The fight for fair and affordable housing has new momentum in one of the nation’s most segregated metropolitan areas.
Developments in the Fight for Fair, Affordable Housing in the St. Louis Region

The fight for fair and affordable housing has new momentum in one of the nation’s most segregated metropolitan areas.
Tate, W. F., IV. (2019, August). Who will help children? Building brain regimes (CSD Perspective No. 19-30). St. Louis, MO: Washington University, Center for Social Development. https://doi.org/10.7936/362f-yk84
Metzger, M. W., & Oliphant, J. E. (2019). “I didn’t really want to leave”: A case study of public housing relocation under pressure. Critical Social Work,18(1).
Webber, H. S. (2019, May). Segregation and a path forward to inclusion in St. Louis (CSD Perspective No. 19-25). St. Louis, MO: Washington University, Center for Social Development. https://doi.org/10.7936/1s4r-0929
Assistant Professsor Molly Metzger, faculty director of Thriving Communities at the Center for Social Development, discusses three myths about the causes of segregation during the keynote speech at the 2019 Fair Housing Conference.
April 12, 2019, 8:15 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Central Baptist Church, 2842 Washington Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63103
Metzger, M. W., Bender, A., Flowers, A., Murugan, V., & Ravindranath, D. (2019). Step by step: Section 8 tenant accounts of searching for quality housing. Journal of Community Practice, 27(1), 31–44. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705422.2019.1580653
The editors of “Facing Segregation: Housing Policy Solutions for a Stronger Society” have compiled a collection of essays that “lay out the reality that segregation is not a periphery problem for cities like St. Louis or for the country,” according to a book review in the St. Louis American.
Fifty years after the passage of the Fair Housing and Civil Rights Acts, a new book ̶ “Facing Segregation: Housing Policy Solutions for a Stronger Society” brings together influential scholars, practitioners and policy analysts to reflect on how to use public policy to reduce segregation.
Metzger, M. W., & Webber, H. S. (Eds.). (2018). Facing segregation: Housing policy solutions for a stronger society. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Sherraden, M. (2018). Foreword. In M. W. Metzger & H. S. Webber (Eds.), Facing segregation: Housing policy solutions for a stronger society (pp. ix–xi). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Metzger, M. W., & Webber, H. S. (2018). Segregation: A threat to Americans’ shared goals. In M. W. Metzger & H. S. Webber (Eds.), Facing segregation: Housing policy solutions for a stronger society (pp. 3–14). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Purnell, J. Q. (2018). The enduring significance of segregation. In M. W. Metzger & H. S. Webber (Eds.), Facing segregation: Housing policy solutions for a stronger society (pp. 58–74). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Webber, H. S., & Metzger, M. W. (2018). Concluding thoughts on an agenda for solving segregation. In M. W. Metzger & H. S. Webber (Eds.), Facing segregation: Housing policy solutions for a stronger society (pp. 233–242). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Metzger, M. W., Fowler, P. J., & Swanstrom, T. (2018). Hypermobility and educational outcomes: The case of St. Louis. Urban Education, 53(6), 774–805. doi:10.1177/0042085916682571
A new paper by Molly Metzger, assistant professor at the Brown School, and Nay’Chelle Harris, masters research fellow in housing policy, analyzes “Team TIF St. Louis.”
Harris, N., & Metzger, N. W. (2018). St. Louis’s “Team TIF”: A community–academic partnership for tax incentive reform. Journal of Urban Affairs, 40(6), 863–886. doi:10.1080/07352166.2017.1421433
Metzger, M. W., & Khare, A. T. (2017). Fair housing and inclusive communities (Grand Challenges for Social Work initiative Working Paper No. 24). Cleveland, OH: American Academy of Social Work & Social Welfare.
The conference, “Evicted: Poverty & Fair Housing in St. Louis,” drew more than 250 people to Washington University in St. Louis’ Brown School for Desmond’s keynote address and two panels: “St. Louis Eviction Stories” and “Solutions and Next Stops.”
April 6, 2017, 8:15 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Brown School of Social Work, Clark-Fox Forum, Washington University in St. Louis
DeWind, C., Dickey, J., O’Neill, E., & Metzger, M. (2016, June). Tax abatement in Saint Louis: Reforms could foster equitable development (CSD Policy Brief No. 16-21). St. Louis, MO: Washington University, Center for Social Development.
When Molly Metzger was a PhD student, the time came for her to draft research questions for her dissertation. She drew a blank. After three years in classrooms, she felt out of touch with her topic: low-income housing.
Warning that “we are going to see many more Fergusons in this country,” Richard Rothstein recounts the history of government’s role in racial segregation, in a video created for our event “Inclusive Housing: A Public Forum for Policy Action in St. Louis.”
Despite the passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968, stark racial and economic segregation in housing continues. On Oct. 22, the Center for Social Development and the Clark-Fox Policy Institute hosted “Inclusive Housing: A Public Forum for Policy Action in St. Louis.”
Date: October 22, 2015, Clark-Fox Forum, Brown School, Washington University in St. Louis
Metzger, M. W., Fowler, P. J., & Kelberman, B. (2015, October). Residential mobility during adolescence: Even “upward” moves predict high school dropout (CSD Research Brief No. 15-52). St. Louis, MO: Washington University, Center for Social Development.
October 15, 2015, St. Louis, MO
Marcal, K., & Fowler, P. J. (2015, September). Housing and child well-being (CSD Research Brief No. 15-40). St. Louis, MO: Washington University, Center for Social Development.
Bologna, J., Kantor, N., Liu, Y., & Taylor, S. (2015). The right to stay put: City Garden Montessori School and neighborhood change [Report]. St. Louis, MO: Washington University.
Two new laws in St. Louis will expand housing options for Section 8 renters in the city. Alderwoman Christine Ingrassia sponsored the measures, which were influenced by recent research at Washington University in St. Louis.
Metzger, M. W. (2014, November). Section 8 housing in the St. Louis region: Local opportunities to expanding housing choice (CSD Policy Brief No. 14-29). St. Louis, MO: Washington University, Center for Social Development.
NGA Center for Best Practices. (2002, March). Increasing access to housing for low-income families [Issue Brief]. Washington, DC: NGA Center for Best Practices.