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

Community Development Research Briefs

Research Briefs feature data and commentary on community development trends and issues.

  • On the Sidelines of the Hot Economy

    Bina Shrimali, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

    While the current economy is often characterized as “hot,” marked by low unemployment, stable prices, and sustained economic growth, many residents are not enjoying the prosperity reflected in the aggregate measures of economic well-being. This report focuses on those who have not reaped the benefits of recent sustained growth in the economy. The report highlights groups who have faced barriers to economic participation and documents interrelated rising costs—particularly for housing, transportation, and childcare—that contribute to keeping people on the sidelines of the economy.

  • At What Cost? Student Loan Debt in the Bay Area

    Bina Shrimali, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco; Jacob DuMez, San Francisco Treasurer’s Office of Financial Empowerment; Sarika Abbi, San Francisco Treasurer’s Office of Financial Empowerment

    For most Americans, an investment in higher education is a key driver of economic security and mobility. However, rapidly rising costs of attendance, combined with stagnant wages and inadequate support systems for vulnerable borrowers have resulted in outcomes that are at odds with our collective vision of higher education as a crucial foundation for achieving the American Dream. This report highlights the local contours of this issue in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area region, particularly for low-income communities and communities of color, using Federal Reserve Bank of New York Consumer Credit Panel/Equifax Data.

  • The Arts and the Power of the Passionate Banker

    Winifred Neisser, Arts for LA

    This paper explores the role that banks can play in supporting arts and cultural investments in low-income communities. Based on a series of interviews with CRA bankers, it provides examples of how banks are involved in the arts and explores the ways in which banks may receive CRA consideration for investments in community arts organizations. The paper also provides helpful conversation starters to support emerging partnerships between banks and arts organizations.

  • Funds for Kickstarting Affordable Housing Preservation and Production: Lessons for New Investors

    Elizabeth Mattiuzzi, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

    A shortage of affordable homes for workers and families at all income levels across the country calls for innovative solutions. Over the past decade, a variety of public-private loan funds have developed to kick-start construction and preservation of affordable housing. This report breaks down how these funds fit into the process of developing and preserving affordable housing and shares lessons for those who are considering starting or investing in a fund.

  • Evaluating Empowerment Economics: A Preliminary Framework for Assessing Innovations in Financial Capability

    Jessica Santos & Meg Lovejoy, Institute on Assets and Social Policy

    “Empowerment economics” is a multigenerational and culturally responsive approach to financial capability developed by and for low-income Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) and other communities of color. This report offers a preliminary evaluation framework that is intended to make visible the innovative approaches and potential outcomes associated with empowerment economics.

  • Addressing Social Determinants of Health Through Medicaid: Expanding Upstream Interventions with Federal Matching Funds and Social-Impact Investments under the 2016 Medicaid Managed Care Final Rule

    Steven H. Goldberg, Paula M. Lantz, and Samantha Iovan

    This Open Source Solutions paper: 1) explores trends driving Medicaid’s efforts to “shift from volume to value” and the implications for federal payment of non-clinical services; 2) examines whether prevention-based savings from the effective use of value-based purchasing would “slide” Medicaid Managed Care Organization (MCO) revenue by a corresponding amount; and 3) considers outcomes-based funding options for health-related prevention and social welfare programs.

  • The Community Reinvestment Act and the Creative Economy: Investing in Creative Places and Businesses as Part of Comprehensive Community Development

    Laura Callanan and Ward Wolff, Upstart Co-Lab

    This Open Source Solutions paper proposes greater alignment between CRA-motivated capital and the creative economy by highlighting the range of creative places and business activities which have benefited from CRA funding over time. Hopefully this will: 1) bring more attention to these types of projects among community stakeholders; 2) increase awareness of their potential CRA eligibility; and 3) lead to more CRA-motivated investment in the creative economy in the future.

  • Housing Stability and Family Health: An Issue Brief

    Soaring housing costs are the topic of many recent discussions in the San Francisco Bay Area, but receiving less attention are the implications of high cost housing on the health and well-being of families who are expecting or who have young children. This research brief presents a snapshot of housing instability for families with children in the Bay Area. It synthesizes a growing body of literature to reveal how housing instability during pregnancy and early childhood has particularly negative long-term consequences, while also highlighting promising ways to support housing stability. Efforts to ensure safe, stable housing for Bay Area families can enable children to live longer, healthier lives.

  • Community Close-Up: East Oakland

    Bina Shrimali

    Community Close-Up is a photo series highlighting stories of resilience from communities facing economic hardship. The first in the series centers on the voices and experiences of low-income women living and raising children in East Oakland.

  • What Matters: Investing in Results to Build Strong, Vibrant Communities

    Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and Nonprofit Finance Fund

    The book features a collection of essays by 80 authors with wide expertise on the social, cultural, and financial implications of orienting programs and funding around outcomes. Together, the authors imagine the creation of a trillion-dollar marketplace for results, where governments, social service providers and partners better understand the full, true costs of achieving social change and where compensation is based on measurable results.