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Fall 2019 Institute Conference: Expanding and Diversifying Housing

October 3 – 4, 2019
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Fall 2019 Institute Conference: Expanding and Diversifying Housing

Read the conference’s resulting policy brief


Expanding and Diversifying Housing: Approaches and Impacts on Opportunity

This conference—co-sponsored with the Brookings Institution’s Future of the Middle Class Initiative—brought together a broad audience of academics, policymakers at all levels, and practitioners for the following discussions:

  • How can the amount and type of new housing affect local housing prices?
  • How do the amount and types of housing available in different communities affect economic opportunity for residents?
  • What are the benefits of building rigorous evaluation into housing policy changes, and what are examples of successful research partnerships that do this?
  • How do major local housing policy changes arise, and what are the likely next developments?


Agenda

Thursday, October 3

1:00 p.m. - 1:15 p.m.
Welcome and introductions
1:15 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Opening panel: What do we know about the role of housing regulations in local housing prices? (Video)

One 30-minute introductory presenter provided the big picture, followed by 10-minute presentations of specific research evidence. Moderated discussion followed.

Panelists: Ingrid Gould Ellen (NYU) [pdf], Robert Ellickson (Yale) [pdf], Evan Mast (Upjohn Institute) [pdf], Tsur Somerville (University of British Columbia) [pdf]. Moderator: Jed Kolko (Indeed)

3:15 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Panel: The political economy of expanding housing supply through zoning changes (Video)

Policymakers discussed their locality’s experience debating and enacting major zoning changes to increase housing access.

Panelists: Lisa Bender (Minneapolis City Council) [pdf]; Madeline Kovacs (Sightline, Oregon) [pdf]; Robert Duffy (Arlington Virginia Planning Department) [pdf]. Moderator: Jenny Schuetz (Brookings)

5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Keynote: Lawrence Lanahan, journalist and author,
The Lines Between Us (Video)

Introduction by Tracey Scott (Minneapolis Public Housing Authority).

Friday, October 4

8:15 a.m. - 9:45 a.m.
Panel: Impacts of housing access on individual and community outcomes (Video)

One 30-minute introductory presenter provided the big picture, followed by 10-minute presentations of specific research evidence. Moderated discussion followed.

Panelists: Morris Davis (Rutgers) [pdf]; Sandra Newman (Johns Hopkins) [pdf]; Susan Wachter (Wharton) [pdf]. Moderator: Issi Romem (Trulia) [pdf]

10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Panel: Nuts and bolts of research partnerships: Evaluating impacts of housing policies (Video)

Teams of researchers and practitioners told a detailed story of how the research partnership developed and functioned.

Panelists: Christopher Palmer (MIT), Sarah Oppenheimer (Seattle/King County Housing Authority) [pdf], David Phillips (University of Notre Dame LEO) [pdf], Ky Le (Santa Clara County) [pdf]. Moderator: Anusha Nath (Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis)

11:45 a.m.
Discussion: Next steps in local housing policy (Video)

Moderated discussion between Richard Reeves (Brookings) and Neel Kashkari (Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis). Moderator: Alana Semuels (TIME)

1:00 p.m.
Conference adjourns

Brookings Logo

The Opportunity & Inclusive Growth Institute and Brookings Institution’s Future of the Middle Class Initiative gratefully acknowledge support from the Minneapolis Fed’s Community Development department.