to improve state policy, foster effective community conversations and ensure that we meet our housing needs throughout Massachusetts.
Our latest analyses of housing stats, migration trends, other related data and policy topics as well as anything we find interesting from our fellow data geeks.
DataTown is the Center for Housing Data’s new interactive website. DataTown compiles community-level information for all 351 Massachusetts cities and towns, and visualizes that data in graphics and charts that are easy to understand, print out and bring to a community discussion. DataTown allows you to download the underlying data as well. And we've just added a new feature - the ability to create graphics that compare communities! We built DataTown for you so check it out, and email us with what you loved and how we can make it better.
TODEX is short for Transit-Oriented Development Explorer. Developed in 2019, this tool allows you to review densities at all 261 Greater Boston transit stations and picture the great opportunity we have to build more housing near transit. An accompanying research brief estimates that 250,000 more housing units could be added if we boosted the median density around all stations from 6.2 to 10 homes per acre. In 2023, we expanded on the TODEX methodolgy by launching Residensity. This allows users for the first time to do analysis for any parcel in Massachusetts by individual property or by neighborhood.
To foster a deeper understanding of housing and its relationship to economic growth, we maintain a library of resources which including our own reports, recent news releases and related studies and articles on housing and growth from around the U.S.
"Building Momentum" is a report by MHP that documents the state's slowing housing construction and proposes eight policy changes to increase housing supply and affordability.
Launched in 2023, Residensity features a user-friendly map platform that allows users to explore and analyze housing unit counts and residential density for any location in Massachusetts. Read about what it does & check it out at www.mhp.net/residensity.
Using census data and a new statewide MHP parcel data set, Rappaport Public Policy Fellow Aja Kennedy explores the relationship between residential density and diversity to show how less restrictive zoning practices like the new MBTA zoning law have the potential to create more racially and economically diverse communities. (Nov. 18, 2022).
More than two months after the end of the federal eviction moratorium, data indicate that many Massachusetts renters remain behind on rent and fear being evicted from their homes. This latest brief explores differences in eviction filing rates across Massachusetts and evaluates the impact of rent relief programs, local eviction moratoria,and local support on regional eviction filing rates.
Since the start of the pandemic, MHP's Center for Housing Data has been reporting on key metrics related to rent collections, layoffs, eviction filings and the ever-changing patchwork of legal protections and supports. Our latest brief explores recent trends and ongoing concerns around housing stability.
BOSTON, Sept. 29, 2021 --- New paper from Boston Indicators and MHP's Center for Housing Data suggests Greater Boston is well-positioned to create networks of more walkable neighborhoods and town centers.
Director of the Center for Housing Data
Tom Hopper joined MHP in 2006 and worked in risk management, operations, and analytical development over the next decade. In early 2017 he became Co-Director of MHP’s newly created Center for Housing Data, in 2019 became Director of Research & Analytics, and in 2023 became the Director of the Center for Housing Data.
Tom has developed database systems, designed metrics, and created data tools and analytical reports that provide insight into project financial performance, credit quality, and risk management. He has led public policy research efforts on topics such as transit-oriented development, housing production, land use, gentrification and housing costs. Tom has a bachelor’s degree in economics, a master’s degree in city planning from Boston University, and a master’s degree in urban informatics from Northeastern University.
thopper@mhp.net | 857-317-8561
Senior Research Analyst
Matija Janković is responsible for providing research and analytical support. He has extensive experience in housing policy, housing case management and data analytics. Most recently he was a rent relief case manager for Boston’s Rental Relief Fund and a housing case manager for Housing Families Inc., of Malden, which provides temporary shelter and affordable housing to homeless and at-risk families.
Janković earned his bachelor’s degree in urban and regional studies from Cornell University’s College of Architecture, Art, and Planning. A first-generation immigrant from Belgrade, Serbia, who grew up in Massachusetts, Janković Is committed to the preservation and development of quality, affordable housing in Massachusetts.
mjankovic@mhp.net | 857-317-8528
Research Manager
Ellen Marya joined MHP in 2024. She brings capacity and expertise to the Center for Housing Date team in terms of analysis, research, writing, and presentations. She provides structure to analytical projects and procedures, oversees management and organization of data resources, and provides project management for the team.
For the past five years she worked as an independent research consultant on public health, education, and housing topics for organizations across the country. Earlier in her career, she worked as a researcher at Harder + Company Community Research focusing on housing and community development. Before that she was a researcher at the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University. Ellen earned a BA in political science and economics at Northwestern University and a Master of Public Policy in Social Policy from The Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University.
emarya@mhp.net | 857-317-8569
Contributors: Callie Clark, Dana LeWinter and Clark Ziegler.
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