Transgender apartment hunters regularly encounter "discrimination with a smile," according to a new study.
Kay Lazar reports on the findings of a study from Suffolk University Law School that finds "[t]ransgender people frequently encounter disparate treatment while apartment hunting in Greater Boston." That discrimination, however, is prohibited by Massachusetts state law.
"The Suffolk team found evidence of discrimination in more than 60 percent of the apartment shopping encounters studied," according to Lazar. The study described many of these encounters as "discrimination with a smile. " According to Lazar's explanation of the phenomenon, "[a]pplicants who made clear they were transgender generally received pleasant treatment, not realizing they were not offered the same discounts, amenities, and customer service typically given to applicants who are not transgender."
The article includes a lot more detail about the efforts of advocacy groups and the public sector to counter such discrimination.
Read the full story: Most transgender renters see discrimination
Study Reveals Housing Discrimination Against Same-Sex Couples, Transgender Individuals
A study of three of the country's population and cultural centers reveals the kinds of discrimination same-sex couples and transgender individuals are likely to encounter on the rental market.
Rent Costs Rising Faster in Suburbs Than Urban Cores
In a majority of U.S. metro areas, suburban rent hikes are outpacing urban rent increases.
How ‘Rental Deserts’ Perpetuate Inequity
Close to one-third of American neighborhoods have very few housing options for renter households, who tend to be disproportionately people of color and low-income families.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
US buildings threatened, destroyed by fires set to triple by 2060
Researchers found a high fire risk for socioeconomically vulnerable neighborhoods in the American West.
LA residents may be allowed to paint their own crosswalks
Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky put out a motion instructing the Los Angeles Department of Public Transportation to study the feasibility of allowing volunteers to paint crosswalks.
Dallas moves to overhaul its zoning code
The city's zoning reform will allow more multi-family and mixed-use developments.
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 Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority