Charlotte Housing Authority's Moving Forward Program: Early Implementation and Baseline Data Evaluation

The Moving to Work Demonstration program (MTW) enacted by Congress in 1996, affords selected public housing authorities the flexibility to design and test innovative ways to provide low-income families with decent, affordable housing.  Participating housing authorities are guided by three program goals: to achieve greater cost effectiveness; to increase the housing choices for low-income households; and to assist participating households in achieving self sufficiency.  The Charlotte Housing Authority (CHA) has been chosen as one of the thirty-five public housing authorities to participate in the MTW program.  CHA contracted with the Center for Urban & Regional Studies to conduct a long-term evaluation of their MTW program, Moving Forward.  The Center's recently completed interim report, The Charlotte Housing Authority’s Moving Forward Program: Early Implementation and Baseline Data Evaluation presents a description of the CHA’s Moving Forward Program and an early assessment of its implementation.

Program on Chinese Cities

The Center recently established the Program on Chinese Cities (PCC), a new initiative under the leadership of Yan Song, Associate Professor of City and Regional Planning. Program scholars conduct research and training aimed at better understanding the impacts of rapid urban growth on China's built and natural environments and ways to make China's urbanization process more equitable, transparent, and socially and ecologically sustainable.  PCC's website offers more information in both English and Chinese.

Impacts of Land Use Strategies on Travel Behavior in Small Communities and Rural Areas

CURS Senior Research Associate Brian Morton recently received a $649,995 grant from the Transportation Research Board to study the impacts of land use strategies on travel behavior in small communities and rural areas.  Morton and City and Regional Planning professors Daniel Rodriguez and Yan Song will develop methods and provide an assessment of the impact of land use, development patterns, and the associated economic activities on travel behavior in small communities and rural areas.  For more information contact Brian Morton at bjmorton@email.unc.edu 

CURS Policy Briefs

The Center for Urban & Regional Studies offers Policy Briefs to summarize recently completed and timely research critical to issues affecting our region, state, and country. A Long Way from Home: The Impacts of a Limited Supply of Workforce Housing looks at the social, economic, and environmental benefits of providing affordable workforce housing to residents of a community in western North Carolina. The second brief, Weatherization, Rehabilitation, and Asset Preservation (WRAP) Program, addresses how the lack of coordination between weatherization and housing rehabilitation assistance impact the effectiveness of both programs. Watch for links to new Policy Briefs right here as they become available.