Housing policy shapes who builds wealth, who stays in their home during a crisis, and who deals with noise, flooding, or a lack of internet. HCDPR digs into those real-life gaps — from Housing Choice Vouchers (HCVs) that helped families survive Hurricane Harvey and COVID-19, to heirs' property foreclosures in Dallas and Tarrant Counties, to the Black homeownership gap in Texas's six largest cities. The goal is research that leads to fairer outcomes for people who have historically been left out.
HCDPR runs seven research projects under two main themes. The first theme looks at individual and community wealth building, plus housing stability and security. The second explores planning and infrastructure inequity. Current projects examine Housing Choice Vouchers, heirs' property tax foreclosures, Black homeownership trends, train-horn noise pollution in communities of color, Houston's deed restrictions and racial inequality, the digital divide in low-income Black communities, and non-traditional paths to homeownership. Researchers from TSU and partner universities — including UT Austin and the University of Illinois — lead this work.
