Affordability-Opportunity: Vulnerability Tradeoff?

The project investigates the socioeconomic and environmental trade-offs of moving to the Sun Belt, focusing on how these relocations impact housing affordability, neighborhood opportunities, and vulnerability to extreme heat. The research will analyze the origin and destination neighborhood environments of individuals who moved to Sun Belt metros over the last decade using data from the American Community Survey, supplemented by various environmental and housing datasets. By creating indices to measure housing affordability, neighborhood opportunity, and heat vulnerability, the study will employ regression analysis to explore the demographic and socioeconomic factors influencing these moves.

Yeonhwa Lee

Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of City and Regional Planning

Yeonhwa Lee is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the Weitzman School. Her research interests encompass housing policy, planning, and equity, and neighborhood change. She received a PhD in City and Regional Planning in 2023 from Penn.

Lance Freeman

PIK Professor of City and Regional Planning, and Sociology

Lance Freeman is the Penn Integrates Knowledge (PIK) Professor of City and Regional Planning, and Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. He studies how neighborhoods change and evolve over time, the role neighborhoods play in people’s lives.

Meet Our Researchers