A compendium of the latest research on homelessness was recently released by HUD and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, who cosponsored national symposiums on the subject in 1998 and, again, in 2007. The papers presented in the second symposium were representative of the research conducted during the previous decade, allowing scholars and practitioners to examine emerging trends in understanding and combating homelessness. RW will examine the findings presented at this conference.

One of HUD's directives from Congress is to assist communities in implementing local Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS) and client-level reporting procedures. The Department also has a responsibility to collect and analyze HMIS data from a representative sample of communities so as to gain a better understanding of homelessness from a national perspective. The Second Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress provides an update on the number, characteristics, shelter sources, and patterns of shelter use, as well as the nation's capacity to house homeless persons. We'll review the picture of homelessness that is developing based on this important research.

HUD marked the 40th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act with the release of The State of Fair Housing report. RW will review this progress report and recap the findings of HUD's latest research on the nature and extent of housing discrimination in the U.S. We'll examine the bases of complaints of unfair treatment and look at the ways in which housing discrimination most often occurs, including examples from the report.

An affordable house in the suburbs may actually be less affordable when transportation costs are factored in, as rising gas prices consume an ever greater percentage of household income. RW will visit a new interactive web tool developed by the Center for Neighborhood Technology and the Brookings Institution Urban Markets Initiative that measures the true affordability of housing by including transportation costs. The tool allows users to view a variety of neighborhood characteristics, including housing, housing plus transportation, number of automobiles per household, transit ridership, transit connectivity, and travel time to work.