Housing

Unexpected 'Airbnb Ban' in Detroit's Residential Neighborhoods Causes a Stir
Somehow the city of Detroit managed to start enforcing an Airbnb ban in single-family neighborhoods without anyone realize the council had approved the regulation.

Cabrini-Green's Life And Death
A new book tells the story of Chicago's Cabrini-Green and reflects on what the lives of the people in this public housing project have to say about the lives of all Americans.

Housing Limits Potentially on the Ballot in Colorado
A ballot initiative is moving forward in Colorado that would severely limit housing production in the already housing-constrained Front Range region. We're not talking about urban growth boundaries here.

Trulia Launches House Hunting Tool for Evaluating LGBT Protections
Call it buyer beware: the real estate website Trulia is offering a new tool to helps house hunters evaluate whether communities discriminate against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender residents.
One Native American Family, Two Housing Crises
In Oakland, California and Torreon, New Mexico, Julian Brave NoiseCat reports that "[f]or Indigenous people, the crisis of the home is intergenerational."

Demand For Higher Density Development Slowing Down
Will 2018 signal the end of the latest real estate cycle as we know it?

Study: Mixed-Use Neighborhoods Fail Affordability
A study published recently in the Journal of the American Planning Association finds that mixed-use neighborhoods in Toronto are only delivering benefits to those who can afford to pay a premium.

Most California Cities Now Subject to State-Mandated Development Streamlining
Given that 97 percent of California cities aren't meeting their housing targets, SB 35, last year's landmark "by-right" housing bill, now applies to projects that contain varying amounts of affordable units.

HUD Mulling Work Requirements and Higher Rents for Housing Assistance
More details of the Trump Administration's agenda at the Department of Housing and Urban Development were revealed late last week.

Berkeley Mayor Condemns Legislation to Increase Housing Density by Transit
Mayor Jesse Arreguín's charges about permissible heights, demolition of rent-controlled housing and displacement that would result from Senate Bill 827 by Sen. Wiener are refuted in the Berkeleyside article, though the latter two have resonance.

Why Housing Messaging Backfires
Despite decades of our raising the issue of displacement in the face of rising rents, many Americans still do not see this as a call-to-action or a failure of public policy. Here is why our housing messaging may be backfiring.

Study Finds More Reasons to Worry About Airbnb's Effect in the Housing Market
The new study, published by the Urban Politics and Governance research group at McGill University, comes with a major disclaimer: it was funded by the Hotel Trades Council, AFL-CIO, among other.

Four Steps to More Affordable Housing in San Diego (and Elsewhere)
San Diego is one of the most expensive housing markets in the country and has the fourth highest homeless population. Planning activist Murtaza Baxamusa identifies four needed measures.

Pollution Does Discriminate in Orlando’s Parramore Neighborhood
Poor air quality has decimated the health of residents in this predominantly black community ringed by highways.

'America’s First Climate Refugees' Are Still on the Island
The 99 residents of Isle de Jean Charles have $48 million to relocate together, but that doesn’t make it easy.

One Obstacle to ADU Construction in California: The Price of Permits
The price of a permit to build an accessory dwelling units in the city of Thousand Oaks in Southern California is prohibitive—putting the permitting fee in opposition to the stated intent of the city's zoning code and state law.

Affordable Housing Fallout From Tax Reform
Despite saving tools like the low-income housing tax credit, affordable housing will still take a hit.

Millennials and Housing Markets: Case Studies From Houston and Phoenix
Researchers from Arizona State University have produced a new working paper that examines efforts to attract and retain Millennials to downtown neighborhoods in Houston and Phoenix.

New HUD Rule Could Redefine the Geography of Section 8 Voucher Payments
A new rule will make it easier to send vouchers for rent assistance to wealthier neighborhoods. The Trump Administration is not a willing partner in this effort.

Cleveland Still Experiencing Fallout From Great Recession
National economic indicators may look good, but some areas are still clawing their way back from the 2008 recession. Cleveland's Slavic Village, an "epicenter" of the foreclosure crisis, is one of them.
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