A recent study called “America’s Rental Housing: Evolving Markets and Needs” by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard smashes myths about the rental market—of particular importance given the recent rise in rents around the country.

Breann Gala writes of her reactions to the new report out of Harvard, which surprised her even given her role as “an affordable housing and community development practitioner” with the Metropolitan Planning Council.
One of Gala’s bluntly stated takeaways from the report: “Renters are not who you think they are. Rental properties are not what you think they are, or where you think they are.”
Given the surprising facts about the rental market, and given the increasing burden of housing costs on American families, Gala calls on policy makers to adopt policies that reflect the facts, rather than the myths, of the market.
FULL STORY: Smashing Traditional Notions of Rental Housing

Rethinking Redlining
For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.

Montreal Mall to Become 6,000 Housing Units
Place Versailles will be transformed into a mixed-use complex over the next 25 years.

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

Santa Clara County Dedicates Over $28M to Affordable Housing
The county is funding over 600 new affordable housing units via revenue from a 2016 bond measure.

Why a Failed ‘Smart City’ Is Still Relevant
A Google-backed proposal to turn an underused section of Toronto waterfront into a tech hub holds relevant lessons about privacy and data.

When Sears Pioneered Modular Housing
Kit homes sold in catalogs like Sears and Montgomery Ward made homeownership affordable for midcentury Americans.
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