With great success, the city is on a fast track to transform six Great Depression-era public housing projects - totaling 4,000 units - into mixed-income housing. "People will be watching New Orleans closely," observes Linda Couch.
"What makes New Orleans unusual is how the city toppled all of its major public housing projects at once, choosing a swift overhaul to its public housing over a phased redevelopment," explains Couch in the USA Today article.
Despite the rosy outlook, a partnership between local housing authority and private developer to build varied-income housing significantly reduces the supply of subsidized housing in the market. "Public housing units account for about one-third of the new developments, and many families who once lived in the projects will be left out," notes Rick Jervis. One of the city's six projects, the 460-unit Harmony Oaks Apartments, has over 4,000 people on the wait list, vying for the subsidized units. Another option is to apply for the federal rent vouchers, which has some 22,000 families on the wait list as well.
FULL STORY: New Orleans unveils fresh model for housing the poor

Florida Considers Legalizing ADUs
Current state law allows — but doesn’t require — cities to permit accessory dwelling units in single-family residential neighborhoods.

Manufactured Crisis: Losing the Nation’s Largest Source of Unsubsidized Affordable Housing
Manufactured housing communities have long been an affordable housing option for millions of people living in the U.S., but that affordability is disappearing rapidly. How did we get here?

HUD Announces Plan to Build Housing on Public Lands
The agency will identify federally owned parcels appropriate for housing development and streamline the regulatory process to lease or transfer land to housing authorities and nonprofit developers.

EPA Terminates $116 Million in Grants for Reducing Emissions from Construction Materials
C-MORE grants were earmarked for industry trade groups and universities.

BART Closes $35 Million Deficit
Cost control and revenue generation measures prevented service cuts.

The New Parisian Hearse is a Bicycle
Sleek, silent, and sustainable, a green trip to the graveyard has hit the streets of the French capital.
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