❮ Projects page Legal Assistance of Western New York, Inc.

Spatial Analysis Project:

This project will analyze factors associated with substandard rental housing, and regulatory agency engagement efforts to address the issue across our organization’s 13 rural counties. Millions of Americans live in substandard housing conditions, which can have radiating effects on other facets of their lives. For many people, particularly those with lower incomes and other vulnerable populations, substandard housing is often the only readily available and affordable option.

The project will investigate various aspects of the substandard housing market, including the extent to which substandard housing correlates with geographical isolation, subsidized housing properties, eviction rates, proximity to community resources, and various demographic categories. It will also evaluate the effectiveness and consistency of regulatory agency activities (including code enforcement and department of health), including outcomes of regulatory efforts.

This project will identify the pressure points in the substandard housing system that can be addressed to provide better access to safe, affordable housing.

Data available:

We have or will have the following datasets for the years 2015 and 2016, or the most current available:

• Code Enforcement violation locations by address
• Department of Health violation locations by address
• Certificates of Occupancy data by municipality
• Subsidized housing locations by address
• Evictions filed in town and village courts that resulted in a) warrant of eviction; b) dismissal
• Race/Ethnicity by address and/or census tract
• Primary Language by address and/or census tract
• Household Income by address and/or census tract
• Select Human Service provider locations
• Regulatory agency locations by address
• Mobile home park locations
• Outcomes of regulatory complaints/violations, including number of condemnations, number of repairs, number of fines
• Rates of condemnations for specific violation types

Maps and Reports that will be created:

We would like the Fellow to produce:

1. Maps to display the number of regulatory complaints by geographic distribution, and showing correlation if any to:
   • distinct demographic features such as race, income, and primary language of residents
   • distinct geographic features such as mobile home parks, and subsidized housing locations
   • proximity to regulatory agency or select human service providers

2. Map(s) to display the number of regulatory complaints and show correlation if any with eviction cases being brought, cases resulting in evictions, and/or eviction dismissals

3. A memo with analysis and visualizations as needed of regulatory complaint outcomes, including whether regulatory complaints are more/less likely to result in condemnations, fines, repairs in areas with particular geographic feature (mobile home parks, subsidized housing) or areas with particular demographic features

We would also like to work with the Fellow to identify other work product that may arise during the project.

How the maps and reports will be used:

We believe strongly in the power of data visualization to convey messages to stakeholders and to analyze problems in new ways to guide accurate and effective decision making. We will use the results of the project to have better conversations with internal staff, community partners, potential funders, and local decision makers about the condition of our housing stock, and concrete steps that can be taken to make meaningful change in our communities. We will also use the maps and reports as part of an internal analysis of the scope and features of the substandard housing problem in our region. This analysis will guide our agency in decision-making on advocacy efforts, including outreach, individual case selection, litigation, and funding applications to pursue legal avenues to solving the problem. We will also share the information with community partners as part of awareness campaigns to target areas in need of economic redevelopment.