Read “The Affordable Housing Crisis, Explained” (by Patrick Sisson, Jeff Andrews, and Alex Bazeley in Curbed.com, March 2020) and “Biden Administration to Congress: Build More Apartments and Houses!” (by Jerusalem Demsas in Vox, June 17, 2021). In addition, watch the PBS Frontline documentary, “Politics, Poverty and Profit.” Links to the articles and to the video are provided below. Then write a brief report that contains three separate sections that address all the points in each set of questions. Notice the expected word count for each section (exceeding the word count will not negatively affect your grade, but please try to stay within the range).
1. Based on the articles in Curbed and in Vox, list and describe some of the major factors responsible for
the high costs of housing in the U.S. What new approaches are the Biden Administration and
Congress considering to address this pressing issue? (approximately 150-200 words)
2. Based on the PBS Frontline documentary, briefly describe the goals and purpose of the Low Income
Housing Tax Credit Program. Indicate how the program is supposed to work and who was expected
to benefit from the program. (approximately 150-200 words)
3. List and discuss some of the problems with the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program that are
highlighted in the PBS documentary. What type of changes could be made to improve the program’s
ability to achieve its goal? Given what you know about the U.S. political system and how policies are
made and implemented, what improvements do you believe would be feasible? (approximately 150-
200 words)
