housing affordability
A new report suggests that upzoning is not the silver bullet some had hoped it would be for housing prices.
Next City
The common metric for measuring housing affordability—whether households pay more than 30 percent of their income on shelter—has its downsides. Looking at residual income offers more precision in some respects.
Joint Center for Housing Studies
There are signs that politicians at every level are responding to the concerns of renters like never before. If only renter-friendly housing policies were matters of simple consensus.
Brookings
If the rent is too damn high, it might still be a good investment.
CityLab
Blog post
Good research indicates that building middle-priced housing increases affordability through "filtering," as some lower-priced housing occupants move into more expensive units, and over time as the new houses depreciate and become cheaper.
Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) has introduced legislation that would tie federal funding to pro-development policies at the local level.
The American Prospect
Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) recently proposed legislation that would create a refundable tax credit for qualifying rental households.
Next City
The city of Philadelphia shows that not all affordability crises are created with the same mix of supply and demand.
PlanPhilly
The public comment period for the draft Minneapolis 2040 Comprehensive Plan will wrap up soon. City council members are already responding to concerns from singe-family neighborhood residents about the density proposed in the plan.
Star Tribune
Cities like San Francisco or New York can suck up all the oxygen for the conversation about housing affordability in the U.S. Meanwhile rapidly growing cities like Nashville, where the scope of a crisis of affordability is no less dire.
Tennessean
And stop changing the subject, adds the Editorial Board of the San Francisco Chronicle.
The San Francisco Chronicle
Utah has generally made room for single-family homes in the past, but the Salt Lake Tribune thinks its time for new plans as the state faces demographic changes and worsening affordability.
The Salt Lake Tribune
When President Reagan slashed funding for low-income housing in the '80s, he set off a boom in manufactured housing. Now some think these homes might offer relief for those struggling to afford a home.
CityLab
Support for rent control is building at the state level in California. Support hasn't been as easy tt rally at the local level, however.
Curbed LA
To paraphrase Bill Clinton, it's the housing, stupid! In addition to the troubling findings of the Bay Area Council poll, a California housing report found that Silicon Valley had the highest percentage of residents leaving their counties.
The Mercury News
The U.S. has become a "landlord nation," says Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman. His analysis: fiercely-defended restrictive local zoning laws have cut off supply, dividing those who own from those who rent.
GeekWire
A state bill would allow for higher floor area ratio in New York City, designed to alleviate housing costs in the city, has gained most support from legislators representing areas outside the city.
Crain's New York Business
Swaths of the city of Philadelphia could see increased parking minimums if a new version of a bill that failed in 2016 makes its way through City Council.
PlanPhilly
A suite of restrictions under consideration in Madrid would eliminate short-term rentals from 95 percent of the city.
The Local
A new report by the New York City Comptroller's Office has estimated the cost of Airbnb to the city's rental market, and the tab is a big one: $616 million in 2016 alone.
Bloomberg
