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Residential Housing

Urban Planning
commentary
How Can Commercial Buildings Become Needed Housing?
Jason M. Ward @jason_m_ward
Jun 6, 2022
Santa Monica Daily Press
Adaptive reuse has tremendous promise for making a dent in Southern California's housing shortage, but realizing its full potential will require thoughtful and timely policymaking.
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Housing Markets
commentary
California Needs 1.2 Million New Homes. How Will It Get There?
Jason M. Ward @jason_m_ward
May 13, 2022
CalMatters
Voluntary incentives foster increased production of affordable housing, while mandates alone increase the cost of producing housing, dampening both market-rate and affordable housing production. It is well past time to acknowledge the evidence and focus on the adoption of voluntary programs that incentivize the rapid creation of dense, infill housing available at both affordable and market rents.
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Counterinsurgency
blog
Employing Insurgency in Ukraine, U.S. Hospital Prices, Reaching the Middle Class: RAND Weekly Recap
Apr 8, 2022
This weekly recap focuses on how insurgency could give Ukraine an edge over Russia, repurposing commercial buildings to help address L.A.’s housing crisis, Americans’ options for reaching the middle class, and more.
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Immigrants and Emigrants
blog
Supporting Undocumented and Asylum-Seeking Children, L.A. Housing, Veterans: RAND Weekly Recap
Oct 1, 2021
This weekly recap focuses on educating and supporting undocumented and asylum-seeking children in U.S. schools, what drives America's adversaries to use military forces, and measuring the compounding effects of racism.
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Residential Housing
commentary
Renters' Last Chance for Pandemic Aid Before Evictions Resume
George Zuo
Sep 24, 2021
Los Angeles Times
The pandemic has battered Los Angeles renters, and a new wave of pain is coming with the moratorium on evictions ending September 30. But this housing crisis doesn't have to turn into a new homelessness crisis. Californians with incomes below 80 percent of their area's median are eligible to receive funds from the COVID-19 Rent Relief program.
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Employment and Unemployment
blog
Unemployment Insurance, Domestic Extremists, Housing Insecurity: RAND Weekly Recap
Feb 5, 2021
This weekly recap focuses on what the pandemic has revealed about America's unemployment system, why stopping domestic extremism will be difficult, how housing insecurity may affect sleep, and more.
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Data Privacy
commentary
Your Personal Information Could End Up in the Hands of Foreign Investors
Marcus Dillistone, Ryan Andrew Brown, Alina I. Palimaru, Michael Schwille @MichaelSchwille
Dec 16, 2020
Inside Sources
If you've ever rented a property, you may have wondered what happens to the sensitive information on your application. Recent concerns over the foreign harvesting of personal information for questionable purposes should worry everyone.
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Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
blog
Reopenining Schools, Affordable Housing, Unemployment: RAND Weekly Recap
Jul 24, 2020
This weekly recap focuses on the debate about reopening schools, how a decline in commercial real estate demand could help address the housing crisis, challenges facing the U.S. unemployment system, and more.
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Housing Markets
commentary
Declining Commercial Real Estate Demand May Provide an Opportunity to Help Address California's Housing Crisis
Jason M. Ward @jason_m_ward
Jul 20, 2020
CalMatters
The pandemic has led to an estimated 175,000 business closures this spring. And an estimated 40 percent of employed people are working from home full-time. This could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reallocate portions of the built environment toward the urgent demand for affordable housing.
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Child Health
commentary
COVID-19: Why Spending More Time at Home for Some Children Is Bad for Their Health
Andreas Culora
Jul 20, 2020
Open Access Government
Children in Europe are at a higher risk of poor-quality and overcrowded housing. Efforts to improve the quality of children's living environments could be key to mitigating the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on children and their households.
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Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
blog
Reopening America, China's 'Mask Diplomacy,' State Police Powers: RAND Weekly Recap
May 8, 2020
This weekly recap focuses on a RAND tool that estimates the public health and economic effects of reopening America, China's “mask diplomacy,” using police powers for pandemic response, and more.
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Residential Housing
commentary
From Lockdown to Locked Out: Coronavirus and the Looming Crisis in Rental Housing
Alina I. Palimaru, Jason M. Ward @jason_m_ward, Amy L. Shearer, Marcus Dillistone
Apr 30, 2020
Dallas Morning News
Housing security is vital to individual and collective well-being. It's also a key component in the nation's economic performance. The looming coronavirus eviction crisis suggests the need to address the systemic problem of housing affordability and security now.
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Residential Housing
essay
Supportive Housing Can Help Keep People with Mental Illness Out of Jail
Feb 27, 2020
Hundreds of thousands of people with serious mental illnesses cycle in and out of American jails every year. In Los Angeles, some of them are getting diverted into a supportive housing program where they can get the treatment they need. And the results are promising.
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Child Health
commentary
How a Poor Indoor Environment at Home Affects Children's Health in the EU
Daniel Gehrt
Nov 4, 2019
Encompass
One third of children in the EU are exposed to damp or mold, cold, darkness, and noise in their own homes. The good condition of homes should not only be seen as an issue of comfort, but as an essential basic requirement for good health of the residents, especially when they are families with children.
