By Nolan Gray, City Lab, JUL 26, 2018, Urbanist Case for Trailer Parks Earlier this summer, the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University released its annual report on the state of housing affordability in America. The findings aren’t pretty. According to the study, the percentage of cost-burdened renters—households spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing—continues to rise, as …
One-Stop Shop for Affordable Backyard Homes Advances in L.A.: New program seeks to finance and build accessory dwellings for homeowners who agree to rent them to Section 8 voucher-holder
ZACH MORTICE City Lab, MAY 1, 2019 Looking at the pressing shortages of low-income housing in each and every state in the country, it’s hard not to come to the conclusion that NIMBY homeowners are winning the fight against new housing, and especially against affordable housing. But there’s one potential foe that reactionary homeowners are ill-equipped to dominate: their own neighbors. Other homeowners, that …
Can This Chicago Apartment Factory Make New Homes Affordable?
JUL 8, 2019, City Lab, ZACH MORTICE Skender, an established, family-owned builder in Chicago, is making a serious play in a sector associated with young startups: modular construction. The company is building steel-structured three-flats, a quintessential Chicago housing type that consists of three apartments stacked on top of each other in the footprint of a large house. It believes it can …
California cities face big fines for not meeting housing goals by Katie Pyzyk July 1, 2019, Smart Cities Dive California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed off on a $214.8 billion budget that legislators amended to include provisions to improve housing capacity and affordability. The budget includes $1.75 billion for the planning and production of new housing to increase supply, with support for local governments’ housing …
Atlanta releases a 45 point affordable housing plan. And one year ago, L.A. approved an ambitious housing plan. What’s happened since?
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms released a comprehensive affordable housing plan, One Atlanta Housing Affordability Action Plan. The plan includes 13 initiatives and 45 action items to achieve four goals: Create or preserve 20,000 affordable homes by 2025 and increase overall supply. Invest $1 billion from a variety of sources in affordable housing creation and preservation. Ensure equitable growth and minimize …
Latinos are being pushed to urban edges, rural areas with few transportation options
By Robbie Webber at SSTI, Latinos are being pushed to urban edges, rural areas with few transportation options, posted on June 3rd, 2019: affordable housing, job access, Latino, transportation options A study by researchers at UT Health San Antonio details the barriers that Latinos in the U.S. face because of poor access to transportation options. Inadequate transit options, unreliable or spotty schedules, long commutes, and a …
Housing First plus a “strict housing mix to limit social segregation: 25% social housing, 30% subsidised purchase, and 45% private sector. Helsinki also insists on no visible external differences between private and public housing stock”
In each new district, the city maintains a strict housing mix to limit social segregation: 25% social housing, 30% subsidised purchase, and 45% private sector. Helsinki also insists on no visible external differences between private and public housing stock, and sets no maximum income ceiling on its social housing tenants. It has invested heavily, too, in homelessness prevention, setting up …
Denver Housing Authority wins top prize in Dept. of Energy’s Solar in Your Community Challenge. Albuquerque does 50 MW project
Channel 7 Our Colorado – Denver Housing Authority wins top prize in Dept. of Energy’s Solar in Your Community Challenge May 22, 2019 By: Lance Hernandez Editor’s Note: ‘Our Colorado’ helps us all navigate the challenges related to growth while celebrating life in the state we love. To comment on this or other 360 stories, email us at OurCO@TheDenverChannel.com . See more ‘Our Colorado’ stories here. DENVER …
Cities Turn to Density to Tackle Housing Inequality
By SARAH HOLDER, KRISTON CAPPS City Lab, Cities Turn to Density to Tackle Housing Inequality, MAY 21, 2019 SHARE Residential “upzoning” policies being adopted from Minneapolis to Seattle were once politically out of the question. Now they’re just politically fraught. To understand local housing politics over the past several decades, consider a recent study out of Boston University. Political science professor Katherine Levine Einstein surveyed …
Campaigns focus on returning to greater density in cities, also in Austin: Affordability Unlocked bonus program at least 50 percent of all units must be made affordable for income-restricted residents—the more affordable housing units built, the higher developers will be allowed to build
Austin’s Affordability Unlocked bonus program, which amends city code to promote more density, is strict about which developers will be nudged to build, and where. For a developer to gain relaxed site restrictions, for example, at least 50 percent of all units must be made affordable for income-restricted residents—the more affordable housing units built, the higher developers will be allowed …