Housing

Housing Crunch Provokes Debate in Boston Suburb
The city of Waltham, Massachusetts has added over 11,000 jobs since 2010, but only a few hundred homes. Developers see a prime opportunity, but city officials are reticent.

San Diego Called Out for Section 8 Housing Discrimination
San Diego was identified for its failure to enact a Section 8 housing discrimination ordinance in a recent American Bar Association article. Poverty law attorney Parisa Ijadi-Maghsoodi explains the situation.

Optimism and Investment, Not 'Managed Decline," for the Rust Belt
Managed decline assumes that struggling cities will continue to struggle indefinitely. Is there a better way to plot neighborhood stabilization?

Berkeley Zoning Board Choose Current Gas Station Over Proposed Co-Housing Development
The Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) of one of the nation's most progressive cities has chosen a very conservative approach to new housing projects.

Density Battles Looming in Minneapolis
The public comment period for the draft Minneapolis 2040 Comprehensive Plan will wrap up soon. City council members are already responding to concerns from singe-family neighborhood residents about the density proposed in the plan.

San Diego City Council Prohibits Short-Term Rentals in Second Homes and ADUs
In a move to limit the number of properties available for rental, the San Diego City Council members voted 6-3 to limit rentals to primary homes and the licensing process more strict.

Rent Dropping in Portland
The market is working, according to City Observatory's take on data finding declining rents in the city of Portland.

San Francisco Suburb to Vote on Massive Project to Double Population
Brisbane, a city of about 4,700 on the southern border of San Francisco, will vote on a controversial ballot measure in November to approve or reject a mixed-use development including up to 2,200 residential units on a 660-acre vacant brownfield.

Debt and Rent Burden Keeping Millennials From Homeownership
Research from the Urban Institute finds that economic hurdles, not just lifestyle preferences, are stopping millennials from buying homes.

Sometime This Summer, California's Population Tops 40 Million
Rather than projecting when the 50 million milestone will be reached, demographic and political indicators predict the state's population is more likely to decline, according to Joe Mathews of Zócalo Public Square.

Editorial: To Fix Housing, Fix Land Use
The scales of land use regulations are tipped, according to this editorial. Balancing them will result in a more affordable city.

East Boston Kicks Off Series of New Neighborhood Plans
Planners and officials in Boston are gathering feedback from the community as an initial step in the recently announced planning and zoning process for East Boston.

We Can Totally Build Our Way Out of This Problem
A list of responses to the statement, "We Can't Build Our Way Out of This Problem."

New York City Clamps Down on Short-Term Rentals
New York City just approved new regulations on short-term rentals that could greatly reduce the number of listings in Airbnb's largest domestic market.
Housing Starts, Permits Declining
Housing starts haven't ben this low in nine months, according to new data released by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Bay Area City Could Extend Development Restrictions Beyond Their Expiration Date
A signature-gathering campaign has expressed a desire to extend height and density limits in San Mateo.

Prescriptions for the 'Broken' Massachusetts Multi-Family Market
The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) is taking a strong stance in support of zoning regulations that enable new multi-family housing developments.

Inclusionary Zoning Explained
Master the ins and outs of inclusionary zoning.

San Francisco Voters to Decide on Employer Tax to House the Homeless
It started in Seattle with the Amazon Tax to pay for transportation and housing needs exacerbated by the city's largest employers. Last month, a Google Tax was placed on the November ballot in Silicon Valley. A landlord tax in Oakland could be next.

L.A.'s Transit-Oriented Communities Program Finds Affordable Housing Success
The Los Angeles Transit-Oriented Communities program, which offers development bonuses in exchange for affordable housing in developments near transit lines, is the city's most successful affordable housing tool.
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