The City of New York has launched a set of interactive online tools and preliminary data to encourage residents to share their stories, struggles, and dreams for fair housing. This effort is part of Where We Live NYC ­– a collaborative planning process to promote fair housing, confront segregation, and take action to advance opportunity for all.

Using the online tools, New Yorkers can:

• Share input: Interactive questions on the Where We Live NYC website invite New Yorkers to reflect on how they make tough decisions about where to live, how home and neighborhood impact their lives, and what goals they have for their family and neighborhood. Residents can also invite friends and neighbors to make their voices heard by sharing questions on social media using #WhereWeLiveNYC.
• Host a meeting: A downloadable toolkit provides everything New Yorkers need to lead a thoughtful conversation about fair housing with friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, classmates, or community groups. The toolkit includes instructions, talking points, discussion questions, and a feedback form to share highlights from the discussion with the Where We Live NYC team.
• Learn the history: In order to build a more just future for New York City, it’s important to discuss our shared history. A short video provides an overview of some of the historical laws, policies, and practices that impacted fair housing in New York City and cities across the country. Using this video as a conversation starter, residents can reflect on the historical and present day issues impacting our city, and how to work toward a fairer future.
• Explore preliminary data: Where We Live NYC is committed to updating the public on the fair housing data analysis throughout the process. This is why the City is publicly sharing preliminary data findings on where New Yorkers live, the housing challenges they face, and differences in how various populations access opportunities like quality education, transportation, economic opportunity, and health. These findings will continue to evolve with our ongoing research and do not represent the City of New York’s final findings or position on the information. New Yorkers can use this preliminary data to learn more about diversity in their neighborhood, and the opportunities and challenges facing different New Yorkers.

These new online resources support Where We Live NYC’s larger commitment to public engagement. To date, the process has included more than 60 focus group style “Community Conversations” led by community-based partners in 10 different languages, reaching a diverse set of New Yorkers across the five boroughs. The City has also convened a Fair Housing Stakeholder Group that includes more than 150 advocates, service providers, researchers, and community leaders who have been engaged through a series of facilitated discussions. The new online resources expand on existing materials created for Where We Live NYC’s in-person engagements and were developed in partnership with Hester Street and House of Cakes.

Through Where We Live NYC, the City is capturing, synthesizing, and sharing feedback collected from residents and stakeholders with the broader public, as well as with more than 30 government partners involved in the process. This collaborative engagement approach ensures that the voices of residents and community leaders inform the goals and strategies that will come out of the process.

The City’s commitment to engaging the public in fair housing planning was informed by the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) Rule and Guidebook. The City continues to use the AFFH framework, despite recent setbacks from the federal government. By moving forward with Where We Live NYC, the City aims to serve as a national leader by modeling the value of meaningful, inclusive community engagement on fair housing and other pressing neighborhood issues.