The program offers zero-interest loans to developers that keep rental units affordable for at least 50 years.
Boston’s Acquisition Opportunity Program has helped protect the affordability of 1,000 rental homes five years ahead of schedule, writes Ysabelle Kempe in Smart Cities Dive.
The program assists “mission-driven” developers in purchasing housing with zero-interest loans in exchange for a commitment to maintain affordability for tenants for at least 50 years. “The developers must also set aside at least 40% of the units for low- and moderate-income families.”
Nonprofits such as the East Boston Community Development Corp. have benefited from the program, which has helped them acquire 150 units. “Now that Boston has hit its 1,000-home goal, it is setting another to help preserve over 350 more affordable housing units by the end of 2026.”
FULL STORY: Boston’s affordable housing preservation efforts are seeing results
Rents Rose Between December and January
After dropping to a three-year low, U.S. rent costs grew in many major cities.
Housing Top of Mind for Nevada Voters
The Silver State is the nation’s most unaffordable housing market for extremely low-income households.
Report: Las Vegas, Houston Top List of Least Affordable Cities
The report assesses the availability of affordable rental units for low-income households.
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