Housing Set-Asides: An Idea Whose Time Has Come

National momentum can't substitute for hard organizing work at the local level, but sometimes it can set the stage -- or provide a needed burst of energy.

1 minute read

July 2, 2003, 1:00 PM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen


In August 2002, Kevin Jackson, director of the Chicago Rehab Network, sent a letter out to network members and supporters to introduce a campaign to win an affordable housing set-aside – a requirement that all private developments over a certain size include a specific percentage of affordable housing. "We only need look west to Colorado for proof that it's possible to enact such a policy," he wrote, explaining how Denver had approved an inclusionary zoning law requiring 10 percent affordable units in any development over 30 units.

Thanks to Miriam Axel-Lute

Wednesday, July 2, 2003 in Shelterforce Online

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