Category: Reference Desk

National Housing Crisis Task Force

In July 2024, the Nowak Metro Finance Lab at Drexel University and Accelerator for America launched the National Housing Crisis...

May 23, 2025

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Policing as Public Health – Why Broken Windows still applies

A recent article by Anthony A. Braga, Jerry Lee Professor of Criminology and Director, Crime and Justice Policy Lab, at...

March 25, 2025

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Rising Costs of Homeownership Are a Growing Burden

In January we reported on articles in the Wall Street Journal and other major outlets that highlighted a concerning trend...

February 24, 2025

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Local Housing Solutions Rental Registries Brief

Earlier this year, Local Housing Solutions released a brief reviewing “empirical evidence about rental registries’ efficacy in promoting housing quality...

November 13, 2024

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Creating Effective, Comprehensive, and Accessible Home Repair Programs

In August 2024 The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies issued a report titled “Catalyzing a Movement to Produce Greater...

October 30, 2024

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Challenges with “Heir Property”

Please see for resources from Fannie Mae and the Center of Community Progress. Fannie Mae In a recent post on...

August 6, 2024

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Cleaning up the built environment to reduce crime

Below please find a recent post by the Niskanen Center, a nonprofit public policy organization named the “The Most Interesting...

February 8, 2024

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Illegal Dumping Creating Mental Health Challenges

Bernadette Hohl, a senior research investigator with the Penn Injury Science Center and the Philadelphia Department of Public Health’s Injury...

February 5, 2024

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Land Bank Ownership’s Impact on Violent Crime Reduction

A Center for Community Progress report discusses a study that found land bank ownership was associated with net declines in...

January 2, 2024

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“Mule Addresses” – Criminologists explain how vacant properties serve as depots for illegal online purchases

Once again, another reason not to publicize vacant property lists. Though the criminal element may just use properties listed for...

September 19, 2023

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