Students in the Spring semester Policy and Persuasion course continued developing policy recommendations around high-priority housing issues in Waterloo, building on work done by groups in the previous semester and creating both policy recommendations and resources.

1. HOUSING POLICY MEMOS - PART I

Students taking the class in the Fall 2020 semester worked with Waterloo representatives to first identify some of the most pressing issues related to home ownership and affordability, and then to develop policy recommendations for the City moving forward.  The class focused on four main issues:

• Increasing homeownership opportunities
• Supporting low-income homeowners
• Creating sustainable housing rehab
• Improving landlord practices

In very concise terms, the groups recommended 1) appropriate staffing for the soon-to-be-formed Housing Task Force; 2) a data-driven analysis to better understand impediments to homeownership, housing affordability, and housing rehab; 3) a more accessible database of housing resources available to residents; and 4) redesigning landlord policies. 

The final presentations outlining the Fall 2020 recommendations and action steps can be found here: https://iisc.uiowa.edu/housing-policy-resources-part-i.

2. HOUSING POLICY MEMOS – PART II

In the Spring 2021 semester, new groups of students both delved deeper into housing policy best practices in Waterloo and began the work of creating resources to complement the policy recommendations.  The "Summary of Housing Policy Recommendations" provides an overview of key information from the individual memos and reports.  In addition to policy recommendations, students developed a one-stop housing website, a landlord manual, inforgraphics for residents, and more.

Each policy memo/report includes an analysis of key stakeholders, case studies and best practices from other cities, and next steps for implementation.