Rooflines
What The NY Times Got Wrong About Inclusionary Zoning
NY Mayor Bill de Blasio released a 10-year plan to create or preserve 200,000 affordable housing units in the city. Housing activists cheer at its embrace of mandatory inclusionary zoning, but the NY Time's coverage reveals an ignorant counter view.
Discrimination Limits Sandy Recovery Efforts
Many New Jersey residents are waiting for state aid to help them rebuild after Hurricane Sandy. But not everyone is receiving a fair share of recovery funds. How will Governor Chris Christie respond?
Rural Responsibility or Ruin?
The 2015 federal budget proposes a $50 minimum rent on subsidized rural rental housing to encourage “financial responsibility.” Will this really help the rural poor?
New Motto for Nonprofit Housing: The Impossible Takes a Little Longer
Nonprofit housing developers are able to succeed at what often seems impossible. Nonprofits all want the projects done faster and better, but is all the well-meaning input from the activists and intellectuals just more mud in in a dragging field?
Millennials Moving to Cities; Older Generations Staying Put
Millennials are moving to cities around the country in era-defining numbers but so far, Generation X and Baby Boomers are mostly staying put. Is the millennial in-migration to cities a flash in the pan?
How States Can Combat Affordable Housing NIMBYs
The U.S. is in the midst of an affordable housing crisis. But as the landmark Mount Laurel saga illustrates, many communities object to developing such housing. Corianne Payton Scally argues that states should work harder to promote such projects.
Detroit Bankruptcy Highlights Nation's Obsession With Diplomas
If you thought the bankruptcy in Detroit was caused by the disappearance of manufacturing jobs, well, you'd be wrong. Alan Mallach explains how our obsession with college degrees contributed to the downfall of a city.
Retaining Affordable Housing Near Transit Just Got Easier
Changes to the criteria for evaluating applications for the federal New Starts program could have a significant impact on efforts to preserve and expand affordable housing in close proximity to transit.
How Neighborhood Improvement Can Prevent Gentrification
Rick Jacobus looks for a way out of gentrification paralysis, and suggests that incremental improvements to lower-income neighborhoods can be a bulwark against broad displacement.
Can the Cycle of Concentrated Poverty Be Broken?
A recent book examines the causes and effects of the 'persistent and long standing problem of concentrated poverty in the inner city' and offers recommendations for breaking the cycle. Do we have the commitment to fix the problem?
A New Way to Diffuse NIMBYism?
A controversial affordable housing project proposed for Somerville, Mass. diffused community opposition by coordinating with the for-profit developer of an adjacent parcel. Could the partnership provide a template for moderating NIMBYism?
Rural Transit: A Matter of Life or Death, and in Danger
Public transit that serves rural communities is no less essential to the everyday needs of their users as those systems that serve cities. So, why do some states seem so eager to cut subsidies to rural transit providers?
Can Mobile Homes Help Solve America's Affordability Crisis?
Homeownership is slipping out of reach for many Americans, caused largely by the lack of affordable housing inventory. There is a solution to the inventory shortage that many buyers, advocates and policymakers are overlooking: Manufactured Housing.
Suburban Poor? Are You Sure?
Brookings Institute's “Confronting Suburban Poverty” is generating a lot of buzz. Community development leaders and planners took to Rooflines to voice opinions and critiques of the book, moving its authors to submit a response that you must read.
6 Risks of Public-Private Partnerships
Public agencies need money to finance their projects. Private investors see opportunities for a decent return. Sounds like a perfect marriage, no? Not so fast, says Laura Barrett, who outlines 6 reasons to be wary of public-private partnerships.
Chain Creep: Coming to a Small Town, or Big City, Near You
Dollar stores were already a presence in rural communities, but recession has caused dollar chains to ramp up development to keep pace with the public's growing need to stretch their paychecks. Urban communities aren't immune from chain creep either.
Stop Segregating the Rich! Fighting Displacement Fights Crime
Isolating poor residents from rich ones is not only bad for those being segregated, it leads to the worst outcomes for a city as a whole. Fighting displacement results in less crime and more stable and healthy communities.
Affordable Housing Got a Boost in 2012
Declining rental vacancy rates and increased interest in urban living are putting upwards pressure on housing prices throughout the country. But 2012 wasn't all bad news for attempts to retain and expand affordable housing in American cities.
Pagination
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Town of Zionsville
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