Spatial Science and Urban Systems, UC Irvine Spatial Science and Urban Systems, UC Irvine

Modeling the Geography of Opportunity for Fair Housing Policy

Line chart of mean neighborhood opportunity scores from 2003 to 2013 for three types of housing assistance; the Baltimore Housing Mobility Program line rises well above housing choice vouchers and public housing.
Mean neighborhood opportunity score by type of housing assistance, Baltimore, 2003–2013: housing choice vouchers (HCV), public housing (PH), and the Baltimore Housing Mobility Program (BHMP).

The geography of opportunity names the ways neighborhoods shape outcomes over the life course. Eli’s models of it formed the foundation of HUD’s formal evaluation of the Baltimore Housing Mobility Program, the remedy in Thompson v. HUD, and the basis of large parts of the Baltimore Regional Plan for Sustainable Development, developed at the National Center for Smart Growth. The same approach later informed Opportunity360 at Enterprise Community Partners.

Publications: The Cartography of Opportunity (Housing Policy Debate, 2017); Opportunity for Whom? (City & Community, 2018).