The law would prohibit Denver landlords from refusing Section 8 vouchers as rental payment.
It takes tremendous luck to win a housing voucher lottery, with far more demand than supply available of housing subsidies. Even after winning vouchers to help subsidize the cost of rent, some renters still face the tough task of finding a landlord that will accept vouchers as rental payment.
"Now, a Denver City Council member is proposing an amendment that would force landlords to open their doors to more people," reports Andrew Kenney.
Councilwoman At-large Robin Kniech’s new bill, introduced today, would require Denver landlords to accept all forms of payment, including vouchers, ending what she describes as a form of discrimination. It would not apply to owner-occupied duplexes and single-family homes, but it would apply to for-rent houses.
Denver would join Washington, D.C. and dozens more cities [pdf] around the country that have passed similar laws. The Texas State Legislature, on the other hand, passed a state law that banned laws like the one proposed in Denver.
In a separate article on the proposed law, Rachel Kaufman notes that Colorado legislation that would ban source-of-income discrimination statewide failed in committee.
Texas Law Bars Source of Income Discrimination
The law seeks to address a growing number of HOA regulations that prohibit renting to Section 8 voucher recipients.
Los Angeles Clarifies and Strengthens Protections Against Source of Income Discrimination
Los Angeles officials hope a new law will cut off one of the city's pipelines to homelessness.
The Uphill Battle Facing Section 8 Recipients
Housing voucher recipients face a gauntlet of challenges when trying to find housing. Nonprofits are doing their best to streamline the process.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
New Jersey’s second-largest city bans standalone data centers
Jersey City will continue to allow co-location facilities, such as those meant for research institutions that store their own data.
Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds
A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.
EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants
Under Monday’s plan, power plants would still have some limits on how much mercury, arsenic and other contaminants they can emit.
Phoenix announces new on-demand transit service, more frequent RAPID buses
Both new services will launch in October, and are part of Phoenix's Project Effective Access Solutions for Easing Congestion.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association