While Florida's real-estate boom has made affordable housing scarce and the state's income has increased, lawmakers seek to cut affordable housing funds.
The results of the House Bill, according to a study by the Florida Housing Coalition, would be a loss of more than 12,500 homes for low and moderate income Floridians and nearly 30,000 jobs tied to construction and repair of those homes. The House Bill would cap at $193 million the amount of documentary stamp tax that goes to the trust fund for affordable housing. In comparison, affordable housing projects were budgeted to receive $376 million his year. "It's a disgrace," said Jaimie Ross, Executive Director for Affordable Housing for 1000 Friends of Florida. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Fred Brummer, said $376 million is too much to automatically set aside for affordable housing. "Affordable housing is certainly a noble need," Brummer said. "We're not talking about something that isn't just. But what's the difference between the funding of classroom education and justifying their need, as opposed to affordable housing getting their money at the front gate, getting their money off the top?"
Thanks to Sheryl Stolzenberg
Read the full story: Lawmakers push to slash affordable-housing cash
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.
Judges permit Denver to divert 77,000 acre feet from the Colorado River for reservoir expansion
Overuse and climate change have caused the Colorado River’s water levels to plummet.
Boston has spent millions making the Green Line more accessible — and there’s no end in sight
While the city has invested millions into expanding and adding platforms to the Green Line to make it more accessible, new train cars set to arrive next year will be too tall for disabled passengers to board without raising the current platforms.
Idaho may see an 18% drop in federal surface transit funding — the largest estimated cut in the US
Transit systems in rural communities are much more reliant on federal funding to provide their services.
How ‘post-disaster gentrification’ alters neighborhoods after natural calamities
After hurricanes, fires or other calamities, the original residents of a community are often replaced by younger, wealthier residents.
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 Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
KFH Group Inc.
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello