In 2019, the Quad Cities, represented by Davenport, IA and Moline and Rock Island, IL partnered together on a Regional Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice. The Regional AI discusses patterns of race, housing, and poverty; access to opportunity; and housing barriers. It also outlines recommended individual strategies for each of the three cities to improve housing choices for their residents. The study is required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for jurisdictions that receive certain community development and affordable housing grant funds, however, at the time the study was prepared, HUD’s regulations guiding AIs were in a state of flux. HUD grantees, like Davenport, Moline, and Rock Island, were required to complete a fair housing study, but were left without a clear set of standards to follow. To help our clients navigate these regulatory changes, Mosaic developed a hybrid report format, bridging together components of the Assessment of Fair Housing that had previously been required with those of the Analysis of Impediments. The result was a complex study of wide-ranging fair housing issues that would meet both sets of requirements.

Spanning two states, three counties, and two different HUD regions, the regional project required significant coordination and sound project management practices to ensure all three cities could be kept on the same project timeline, enabling a single region-wide community survey and public engagement process, simultaneous public comment periods and closely-coordinated city council adoptions. Based on the data and public input collected, Mosaic identified impediments and recommended activities to address the impediments, including both individual actions for the cities to take on their own, as well as opportunities for regional collaboration.