HOUSING INDICATOR TOOL

A DASHBOARD FOR MEASURING PROGRESS TOWARDS MEETING REGIONAL HOUSING NEEDS

“Racism, racist policies, racist systems, and racist outcomes will
persist until it is in our economic, political, and cultural interests to choose otherwise.”

Ibram X. Kendi, Author, How to Be an Antiracist
The above quote was shared with our members during HAND’s Racial Equity Learning Series (March 2020).

To tell the story of HAND’s Housing Indicator Tool (HIT), we must start from the beginning: before COVID-19, before the Great Recession of the late 2000s, and even before the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Dating as far back as slavery, we have operated under a system that was rooted in an ideology that black, indigenous, and people of color were inferior to other races. Over hundreds of years, this structure has permeated our very way of life – from our education system to where we worship and even housing.

Redlining, racialized zoning and covenants, subprime mortgages, and disinvestment in black and brown communities are just a few of the ways in which this system has created barriers to opportunity over the course of decades. No matter how overt or subtle, this discrimination has always been designed to secure the dominance of some, and extract social and economic value from others. 

This pattern of systemic racism coupled with the ongoing housing affordability challenge in the Capital Region will require an all-hands-on-deck strategy to start carving a way forward. The HIT helps get us started in addressing racial and economic inequities through the vehicle of housing. This one-of-a-kind platform holds all of us accountable with the latest information on housing production across the region and a comparison with established local housing targets. Before jumping into the HIT, we invite you to read Compounding Interests, Compounding Inequities: Racism, Housing, and Our Region’s Responsibility to Act. This companion piece provides key context to support the jurisdictional data, highlights on successful models and more.

CALL TO ACTION

We’ve got work to do. Regional problems, require regional solutions. Everyone should have access to housing that is affordable. If you’d like to join us in the movement to increase and preserve our supply of affordable housing across the Capital Region, the following are how we can start taking action now.

ADVOCACY PARTNERS

The groups below are HAND members working on the ground and throughout the region to advocate for strong public policy that supports the equitable development of communities. We encourage you to use them as resources as well!

TOOL KIT

Keep the conversation going. Download this toolkit to support you in communications with elected officials, members of your community and other stakeholders.

Download the Tool Kit 

HIT ACTIVATIONS

HAND is excited to host Activations throughout the year and to continue the conversation with jurisdictions represented in the tool. These dynamic sessions serve as a platform for key stakeholders to dialogue around strategies to create and preserve equitable housing. Keep an eye on our website to stay abreast of upcoming programs, and you can check out our most recent Activations below! 

HAND & Prince George’s County Present Housing As a Racial & Social Justice Issue

HAND, WRAG & Greater Washington Community Foundation Host Regional Housing Access and Equity Forum: Shared Responsibility and Accountability

HIT IN THE NEWS

Check out the latest media coverage of the HIT and key updates from our jurisdictions on achieving our housing goals!

• Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments | Local jurisdictions press on toward regional housing targets
• Washington Business Journal | Greater Washington grew by 13% in the past decade, per Census
• Washington Business Journal | All on the Line Prince George’s County leaders are betting big on Metro’s Blue line
• Commercial Observer | Washington, D.C.’s 25 Most Powerful Real Estate Players in 2021 | featuring
  Heather Raspberry
• Washington Business Journal | Exclusive: Angela Alsobrooks puts Prince George’s Blue Line stations at the top of her economic agenda
• Housing Finance Magazine | Pop Quiz With Heather Raspberry
• The Washington Post | Bowser’s record investment in housing won’t fully meet need, but she’s putting the suburbs
  to shame
• Washington Business Journal | Viewpoint: Housing fix requires more creativity
• The Washington Post | Opinion: In D.C., the rent is still too darned high 
  
• HousingForward Virginia | HAND Solves For the Need
• Prince George’s County Council | Prince George’s County Council Addresses County’s Affordable Housing Concerns with Unanimous Approval of  Dedicated Funding for Housing Investment Trust Fund; Passage of CB-4-2021 Represents Key Investment in Affordable Housing in Prince George’s County
• Urban–Greater DC | Housing Is Hindering the Greater DC Region’s Prosperity. A New Tool Could Help
• WTOP | Affordable housing: Study finds DC region needs to build more
• Washington Business Journal | The D.C. region is falling far short of its affordable housing construction goals, a new study shows
• DCist’s | The Washington Area Is Slow To Build New Affordably Priced Housing, Says Group