Data collection and assessment should be expanded to enable assessment of patterns of residential segregation (including the LIHTC program); data should be collected that ties housing-related activities such as lending and foreclosures, siting of new housing, school composition and performance, and racial, ethnic and disability data.

Substantive fair housing research should be expanded at HUD to address the persistence of housing market discrimination and efforts to combat it; the availability and assets of diverse neighborhoods and strategies for educating Americans about them; the dynamics of neighborhood racial change and strategies for nurturing stable residential diversity; the housing needs of families with children and families of people with disabilities in subsidized and LIHTC housing as well as market rate housing; and the effect of occupancy standards in limiting occupancy based on familial statute, race and ethnicity.

Input must be sought from industry and fair housing organizations to identify the types of research and data that will be most useful in assessing the current status of communities and the research and data necessary to support the development of diverse communities.

Next Section: Conclusion