Skip to main content

Commuting to Opportunity: Employment Patterns of People Living in High-Poverty Neighborhoods

Published On June 11, 2021

The mismatches between where many lower-wage people can afford to live and where they are able to find work exact a number of costs – for the worker, the economy, and the environment. Understanding the employment and commute patterns of people in high-poverty communities can help policymakers effectively target solutions that support economic mobility and address climate change. Research Director Elizabeth Kneebone published new research that illuminates the ways in which housing, land use, and economic development policies have concentrated rental housing and particularly affordable and subsidized rentals in higher-poverty neighborhoods, but have amassed the majority of employment options outside of those neighborhoods.

The paper Commuting to Opportunity: Employment Patterns of People Living in High-Poverty Neighborhoods is published as part of Enterprise Community Partners’ and Housing Partnership Network’s research series Advancing Opportunity Through Affordable Housing. Read a summary blog post.

Related Articles

Pathways to Support Mixed-Status Immigrant Families Receiving Federal Housing Assistance

Note: HUD released a prepublication copy of the rule on February 19, 2026, and it is scheduled to be published…

California’s Building Code Appeals Process: A Quiet but Crucial Lever for Housing

California’s housing crisis has precipitated substantial zoning and land use reforms, as well as funding investments. However, one of the…

Steps Local Governments Can Take to Unlock More Housing: Lessons from San Diego

Author: William Fulton, Terner Center Fellow Co-authors: Sarah Karlinsky, Director of Research and Policy; Quinn Underriner, Senior Data Scientist Over…

Housing Opportunities: Governor’s Reorganization Plan to Create the California Housing and Homelessness Agency

Authors: Doug Shoemaker, Terner Center Affiliate Geeta Rao, Senior Director, Northern California Market, Enterprise Community Partners Co-authors: Sarah Karlinsky, Director…