It is well-established that the lower a family’s income, the more that family will pay for lighting and heating the house, running appliances, and keeping the wi-fi on. Residents of ethnic minority neighborhoods are paying more for utilities than people living in majority-white neighborhoods, regardless of socioeconomic status, new research shows. A recent study published in the Journal of the American Planning Association looks …
What percentage of income is average for residents to spend on housing, utilities and transportation in your city?
December 2019, https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/news/raising-the-living-standard-in-cities-requires-us-to-build-better/568086/ Utility costs are a very real concern in Atlanta, where residents spend on average 48% of their income on housing, utilities and transportation. And for the more than 336,000 households whose incomes are at or below the poverty line, that percentage can be even higher. No person should ever feel like basic necessities are leaving them financially burdened. No person should …
32% rise in rents nationally between 2001 and 2015 without corresponding increase in wages. Wages remain flat and affordable housing scarce. Prefab housing may be a strategy
Affordable housing shortage highlights the need for construction to enter the tech age Prefabricated modular housing can address the affordable housing crisis in a revolutionary way. It’s time to acknowledge and invest in the promise of factory-built housing once again. Nigel Wilson, Dec. 4, 2019, Smart Cities Dive Editor’s Note: The following is a guest post from Nigel Wilson, group …
21st Century Urban Mobility: ID a champion and make the value proposition around why changes in the built environment can help to drive prosperity
In order to decarbonize the urban environment, we must change not only how we get around cities, but also how cities themselves are planned. “There are small changes that cities can make,” he says. “The first thing is a need to identify a champion that is going to really believe in this work. You need to make the value proposition …
Community Planning – Denver East Area Plan
Think Colorado is getting more crowded? It is. According to U.S. Census Bureau figures, Colorado’s population has added the equivalent of an additional Denver since 2010. The total population of the state was 5,029,126, according to the 2010 U.S. Census. As of July 1, 2018, the figure had risen to 5,695,564. That means Colorado attracted 666,368 new residents over an eight-year …
How climate change creates a ‘new abnormal’ for the real estate market
A report from the San Francisco Federal Reserve underscores how climate shifts create big investment and economic risksBy Patrick Sisson Oct 29, 2019. Property Lines is a column by Curbed senior reporter Patrick Sisson that spotlights real estate trends and hot housing markets across the country. Comments, tips, and suggestions on where Property Lines should head next are welcome at patrick@curbed.com. The publication …
ADUs: How some cities are looking to in-law units to ease the housing crunch and build more diverse neighborhoods
By Cindy Landrum on Shareable.net|October 23, 2019 HOUSING|ZONING After Jeni Nunn’s parents couldn’t find a condominium they could afford in the San Francisco Bay Area, she didn’t have to go far to find a solution. Using the proceeds from the sale of her parents’ condo in Washington D.C., Nunn built a 640-square-foot, wheelchair-accessible, one-bedroom accessory dwelling unit for them in …
Don’t Move People Out of Distressed Places. Instead, Revitalize Them
By Richard Florida, Sept 2019 There are significant economic and social gains to people staying in place. Moving is hard on people, especially children. Losing proximity to friends and family takes its toll on well-being and life-satisfaction. Anyone who has moved a lot (like me) knows that the communities we live in, and in which we forge social and business …
Are We Diluting the Mission of Community Land Trusts?
CLTs’ dependence on external grant funding to acquire land and maintain their operations make them particularly susceptible to mission drift. Coming in with this knowledge, organizers may still be able to use the tool adequately or opt for other collective land ownership strategy. By Olivia Williams -August 30, 2019 “Community control of land” sounds straightforward, but in practice it can be limited, …
Solve the Housing Crisis by Guaranteeing Homes for All, New Campaign Demands
According to the federal government, if you pay more than 30 percent of your income toward housing, you’re paying too much. And by that measure, almost every place in America is unaffordable. In only a small fraction of counties in the United States can a person working full time at the average wage afford a two-bedroom apartment, according to the National …