Editors' Introduction

Housing is an integral component of our social and economic well-being, both domestically and globally. Historically, housing and housing services represented nearly 20% of the U.S. gross domestic product but has since fallen off because of the economic challenges facing us. The connection between housing and our neighborhoods, cities, and regions actually represents a far greater impact when we consider the role housing plays in relation to labor, business, transportation, the environment, and public health. The Bipartisan Policy Center has noted that private investment in housing has always been a part of economic recovery, except for the current recovery. Why is this? In their recently released report Housing America's Future: New Directions for National Policy (Bipartisan Policy Center Housing Commission, 2013), they highlight four essential elements for a resilient housing system:

•	A responsible, sustainable approach to homeownership that will help ensure that all creditworthy households have access to homeownership and its considerable benefits.
•	A reformed system of housing finance in which the private sector plays a far more prominent role in bearing credit risk while promoting a greater diversity of funding sources for mortgage financing.
•	A more targeted approach to providing rental assistance that directs scarce resources to the lowest-income renters while insisting on a high level of performance by housing providers.
•	A more comprehensive focus on meeting the housing needs of our nation's seniors that responds to their desire to age in place and recognizes the importance of integrating housing with health care and other services. (p. 7)

Not included among these is the vital importance of housing in creating sustainable communities that need to be part of an overall economic recovery strategy. Currently, the Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R) at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is in the process of developing a research roadmap that stands to embody a more full vision of housing as a centerpiece of American life. Although not yet released, some of PD&R's (2013) strategic goals during this process include:

Strategic goal 1	=	Strengthen the nation's housing market to bolster the economy and protect consumers
Strategic goal 2	=	Meet the need for quality affordable rental homes
Strategic goal 3	=	Utilize housing as a platform for improving quality of life
Strategic goal 4	=	Build inclusive and sustainable communities free from discrimination (sidebar)

We mention the points made by the Bipartisan Policy Center and the strategic goals of PD&R because within them are a wide range of topics that we have and will continue to publish cutting-edge research about in Housing Policy Debate. We encourage our readers and contributors to engage in lively debate about the future of housing, research, and policy.

Although these policy and research directions are important to consider, they must be understood and assessed in a context of an ever-changing U.S. housing market and policy environment. In the last five years, the country experienced one of its worst economic recessions, which was associated with a substantial number of foreclosures and declining property values. While many communities and economic sectors are still suffering from lingering effects of the Great Recession, the housing market is showing signs recovery in some places. For instance, in some sections of the Washington, DC, region, early 2013 property values exceed their 2006 prerecession values. Although this type of housing value recovery has not yet spread throughout the country, the Washington, DC, case may suggest that our housing environment is once again in a state of transition.

As the U.S. housing market shows some signs of improvement, the federal housing policy environment, in terms of resources, continues to decline. The impacts of recent federal sequestration cuts are beginning to hit local housing authorities and city housing departments. Some authorities are pulling back on resident programs and services and/or rightsizing their agencies to meet the current fiscal challenges.

Our housing research and policy agenda must understand how housing market recovery/fragility and federal fiscal constraints collide, with a host of other factors such as emerging demographic, economic, and environmental patterns, to shape America's 21st-century housing and neighborhood development milieu. By better understanding the interactions among emerging housing-related dynamics, we as a field of scholars are poised to deploy sound policy advice to build a more robust, resilient, and sustainable U.S. housing system.

This issue of Housing Policy Debate touches on several topics that are critical to housing researchers and policymakers. The first three articles focus, in different ways, on matters that can been seen as related to the Great Recession, such as predictors of housing abandonment, foreclosures, and loan modification servicing. The next two articles center on the controversial, but critical, relationship between subsidized housing and crime, a topic that will continue to be a pressing policy topic regardless of the state of the overall housing market. The last article investigates the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, the largest producer of affordable units and likely the future generator of mixed-income housing developments. We hope these insightful articles help generate further research as well as meaningful, and empirically grounded, policy dialogues that aim to improve the delivery and maintenance of a range of quality housing options.