Mara S. Sidney
Rutgers University–Newark

This article considers how the Fair Housing Act and the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) structure local housing advocacy. Although both laws aim to reduce housing discrimination, they offer different sets of resources to these groups, thereby shaping the strategies, activities, and strength of these groups. This study compares CRA advocacy with fair housing advocacy in Denver, Colorado, and Minneapolis, Minnesota, during the 1990s. In both cities CRA advocacy shifted from protest to partnership strategies. Coalitions broke up and monitoring capacity declined. Different fair housing movements were evident in the two cities, with Denver advocates using partnerships and educational strategies and Minneapolis advocates using protest and lobbying tactics. The study argues that national policy designs and features of local context explain the similarities and differences in housing advocacy across the cases.

The Struggle for Housing Equality: Impact of Fair Housing and Community Reinvestment Laws on Local Advocacy