The briefs, entitled Effectively Preserving Philadelphia’s Workforce Housing Stock, by Karen Black and A Strategic Approach to Building Affordable Housing in Philadelphia by Allan Mallach present data supporting a new approach, along with policy recommendations, including:

1. Integrate Weatherization and Basic Systems Repair Programs (BSRP).
2. Take advantage of new energy money that is being made available to conserve energy and use these funds to weatherize and repair major energy related systems in the home (i.e. roof, furnace). 
3. Implement pilot targeted home repair/home weatherization program in neighborhoods where it would have the greatest impact.
4. Accelerate disposition of publicly owned land in the targeted home repair/home preservation neighborhoods to replace vacancy and blight with new assets.
5. Think critically about what residents can sustain homeownership and create new rental opportunities for residents that do not have the necessary income for sustainable homeownership.
6. Coordinate city subsidized housing investment with other public and private housing, commercial, transportation and other investments to an area.
7. Prepare Philadelphia to receive more federal economic stimulus dollars by identifying targeted areas and building up capacity to perform repairs and weatherization. 
8. Create a pilot community land trust to protect homes as permanently affordable.

Members of the coalition include the Commonwealth Housing Development Corporation, NeighborhoodsNow, Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations, and the Women's Community Revitalization Project.

Karen Black is the Principal of May 8 Consulting, Inc. and a housing attorney. Allan Mallach is a nonresident Senior Fellow with the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program.

The reports were funded by a grant from the William Penn Foundation.

Download Related Documents

	A Strategic Approach to Building Affordable Housing in Philadelphia (105K) [download]
	Effectively Preserving Philadelphia’s Workforce Housing Stock (348K) [download]