Steered: "Studentification"
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introduction
Student enrollment in American universities has doubled in the past 50 years, but the construction of student dormitories has not kept pace. The increasing flow of students to non-university housing alters the composition and structure of university-adjacent neighborhoods. But in Providence, there are no official metrics for what constitutes "student housing," and therefore no understanding of how these dynamics are influencing local rents or neighborhood composition.
research question
- are any rental companies that cater explicitly to students in violation of the Fair Housing Act?
- can we approximate the impact student housing companies have on the availability and pricing of apartments across the city?
- what policy might effectively tackle any issues we might uncover?
findings
In 2019, an estimated 5,945 university students in Providence, around 29.5% of the city's total student population, lived off-campus. This number represents 5.8 of the city's total renter population.
Not a single surveyed company marketing specifically to students displayed the Fair Housing logo or slogan on advertising materials. Two of nine tested properties systematically rejected every prospective tenant whose identities or household composition are protected by the Fair Housing Act. On average, landlords steered away testers in the protected classes 45% of the time, vs. only 11% of the time for control testers. When landlords rejected a tester in the protected class, they did so more than once to multiple testers.
recording of public presentation of research at 134 Collaborative in Providence on February 18, 2020
researchers
Charlie Bares
Josh Buznitsky
Cauria Duarte
Jeremy Roth-Rose
XingXing Shou
community partners
SouthCoast Fair Housing