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The Federal Housing Policy Dilemma for Older Communities

Jennifer S. Vey and
Jennifer Vey
Jennifer S. Vey Nonresident Senior Fellow - Brookings Metro

Robert Puentes
Robert Puentes is the Vice President and Director of Brookings Metro.
Robert Puentes Vice President and Director - Brookings Metro

March 23, 2007

Often the biggest challenge for older cities and close-in suburbs is not a lack of affordable housing but a need to grow, hold, and attract middle-income households and to foster mixed-income neighborhoods. This creates a policy dilemma: While federal policymakers target limited federal housing assistance to persons with the greatest needs, doing so can create concentrations of poverty within already challenged cities and suburbs. This approach also can set limits that hinder efforts to create the middle-income and mixed-income areas needed for revitalization in older communities.

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