Using PolicyMap Data to Find Equity at the Intersection of Housing and Opportunity in the US

PolicyMap is a one-stop shop for visualizing nationally available data that can facilitate the open conversations needed to guide the implementation of fair housing practices in neighborhoods across the United States.  Opportunities, such as proximity to high-performing schools, access to transit, or neighborhood amenities like libraries, can be visualized on a map and compared to where single parents with children live, where subsidized housing is located, or where people of color are buying homes.  While this data can be viewed as single layers on PolicyMap, identifying places where factors intersect can provide deeper insights.  These insights help, for example, to identify areas where greater numbers of people of color are buying homes and are able to access opportunities like higher-performing schools, as well as areas where people of color are buying homes and not able to access those same opportunities.

The two maps below show high-performing schools as green or blue dots and higher numbers of Black buyers as dark purple.  The maps highlight vastly different dynamics and suggest that the implementation of fair housing policies in each of these places should also be different.

Data available in PolicyMap to help public policymakers analyze trends, zero in on areas of concern, and identify opportunities in need of support includes the following. Please contact us if you would like to learn more.