Jason Reece Featured In WOSU Segment “Columbus ranks near bottom in percentage of home ownership for Black families”
Associate Professor of City and Regional Planning and Vice Provost for Urban Research and Community Engagement Jason Reece was recently featured in the WOSU segment, “Columbus ranks near bottom in percentage of home ownership for Black families.”
The article discussed housing inequality in Columbus that disproportionately affects Black families. Reece was consulted alongside Simone Drake, a professor at the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity.
“There are historical patterns of discrimination and housing that were persistent throughout much of the 20th century,” Reece said.
Reece is Vice Provost for Urban Research and Community Engagement at OSU’s Knowlton School and a faculty affiliate with The Kirwan Institute.
He said the Fair Housing Act of 1968 and the reforms that followed opened up access to home ownership for Black and brown Americans.
“We began to see this kind of trajectory upwards from 1970 to 2000 for Black home ownership rates as they were able to get access to credit,” Reece said.
But disparities persist. Reece points to data showing, on average, one in four Black applicants will be denied a mortgage. Still, more will have their applications withdrawn or closed, usually due to incomplete data.
"You know, there's something going on, I think, in the underwriting process, or in the appraisal process, which is, again, kind of creating these barriers," Reece said.
