Skip to main content

Creating Equitable Communities through Housing and Transportation

Last month, our Research Director Elizabeth Kneebone gave testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on the Departments of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies on the critical role of housing and transportation in building equitable communities.

In her testimony, Kneebone outlines how federal, state, and local policies and programs and private market practices have fueled economic and racial segregation and resulted in disparities in homeownership, wealth building, and access to communities with employment, educational, and other opportunities.

To effectively contribute to the creation of equitable communities, federal housing and transportation policies must recognize and work to redress this uneven landscape. These efforts should begin by responding to the COVID-19 pandemic by prioritizing resources and protection to the hardest hit households and landlords, fund struggling transit systems—particularly bus routes that serve low-income neighborhoods and communities of color—at risk of service cuts, and take lessons from the Great Recession to deploy aid in ways that do not further exacerbate disparities. 

Over the longer term, federal policy should work to advance the three key priorities outlined in our recent federal framework and, in particular, further regional approaches to plan for, fund, and hold localities accountable to housing and transportation goals.

Watch the full testimony below (Kneebone’s testimony begins at 43:00, and the full panel discussion follows), and read the written testimony here.

Related Articles

The First Step Is The Hardest: California’s Sliding Homeownership Ladder

In recent decades, it has become more difficult for California households to move up the rungs of the “homeownership ladder”…

New Pathways to Encourage Housing Production: A Review of California’s Recent Housing Legislation

In the past six years, California has introduced over 100 laws aimed at increasing housing production. A new policy brief…

Reaffirming the Federal Commitment to Fair Housing: Lessons from California in Implementing AFFH

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is currently inviting comments on a proposed Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing…

2023 Legislative Preview: Will New Faces and Budget Constraints Change Housing Focus in Sacramento?

Budget constraints and a notable number of new legislators complicate California’s ability to sustain the recent pace of passing housing…