Federal Reserve Bank
of San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank
of San Francisco

Community Development Working Papers

Working papers provide in-depth analysis of emerging community development issues from practitioners and scholars.

  • Housing Market Interventions and Residential Mobility in the San Francisco Bay Area

    Karen Chapple, PhD, University of California, Berkeley and University of Toronto; Jackelyn Hwang, PhD, Stanford University; Jae Sik Jeon, PhD, Konkuk University; Iris Zhang, MA, Stanford University; Julia Greenberg, MPP, University of California, Berkeley; Bina Patel Shrimali, DrPH, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

    Limited evaluation research exists on which housing solutions are most effective in stabilizing communities so that those who wish to stay are able to do so in the midst of an influx of newcomers. This study seeks to fill this gap by assessing patterns of individual and household mobility related to specific housing interventions in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. Specifically, this study examines impacts of market-rate and subsidized development, and tenant protections, including rent stabilization and just cause for evictions protections.

  • Capital-Raising Among Depository Minority-Owned CDFIs Before the Covid-19 Pandemic

    Maude Toussaint-Comeau, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago; Robin Newberger, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago; Darline Augustine, City University of New York, Brooklyn College

    Capitalization is a fundamental aspect of viability of banks, at all periods, but especially so for smaller banks during periods of financial crisis. Minority banks, including those that are certified as Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) were hit particularly hard during the financial crisis. Even as the economy recovered, analysis of data up to 2013 […]

  • Minority-Owned Enterprises and Access to Capital from Community Development Financial Institutions

    Mels G. de Zeeuw, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta; Victor E. da Motta, Sao Paulo School of Business Administration

    Small businesses are pivotal to local economic development in the United States. Among small businesses, minority-owned enterprises (MOEs) are noteworthy because they create a significant share of the jobs in majority-minority neighborhoods nationwide. MOEs are relatively more likely to encounter constraints in obtaining access to capital from financial institutions. Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) provide […]

  • Neighborhood Change and Residential Instability in Oakland

    Jackelyn Hwang, PhD, Stanford University; Vineet Gupta, Stanford University; Bina Patel Shrimali, DrPH, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

    In this report, we examine neighborhood change and residential instability in the City of Oakland over the past two decades, employing historical and contemporary data. Our results show that lower-SES residents experience residential instability in different ways in different parts of Oakland, suggesting the need for more targeted strategies.

  • Increasing Access to Affordable Housing Opportunities in Silicon Valley

    Jackelyn Hwang, Stanford University, and Bina P. Shrimali, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

    The ever-growing concern about gentrification and displacement has resulted in a wide range of policy and programmatic solutions. Yet, little research has assessed the effectiveness of anti-displacement strategies, making it difficult to prioritize solutions. This study explores how renter protections affect mobility trends by focusing on the four Silicon Valley cities that currently have just cause for evictions and rent control ordinances: East Palo Alto, Mountain View, San Jose, and Los Gatos.

  • Sparking Change in New England’s Smaller Cities: Lessons from Early Rounds of the Working Cities Challenge

    Kseniya Benderskaya and Colleen Dawicki, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston

    Shares what it takes for cities to lead collaboratively, engage community members, inform decisions with data, and change systems to better promote opportunities for their residents.

  • The What Works Book Sparked an Ongoing Conversation about Better Interventions for Low-Income Communities

    David Erickson, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

    Explores the history and conceptual framework of the Community Quarterback model and looks ahead to its future evolution.

  • The Rise of Underemployment: Supporting the Needs of Low-Income Workers

    Leilani Barnett

    In 2016, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco held a series of roundtable discussions across the Western states to examine drivers of the recent rise in involuntary part-time employment and the impact it has on lower-income households. This paper summarizes existing research on the topic of underemployment, discusses themes that surfaced during the locally focused meetings, and proposes ways to address the underlying causes through solutions that build on the interrelated nature of housing, jobs, transportation, and child care.

  • Boosting the Power of Youth Paychecks: Integrating Financial Capability into Youth Employment Programs

    Vernon Loke, Eastern Washington University; Laura Choi, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco; Lauren Larin, MyPath; and Margaret Libby, MyPath

    This paper summarizes the results of the first-ever quasi-experimental design study of a youth financial capability initiative seamlessly integrated into a youth workforce development program.

  • Understanding Community Development Needs through the CRA Performance Context

    Laura Choi and William Dowling

    Community development efforts to revitalize low- and moderate-income neighborhoods should begin with an appropriate understanding of the needs and opportunities present within these communities. This sentiment is especially true of banks looking to fulfill their Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) obligations. A truly responsive and innovative CRA program should begin with the “performance context,” or knowledge about the bank’s local markets, including the needs of the community as well as the opportunities that exist within the local network of resources and organizations. This paper attempts to demystify the performance context and establish its strategic value to the CRA process. It explores new opportunities for strengthening the performance context as a community development tool, from the perspective of both bankers and regulators.