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Neighborhood Influences on Health
commentary
Pittsburgh's Hill District Is Losing More Than a Supermarket
Tamara Dubowitz @TamaraDubowitz, La'Vette Wagner
Apr 1, 2019
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
When the Shop 'n Save in Pittsburgh's Hill District closed its doors for good, residents lost the ability to go to a supermarket near their homes. But they also lost something less tangible: a symbol of hope, opportunity, and change for their neighborhood.
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Energy Conservation
commentary
Can Innovative Financing by the Public and Private Sectors Build on Momentum in Energy Efficiency Improvements for Affordable Multifamily Housing?
Lisa Jonsson, Aimee E. Curtright @ACurtright
Dec 12, 2018
The Energy Collective
Nearly one in three American households in 2015 reported difficulty paying their energy bills or sustaining adequate home heating and cooling. Emerging models of energy services and financing show promise, and could identify creative ways to increase access to funding that could preserve and improve home affordability for millions of Americans.
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Homelessness
essay
Supportive Housing Reduces Homelessness—and Lowers Health Care Costs by Millions
Jun 27, 2018
Los Angeles County has moved some of its most chronically homeless and vulnerable residents into permanent housing. Providing them with social services and health care has dramatically reduced their use of emergency rooms and other services, saving taxpayers millions of dollars.
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Homelessness
commentary
Housing for Health: Los Angeles County's Department of Health Tackles Homelessness with an Innovative Housing Program That Saves Money
Sarah B. Hunter
Jan 18, 2018
USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism
Los Angeles County's Housing for Health program addresses an important public health issue by providing housing and supportive services to some of the most vulnerable people in our community. The program also saves taxpayers money.
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commentary
Why Houstonians Didn't Buy Flood Insurance
Lloyd Dixon, Noreen Clancy
Sep 12, 2017
The RAND Blog
Thousands of Houston-area homeowners will face massive, uninsured losses due to flood damage. Few homeowners buy flood insurance unless they are required to, and it's only mandatory for homes with mortgages located in FEMA-defined high-risk flood zones. People tend to ignore low-probability risks.
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Residential Housing
commentary
Why Rents Have Gone Through the Roof in New Orleans and Across the Nation
Richard K. Green, Heather L. Schwartz @schwartz_hl, Raphael W. Bostic
Aug 2, 2016
NOLA.com
The rental affordability crisis was caused by declining incomes since 2000, the slowing of new construction, households getting smaller, and the seven million foreclosures during the recession. It is a national problem in need of a national solution.
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Hurricanes
blog
Hurricane Katrina: 10 Years After the Storm
Aug 27, 2015
This weekend marks 10 years since Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast. As the region struggled to cope and rebuild after the storm, RAND experts worked on solutions to the region's long-term challenges.
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Residential Housing
commentary
Community-Driven Development: How the Poor Can Take Charge to Improve Their Housing
Julia Pollak
Sep 19, 2014
The RAND Blog
Public housing projects have been controversial for decades in countries around the world. But an informal settlement in Cape Town, South Africa, could serve as a guide for other countries experimenting with community-driven development, an alternative approach to public housing.
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Developing Countries
commentary
Could Alternatives Ease the Misery of South Africa's Housing Crisis?
Julia Pollak
Jul 10, 2014
The RAND Blog
The government's plan to replace cardboard shacks with cement houses may not be the only route to easing South Africa's housing woes. Increasingly, academic researchers, non-governmental organizations, and private companies are demonstrating pragmatic, low-cost, alternatives.
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commentary
In South Africa, Hard Choices on Housing
Julia Pollak
May 7, 2014
The RAND Blog
While much has changed in South Africa since the end of apartheid 20 years ago, many challenges remain, including the developing nation's dire need for housing.
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Urban Planning
commentary
Narrowing the Economic Achievement Gap: The Role of Housing
Heather L. Schwartz @schwartz_hl
Jan 11, 2012
Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity
The results from Montgomery County demonstrate that an integrative housing policy can be an effective form of school policy for disadvantaged children, writes Heather Schwartz.
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Emergency Preparedness
commentary
Concrete Closets Under Manufactured Homes Could Save Lives
Charles Meade
Feb 23, 2008
Tennessean
Tornado deaths and injuries are the predictable result of poorly conceived construction patterns that threaten to reverse the benefits that have resulted from advanced storm warning and forecasting capabilities, writes Charles Meade.
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Quoted

Moscow wants to annex large parts of Ukraine, it wants to demilitarize the country so that the government cannot fight against its actions, and it wants a pro-Russian leader in Kyiv. The sad reality is that annexing four regions is unlikely to be the end of Russia's mission in Ukraine, but just one phase in Putin's much longer project. Both Ukraine and its backers must be prepared for a protracted war.
Dara Massicot

Senior Policy Researcher
Source: Foreign Affairs
The strength of NATO is that it is at its essence an ongoing consultation based on trust, and where needed a central meeting point for smaller groups of allies to collaborate on an issue-by-issue basis. Finland and Sweden could benefit by working from the outset to advance the dialogue, express their interests, and help to shape what can be a stronger, smarter NATO.
Gene Germanovich

International Defense Researcher
Source: United Press International