, Ohio is already preparing for climate migration. Rust Belt cities such as Cincinnati could soon experience significant growth as households flee more climate-vulnerable parts of the country. Will the Queen City be ready to receive them?

Read the full climate migration report here, and The Thread article here.

Coalition Letter to U.S. Census Bureau Urges Creation of a National Housing Loss Rate

📑 Read the coalition letter here.

In early April, FLH and the National Consumer Law Center led a coalition of 17 affordable housing, civil rights, public data, and community development organizations in sending a letter to U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert Santos and other federal officials advocating for the creation of a national housing loss rate. The letter urges the Census Bureau to begin collecting survey data on involuntary residential displacement as a first step towards establishing a national measure of housing loss that would stand alongside the national unemployment rate as a key indicator of the country’s social and economic well-being.

New Study—Tanzania Demand for Documentation Study: Who Pays for Land Documents, and Why?

📑 Read the study here.

Despite strong evidence on the importance of land documentation, governments are often constrained financially and otherwise in their ability to map and title properties at scale. This raises the question: is it appropriate for governments, civil society, donors, and private sector companies to charge landholders for first-time land registration, instead of providing this service for free? And, if landholders are charged for land documents, are they willing and able to pay? 

This new study attempts to answer these questions by examining the results of a USAID-funded land registration activity that provided over 100,000 land registration certificates in rural Tanzanian villages. For the first four years of the activity, landholders received their land documents for free; for the last two years, they were asked to contribute a $13 fee. The change allows us to examine why some villagers paid for their document, why others did not, and what factors influenced their ability and willingness to pay.

Access the study, produced as part of the Integrated Natural Resource Management (INRM) Activity, here.

What We're Reading

FLH staff share what has stood out to them lately on land, housing, and property rights in the U.S. and internationally.

Sabiha Zainulbhai

The Eviction Experts: This in-depth view of eviction court in Columbus, Ohio illustrates the convergence of two troubling trends—the automation of eviction through “prop-tech” and skyrocketing rental prices resulting from a severe affordable housing shortage and investor-owned rental housing. Mya Frazier details the rise of algorithms in making eviction-related decisions; what might have been a face-to-face negotiation outside the court can now be a simple “if-then” rule in a database, prompting landlords to evict the moment rent is past due. By detailing the experience of Willis Law—a landlord law firm responsible on any given day for representing nearly half of eviction cases in Columbus' court—Frazier highlights how these trends are changing the landlord-tenant power dynamic.

Tim Robustelli

How one city pulled public transit from the brink — and what the rest of the country can learn from it: Pre-pandemic, Washington’s public transit system suffered from frequent delays, safety concerns, and falling ridership. Across the United States, fewer passengers on trains and buses has often meant budget cuts, in turn leading to poorer service, even fewer riders, and more cuts. Yet an influx of COVID-related federal funding has allowed DC’s Metro to break out of this downward spiral. Recent investment in more staff, quicker service, and more affordable rides has helped Washington make a faster transit recovery than any other comparable city in the country. Following this boost in public support, the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia—the jurisdictions that the Metro serves—are beginning to allocate cash long-term for the system. While money won’t fix everything, especially as many around the Beltway continue to work remotely, DC offers an interesting example for other U.S. cities: bet on good and affordable service in the short-term, and then convince policymakers to better fund a public transit system that more and more citizens use regularly.

Helen Bonnyman

The Unfulfilled Potential of D.C.’s ‘Tenant Opportunity To Purchase’ Law: The District of Columbia is one of a few urban areas in the country with a "Tenant Opportunity to Purchase" (TOPA) law requiring tenants receive first right of refusal when their building is up for sale. TOPA also allows tenants to negotiate with potential buyers for more favorable conditions like rent stabilization or building repairs. While this opportunity can theoretically empower tenants to attain better affordability and quality of life, a report using 2006-2020 data shows that in practice, accomplishing these goals is often thwarted by limited awareness about the process and a lack of financing options available for tenants interested in co-purchasing their building. More organizers and attorneys working in this space, as well as financial assistance for tenants, could increase the number of DC residents who buy their units through TOPA.  

Thoughts on our work or where we're headed? Reach out to us at FLH@NewAmerica.org or tag us at @FLHatNewAmerica.

Until next month, the FLH 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 Land and Housing Program at New America aims to help solve today’s land and housing rights challenges, both in the United States and internationally. Through our research and writing, convening, and collaboration with civic innovators worldwide, we strive to connect new constituencies, shed light on underreported issues, and implement creative approaches in the property rights space.

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