An official website of the United States government
Disparities in affecting factors of housing price: A machine learning approach to the effects of housing status, public transit, and density factors on single-family housing price
More Like this
-
- (Ed.)Buildings are responsible for the largest portion of energy consumption on U.S. electric grids. The wide participation of buildings in demand side management (DSM) through modulating or shifting electricity end uses, particularly in homes, can support decarbonization goals and increase reliability of electric power supply. The awareness and willingness of households to adjust internal loads, housing occupancy, and household energy consumption patterns all play an important role to support the potential for DSM. A particularly challenging type of housing to reach in DSM is rental housing. Historically this type of housing has been plagued by split incentives that limit the motivation of home owners (landlords) to improve the energy performance of these buildings since they often do not pay the utility bills. DSM presents an opportunity to support reducing the utility bills of renters through controls adjustments rather than requiring the landlord to invest in energy efficient technologies. This study aims to identify household occupancy schedules and potential factors that may influence willingness to participate in DSM among renters, in particular college students. A survey-based method was conducted among 55 college students majoring in civil, environmental, and applied engineering and showed that, while the targeted population has low awareness about DSM strategies, they would be willing to participate in a DSM in the future. The factors that appear to drive willingness to participate in DSM for this population were related to the potential reduction of electricity costs and energy savings.more » « less
-
Digital skills are essential for engaging in employment, healthcare, education, and government services. However, the digital divide remains a social inequality, especially among marginalized populations. Through a community-engaged research approach, we conducted a digital skills learning intervention in a U.S. public housing community, where residents frequently face socioeconomic challenges and limited access to digital resources. Public housing is a community seldom explored in CSCW and HCI research and provides a unique context to study the ongoing digital skills gap. Through the lens of situated learning theory, we study how sociocultural factors impact the efficacy of a community-based computer skills learning intervention. Specifically, we examine how the public housing community organized various resources---online learning materials, instructors, peer social support, and on-the-job learning opportunities---for digital skills development. Notably, the training leveraged instructor critical care and peer support to develop a learning community between residents and leaders of the community NGO that continued beyond the formalized training program. We contribute to CSCW and HCI work on collective and assets-based approaches to enhancing digital capacity. Our work provides implications for building collective grassroots digital skills learning infrastructure that could create new digitally-engaged employment opportunities.more » « less
-
Over the last three decades, the growth in housing costs relative to household incomes across cities in the United States has dramatically affected households' housing options. For this study, we apply a logit model to data from the American Housing Survey to provide evidence on how rising house costs affect female-headed households' decisions to move from the current home to another. Estimates reveal that total housing cost is a significant determinant of a female-headed household’s decision to move. We also found that lower-income female-headed households are more likely to move to a new location than higher-income female-headed households. These results support the idea that affordable housing programs should be maintained and expanded to offer some alleviation to the burden of rising housing costs on lower-income female-headed households and other vulnerable groupsmore » « less
-
Globally, hazards are increasingly threatening housing each year, and housing constructed outside the formal sector may be particularly vulnerable. Yet, limited studies have investigated the perceptions of those responsible for designing and building this housing. These safety perceptions motivate the informal housing construction practices that ultimately determine housing safety. Thus, this study investigates the multi-hazard housing safety perceptions of individuals involved with housing construction in Puerto Rico. We surveyed 345 builders and hardware store employees across Puerto Rico to understand their perceptions of expected housing damage in hurricanes and earthquakes, important mitigation measures, and barriers to safer housing construction. Our results reveal that prior hazard experience did not influence perceptions of expected housing damage, but previous housing construction experience did. Respondents viewed wood and concrete housing as less safe in hurricanes and earthquakes, respectively. Yet, respondents appeared uncertain about the importance of mitigation measures for concrete houses in earthquakes, likely due to a combination of limited earthquake experience and “hidden” reinforcement detailing in a reinforced concrete house. Interestingly, our results also show that respondents perceive technical construction capacity as a major barrier to safer informal housing construction rather than resource constraints alone. These findings suggest areas for technical construction capacity development for Puerto Rico’s informal construction sector.more » « less
