Housing in the Nation's Capital 2006

The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of public consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders.

Download the complete report in PDF format

This is the fifth in a series of annual reports about housing in the Washington metropolitan region. It assembles and analyzes the most current data on housing conditions and trends in the District of Columbia and the surrounding suburbs. This year's report focuses on linkages between housing and schools in the District of Columbia and the metropolitan region. For many families, choosing where to live is as much about school quality as about housing options. Consequently, the availability and quality of public schools play a critical role in shaping demand for housing, and, correspondingly, housing market trends shape school enrollment patterns. To explore these issues:

• Chapter 1 reviews the latest evidence on regionwide growth and change, giving special attention to investments in school facilities and changes in the number, characteristics, and location of public school students.
• Chapter 2 zooms in on the District of Columbia, providing up-to-date information on changes in jobs, population, and social conditions, including variations across the city's neighborhoods.
• Chapter 3 profiles the latest housing market conditions for the region as a whole and the District of Columbia in particular, including information on home sales, rent trends, condominium conversions, and the loss of rental units.
• Chapter 4 explores school characteristics across District of Columbia neighborhoods, highlighting variations in facilities investments, student composition, student academic performance, and choices regarding enrollment in public charter schools or DCPS schools.
• Chapter 5 highlights strategic opportunities to advance the city's goals of growth and inclusion by more systematically linking investments in public schools with investments in housing and neighborhood revitalization.

Technical Appendix

Appendix Tables

Appendix Table Guide
Appendix A: Population Characteristics
Appendix B: Employment, Income, and Wages
Appendix C: Housing Stock and Vacancy
Appendix D: Rental Costs and Subsidized Housing
Appendix E: Home Sales/Financing
Appendix F: Housing Affordability
Appendix G: School Enrollment
Appendix H: School Construction
Appendix I: Enrollment Projections
Appendix J: Technical

Download the complete report in PDF format

Other Editions

Housing in the Nation's Capital 2007

Housing in the Nation's Capital 2005

Housing in the Nation's Capital 2004

Housing in the Nation's Capital 2003

Housing in the Nation's Capital 2002

The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of public consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders.

Usage, posting and reprint of materials on the UI web site:

Most publications may be downloaded free of charge from the web site in PDF format. This information may be used and copies made for research, academic, policy or other non-commercial purposes. Proper attribution is required.

Copyright of the written materials contained within the Urban Institute website is owned or controlled by the Urban Institute. Posting UI research papers on other websites is permitted subject to prior approval from the Urban Institute—contact paffairs@urban.org.

If you are unable to access or print the PDF document please contact us or call the Publications Office at (202) 261-5687.