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.
April 12, 2019, 8:15 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Central Baptist Church, 2842 Washington Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63103
Washington University’s Molly Metzger and Hank Webber took to the airwaves on April 9 to discuss segregation.
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.”
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
Jason Q. Purnell, assistant professor in the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis and project director of For the Sake of All, the groundbreaking initiative on the health and well-being of African-Americans in St. Louis, was named the 2016 “Person of the Year” by The St. Louis American.
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.”
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.
Prior research would suggest that parks are an important element of a livable life. Evidence has connected physical activity, psychological restoration, and social health to proximity to parks and sites of recreation. This research, however, is primarily based on samples of university students and western European populations who are financially comfortable.
NGA Center for Best Practices. (2002, March). Increasing access to housing for low-income families [Issue Brief]. Washington, DC: NGA Center for Best Practices.