In honor of the late Esther Wattenberg, the Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare and the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA) will be hosting the 2024 Esther Wattenberg Policy Forum.

2024 Esther Wattenberg Policy Award recipient - Nikki Villavicencio

The Esther Wattenberg Policy Award recognizes exemplary policy work and contributions impacting children and families in Minnesota. We will honor the 2024 Esther Wattenberg Policy Award recipient, Nikki Villavicencio, the disability culture and leadership specialist at…

A new study by CURA Research Associate Anthony Damiano and CURA Director Edward Goetz examines how investor size and type influence outcomes in the single-family rental (SFR) market in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Comparing institutional players like REITs and private equity firms to smaller local landlords. Spatially, private equity firms were hyperconcentrated in lower income communities of color while REIT-owned homes were more concentrated in middle-income suburbs. They also found differences in terms of eviction rates by owner type. Among local landlords, the smallest landlords had the lowest average eviction rates and eviction rates rose as…

Download a PDF of the "Exploring the Impacts of the RealPage Antitrust" presentation

Presenters: Lawrence McDonough, Policy Attorney for HOME Line and Senior Fellow for the National Housing Law Project, and Jordan Ash, Housing Campaign and Research Director for the Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP), will speak on this month’s Housing Forum panel.…

The Center for Urban and Regional Affairs is excited to announce that CURA’s Senior Research Associate Dr. Brittany Lewis has been named the 2024 President's Community-Engaged Scholar. 

The University of Minnesota President's Community-Engaged Scholar Award recognizes one faculty or P&A researcher annually for exemplary engaged scholarship. The award recipients have demonstrated a longstanding academic career that embodies the University of Minnesota’s definition of public…

• Also, CURA’s support of anti-displacement work receives the 2024 Kingsley Impact Award
• And other legislative and policy news from 2024

Housing advocates and place-based community organizations are celebrating a $10 initial million investment from the Minnesota State Legislature in funding the new Anti-Displacement Community Prosperity Program…

by Elizabeth Burton

Excerpted from Local Data for Equitable Communities Resource Hub, a publication of NNIP…

National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership (NNIP) selected the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA) at the University of Minnesota for the G. Thomas Kingsley Impact Award for their facilitation of the Anti-Displacement Work Group on the Blue Line Extension. CURA's efforts led to a unified vision and co-created recommendations with a broad range of stakeholders that center community interests and address the needs of corridor residents, businesses, and neighborhoods.

Read the full story on the NNIP…

Presenters: Representatives from Inquilinxs Unidxs Por Justicia (United renters for Justice)

The concept of social housing is beginning to gain traction in various jurisdictions around the United States. While there is no one set definition, social housing is usually marked by permanent affordability of rental units, public ownership or control of those units, affordability for a wide range of incomes, and some level of democratic control for residents. 

In some counties across Minnesota, this type of housing already exists, separate and apart from HUD-…

CURA is pleased to announce the recipients of this year′s Community Action Research Grant: 

• David Beard (Professor of Rhetoric, Department of English, Linguistics, and Writing Studies, University of Minnesota Duluth), lead researcher: A Partnership…

The CURA Housing Forum is back. This month’s forum will feature CURA researchers Dr. Anthony Damiano and Professor Edward Goetz, who will present their research on the single-family rental market in Hennepin and Ramsey counties.

The growth of investor-owned, single-family homes has become a major issue for renters in the Twin Cities and across the country. Private equity firms, real estate investment trusts (REITs), and so-called “rent-to-own” companies have come…