Housing Crisis

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Eviction Crisis

Emergency Rental Relief Gaining Momentum in Some States

Rental assistance spending in June surpassed the entire year's total so far, but there's still a long way to go.

July 25, 2021 - The Washington Post

Rent Jubilee

Survey Measures Consequences of the Pandemic for Small Landlords

A new survey reveals details about the financial crunch facing owners of small rental properties as tenants struggle to pay rent during the pandemic and emergency aid is slow to reach those in need.

July 20, 2021 - Terner Center for Housing Innovation

Masks and Home Sales

Housing Prices Rising Faster Than Any Point Since 2005

New home price data from CoreLogic puts numbers to the torrid 2021 housing market in the United States.

July 19, 2021 - Inman News

Homeless encampments on the Venice Beach Ocean Front Walk.

Locals Vehemently Oppose Venice Beach Homeless Housing

The controversies about homelessness in what was once a beach community full of hippies and surfers has boiled over in response to a large proposed development of supportive housing on a surface parking lot owned by the city.

July 14, 2021 - Curbed

An image of the Raleigh skyline, with older residential buildings in the foreground and taller commercial buildings in the background.

Duplexes and Townhomes Legalized in Raleigh

Raleigh, North Carolina is the latest city in the United States to relax zoning restrictions in residential neighborhoods as a component of a housing affordability strategy.

July 8, 2021 - The News & Observer

Toronto

Vacancy Tax Considered in Toronto

Owning a home with no one living in it could soon come with a penalty in Toronto.

July 5, 2021 - The Star

Richmond Bridge

Water, Affordable Housing on a Collision Course in California

Marin County, the wealthy county in the North Bay Area with a history of exclusionary land use and transportation practices, is using the shortage of water to justify blocking the development of an affordable housing project.

June 30, 2021 - Bloomberg Law

A train conductor waves at an empty platform on the Long island Rail Road system.

New York Times: Upzone the Suburbs

While the affordable housing discussion focuses on New York City among the many cities with public transit service on Long Island, the city's suburbs need to build more too, according to an argument by The New York Times Editorial Board.

June 29, 2021 - The New York Times

Black Likes Matter

White House Marks Juneteenth by Pushing for Zoning Reforms

On a holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States, the White House marked the occasion by discussion exclusionary zoning.

June 20, 2021 - WhiteHouse.gov

The Gulch development

Now Nashville Plans to Tackle its Housing Affordability Challenges

A new report by the Metro Nashville Affordable Housing Task Force marshals local resources and advocates for coordination with the state and federal government to address the loss of affordable housing in Nashville.

June 17, 2021 - Tennessean

Coronavirus

Report: The Pandemic Tells a Tale of Two Housing Markets

The differences between the haves and the have-nots, already apparent in the U.S. housing market before the pandemic, is more apparent than ever after more than a year of economic and demographic upheaval.

June 17, 2021 - Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University

Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church in Redding, California at night

Leveraging Church Properties to Build Affordable Housing

As owners of valuable urban real estate, some churches are taking up the mandate to serve their community by using their vacant properties to provide housing for people being priced out of their homes.

June 16, 2021 - Reasons to Be Cheerful

House

Are We in a Housing Bubble?

As the pandemic shifts housing priorities and costs continue to soar, experts assess the potential for a crash similar to 2008's Great Recession.

June 16, 2021 - Vox

Coronavirus

Census: 7 Million Americans Are Behind on Rent

With the federal eviction moratorium due to expire at the end of the month and rent relief programs failing to reach those who need it most, an eviction crisis still looms.

June 13, 2021 - NPR

Central Los Angeles

L.A. Planners Working to Shift Affordable Housing Distribution for More Equitable Results

Almost all the affordable housing development in L.A. in the past decade has occurred in majority-minority neighborhoods. The L.A. Department of City Planning is looking for ways to make sure high-income areas do more of their fair share.

June 9, 2021 - Urbanize LA

Parking Sign

The Pretext Problem: The Pitfalls of Planning While Bargaining

Lots of planning is discretionary. Cities and developers negotiate what builders will do for cities in exchange for the right to build, creating an incentive for bad rules, eroding the public's faith in zoning, and enabling political corruption.

June 9, 2021 - Michael Manville

British Columbia

How Zoning Discrimination Still Affects Canadian Cities

Policies that encouraged urban segregation and led to the displacement and disenfranchisement of communities of color continue to reverberate in Canada's urban centers.

June 7, 2021 - The Globe and Mail

South of Market

900 Affordable Housing Units on Multiple Sites Planned by San Francisco

The city has selected developers for an ambitious approach to affordable housing development on nine sites across the city.

June 6, 2021 - San Francisco Chronicle

Eviction Crisis

Billions of Dollars in Rent Relief Might Arrive Too Late

The federal government has never provided so much aid to renters, but rental assistance is still failing to reach the people who need it most.

May 26, 2021 - Vox

Domino Park

Most Questions About the Long-Term Impact of the Pandemic Still Unanswered

Planetizen started gathering articles attempting to predict the post-pandemic future in March 2020. The work goes on, with many questions left still to be answered.

May 25, 2021 - James Brasuell

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