A new tiny homes community offers vulnerable residents a chance to homeownership.
Kathleen Galligan reports on the Cass Community Social Services’ Tiny Homes Detroit community, where residents are moving in this fall.
"Renters pay a dollar per square foot for homes ranging from 226 to 400 square feet on 30-foot by 100-foot lots. After seven years, the home will legally become their home," according to Galligan. There will eventually 25 homes in the community, and all are spoken for. 19 homes are already in place.
"The program serves low-income people who are formerly homeless, formerly incarcerated, a senior citizen or a young adult who has aged out of foster care," according to Galligan. "It opens a path to homeownership that wouldn’t be available to those who can't qualify for a mortgage."
Read the full story: Detroit neighborhood full of tiny homes could change lives for residents
Detroit Says Problems With Property Tax Assessments are Fixed. Advocates Disagree.
With higher-valued properties under assessed and lower-valued properties over assessed, advocates say there's still a problem with Detroit's property tax system.
Homeownership in Reach for More Renters
According to the Urban Institute's Housing Affordability for Renters Index, the number of renters who can afford to buy a home in their metropolitan area is generally increasing when compared to the housing bubble of the mid-2000s.
Detroit Program Keeps Homeowners Facing Foreclosure Housed
The buyback plan diverts properties from Wayne County's tax foreclosure auction, keeping them in government hands until residents can repay the purchase price.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
US buildings threatened, destroyed by fires set to triple by 2060
Researchers found a high fire risk for socioeconomically vulnerable neighborhoods in the American West.
LA residents may be allowed to paint their own crosswalks
Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky put out a motion instructing the Los Angeles Department of Public Transportation to study the feasibility of allowing volunteers to paint crosswalks.
Dallas moves to overhaul its zoning code
The city's zoning reform will allow more multi-family and mixed-use developments.
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.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority