The city of Philadelphia offers a case study for the challenges and potential benefits of home repair programs.

An article by Michelle Bond writes on an effort in Philadelphia to maintain and repair existing housing units as an affordable housing program.
Bond describes potential and necessity of the approach:
Philadelphia’s housing stock is old and can be expensive to maintain — challenges in a city with a 23% poverty rate, incomes that aren’t keeping pace with rising home prices, and now a pandemic-induced recession. Philadelphia and other cities across the country have been struggling to address a lack of housing that their residents can afford. Every home that becomes uninhabitable and abandoned or crumbles due to disrepair is one fewer home available to mitigate the affordable housing crisis. Two years ago, the city’s 10-year housing plan identified revitalizing existing housing stock as one of Philadelphia’s greatest challenges. But it’s also one of its biggest opportunities.
While organizations like the Philadelphia Housing Development Corp., Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia, Rebuilding Together Philadelphia, and community development corporations are working to help homeowners with repairs, the need is greater than the resources available for the work, according to the article. The Philadelphia Housing Development Corp. is looking for contractors "to participate in its basic repair and adaptive home modification programs," according to Bond. "Its low-interest loan program saw a spike in applicants over the summer, and the nonprofit is reviewing proposals from additional banks that want to participate."
As a next step, the Philadelphia City Council is "considering a 1% tax on construction to fund affordable housing programs that would help close funding gaps for initiatives such as home maintenance grant programs…"
Some context for the newsiness of this article clearly comes from a recent landmark decision by the city to turn vacant properties over to a community land trust for residents living in homeless encampments.
FULL STORY: Philadelphia’s affordable housing strategy depends on repairing existing homes

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Restaurant Patios Were a Pandemic Win — Why Were They so Hard to Keep?
Social distancing requirements and changes in travel patterns prompted cities to pilot new uses for street and sidewalk space. Then it got complicated.

Map: Where Senate Republicans Want to Sell Your Public Lands
For public land advocates, the Senate Republicans’ proposal to sell millions of acres of public land in the West is “the biggest fight of their careers.”

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths
Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

California Homeless Arrests, Citations Spike After Ruling
An investigation reveals that anti-homeless actions increased up to 500% after Grants Pass v. Johnson — even in cities claiming no policy change.
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.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
Custer County Colorado
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont
Municipality of Princeton (NJ)