Ken Zimmerman

This second course in the Housing and Community Development sequence expands upon the foundational understanding of housing and community development policy by focusing on how key policy drivers, the current political and social moment, and core stakeholders are likely to create and/or limit opportunities moving forward. The course will examine the ways that policy does and does not change, primarily by focusing on selected high-profile issues such as pandemic responses related to housing, gentrification, efforts to address racial inequality, and the ongoing challenges of homelessness. It will also use the dynamics related to political movements and the tensions between competing ideologies at the national and state level to better understand the dynamics at play. A key goal for the course is to further students’ policy development understanding and skills through examination of the key political factors that influence the development of housing and community development policy and the leverage points and forms of intervention that public and private sector actors use.

This second course in the Housing and Community Development sequence expands upon the foundational understanding of housing and community development policy by focusing on how key policy drivers, the current political and social moment, and core stakeholders are likely to create and/or limit opportunities moving forward. The course will examine the ways that policy does and does not change, primarily by focusing on selected high-profile issues such as pandemic responses related to housing, gentrification, efforts to address racial inequality, and the ongoing challenges of homelessness. It will also use the dynamics related to political movements and the tensions between competing ideologies at the national and state level to better understand the dynamics at play. A key goal for the course is to further students’ policy development understanding and skills through examination of the key political factors that influence the development of housing and community development policy and the leverage points and forms of intervention that public and private sector actors use.