Housing costs are rising in Atlanta, while available affordable housing has decreased. The Atlanta Housing Authority needs to ramp up construction after a lull in development.
Max Blau reports that Atlanta doesn’t have the affordable housing it needs, and the Atlanta Housing Authority now finds itself playing catch-up after not building new units for a number of years.
“From 2009 to 2016, the city permitted the construction of more than 25,000 new luxury apartments. But nearly all of Atlanta Housing’s 400-plus acres of undeveloped property stayed vacant,” says Blau. After the Great Recession, then-mayor Kasim Reed tangled with Renee Glover, head of the authority, and construction was delayed.
In 2016, the authority proposed Herndon Square, a mixed-use, mixed-income redevelopment project. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who took office this year, has pledged to put $1 billion into affordable housing.
Observers say the Atlanta Housing Authority is part of a larger affordable housing crisis in the city, but it is integral to closing the gap. “Georgia State sociology professor Deirdre Oakley believes the authority must get back to building—and fast. The longer the authority waits, she says, the more responsibility it holds for the lack of rentals for low-income residents,” reports Blau.
Blau also notes that the authority did start taking steps to address affordable housing:
Before she [Bottoms] took office, the Atlanta Housing board had already passed a policy to prioritize helping people who live in census tracts where new development threatens to displace them, including in neighborhoods adjacent to the BeltLine like West End, Pittsburgh, and Reynoldstown. Authority officials have also looked into acquiring or investing in affordable housing units currently operated by MARTA and the BeltLine.
In addition to the Herndon Square project, slated for completion in 2021, the authority has three other projects planned, including a redevelopment project at the Civic Center.
FULL STORY: Atlanta’s housing authority stopped building rental units for nearly a decade. Can it make up for lost time?
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Google Maps Introduces New Transit, EV Features
It will now be easier to find electric car charging stations and transit options.
Ohio Lawmakers Propose Incentivizing Housing Production
A proposed bill would take a carrot approach to stimulating housing production through a grant program that would reward cities that implement pro-housing policies.
Chicago Awarded $2M Reconnecting Communities Grant
Community advocates say the city’s plan may not do enough to reverse the negative impacts of a major expressway.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Town of Zionsville
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.