Affordable Housing

New York Times Editorial Board Goes YIMBY
The New York Times editorial board has published on op-ed in support of Mayor Bill de Blasio's ambitious targets for affordable housing in New York City over the next ten years.
Developers Fail to Meet Affordable Housing Quota in Portland's Pearl District
Despite a contractual obligation, Hoyt Street Properties under-built 258 affordable housing units in Portland's Pearl District. The city has to react.
Los Angeles is the Least Affordable Rental Market in the Country
A new study confirmed that the average Los Angeles renter allocates 47 percent of their paycheck towards rent.
Activists Advocate for Community Land Trusts
“We were drawn to CLTs not just as a technical model, but because they provide the opportunity for residents—including renters—to actually have control over their homes and communities,” says Tony Romano, the Right to the City's organizing director.
Housing Crunch Comes to Appalachia
Housing shortages are news in San Francisco and North Dakota, even if for different reasons. But parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania are facing the tough policy questions from their own, less documented fracking boom.

Time to Look at Oakland
While Oakland is by no means an easy place to develop real estate, the often maligned East Bay city of over 400,000 residents may very well be the Bay Area’s best place to embrace much-needed development.
The Risks and Conflicts of Interest in San Diego's Proposed Redevelopment Scheme
Before San Diego adopts a proposal to continue redevelopment using profit-based concepts, it should pause to consider the perils, argues Murtaza H. Baxamusa, an affordable housing developer and planning professor.
First Net-Zero Energy Apartments Planned in South Sacramento
Housing 120 units, the first net-zero energy transit-oriented development complex in South Sacramento will feature a rooftop farm and resident-run onsite bicycle repair.

Are We There Yet? Affordability in the 'New Normal'
In the new normal, an affordable lifestyle is suddenly of interest to a larger circle of us. Here's what some interesting innovators are doing about it, between now and when our politics and legal structure fully align with our needs.
Where Smaller is More Marketable
Unlike the message of an annoying commercial, bigger may not be better in the real estate market. Residential developers in Washington D.C. have found that millennials like small studios, or micro-units, provided the spaces are well designed.
Literature Review: On the Importance of Affordable Housing for Families and Communities
A new report by Enterprise Community Partners provides a literature review of research about the effects of stable and affordable housing.
California Launches Process to Create Sustainability and Housing Program (Funded by Cap and Trade)
California's Strategic Growth Council has begun to shape the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities program around its new allocations of cap-and-trade funds. The first key public meeting on creating the program was July 10.
Study Links Affordable Housing and Intellectual Ability in Children
Jonathan Walters shares news of a new study out of Johns Hopkins University finding a connection between affordable housing and the intellectual ability of children. Spend more, or less, than 30 percent on housing, and intellectual ability suffers.
Bill Would Require Affordable Housing in Sales of Public Land in Washington D.C.
"A DC Council committee voted…to require developers to include affordable housing any time they buy land from the city for residential development," reports Jenny Reed.

Sacramento's Tale of Two Downtowns
Northern California is no stranger to debates about redevelopment, displacement, and the proper mix of affordable and market-rate housing—but this time the setting for these stories is in the state capital of Sacramento.
Redefining Affordability in the Most Expensive Neighborhoods
Ryan Hutchins reports on the details of a recent negotiation between Helen Rosenthal, Upper West Side City Council representative, and the developer of a 1,000-unit residential project in Hell's Kitchen.

Affordable, Mid-Term, Housing for All
A proposal to limit the amount of time low-income families can live in affordable housing.

Op-Ed: Oakland Needs Better Housing Policy to Lead Relief of the Bay Area's Housing Crunch
Robert Selna, a land use and real estate attorney, pens a letter to the editor arguing for Oakland to develop specific and aggressive housing development policies.
Board Passes on Rent Freeze Despite Mayor de Blasio's Intentions
The New York City Rent Guidelines Board is one of the few ways Mayor Bill de Blasio can influence the price of housing in the city. All sides came away wanting when the board approved a historically low increase.
Survey: Americans Want Government Action on Affordable Housing
The findings of the Housing Works survey, released earlier this month, suggest that the cost of housing is a pervasive concern among Americans, even if Americans aren't sure they support the kinds of measures necessary to improve the problem.
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