housing

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

IN OTHER NEWS

Affordable Housing Is Slow To Recover After Disasters Like Hurricanes, And What Communities Can Do About It – 4 Reasons Why

How a community recovers after a disaster like Hurricane Ian is often a “chicken and egg” question: Which returns first – businesses or households? Businesses need employees and customers to be able to function. Households need jobs and the services businesses provide. As an urban planning researcher who focuses on housing recovery after disasters, I have found in my research that they’re mutually dependent. However, in coastal communities, the recovery of tourism-based businesses like restaurants and hotels depends in large part on the return of affordable housing for employees. Rockport, Texas, where Hurricane Harvey made landfall in 2017, is an example of the challenge. It’s a small community that caters to vacationers and sport fishermen, including celebrities like country singer Ge...

Contradicting NIMBY Concerns – Building Subsidized Low-Income Housing Actually Lifts Property Values In A Neighborhood

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

IN OTHER NEWS

Contradicting NIMBY Concerns – Building Subsidized Low-Income Housing Actually Lifts Property Values In A Neighborhood

Building multiple publicly subsidized low-income housing developments in a neighborhood doesn’t lower the value of other homes in the area – and in fact can even increase their worth, according to a new peer-reviewed study I co-authored. For the study, we looked at 508 developments financed through the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program and built in the Chicago area from 1997 to 2016. We then examined their influence on more than 600,000 nearby residential sales, using data from local property assessments and tax records. We chose Chicago because of its size, well-established neighborhoods, substantial amount of subsidized housing developments, well-documented racial and ethnic segregation, pockets of persistent and concentrated poverty and excellent data coverage. While some r...

Renters Asking: Where Do We Go? Affordable Housing In The US Is Increasingly Scarce

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

IMPACT, IN OTHER NEWS

Renters Asking: Where Do We Go? Affordable Housing In The US Is Increasingly Scarce

The United States is facing an expanding gap between how much workers earn and how much they have to pay for housing. Workers have faced stagnant wages for the past 40 years. Yet the cost of rent has steadily increased during that time, with sharp increases of 14% to 40% over the past two years. Now, more than ever, workers are feeling the stress of the affordable housing crisis. While I was conducting research in economically hard-hit communities from Appalachia to Oakland, California, for my recent book, published in November 2021, nearly every person I met was experiencing the painful reality of being caught between virtually stagnant wages and rising housing costs. As a sociologist, I had expected that low-wage workers would struggle with the cost of housing. I did not expect to m...

What Works And What Doesn’t With Affordable Housing In Pandemic Times

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

BUSINESS, IN OTHER NEWS, VIDEO REELS

What Works And What Doesn’t With Affordable Housing In Pandemic Times

Two years of pandemic disruptions have put a spotlight on shortcomings in the U.S. housing market. Some of these shortcomings have their origins in federal and local policy decisions made decades ago. But there are also positive examples of cities making zoning decisions that work to create affordable housing. On Feb. 10, 2022, SciLine interviewed Emily Hamilton, an economist and senior research fellow and director of the Urbanity Project at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, about housing policy and how it affects who can afford to live in American cities. Emily Hamilton talks to SciLine about housing policy. Below are some highlights from the discussion. Please note that answers have been edited for brevity and clarity. How have pandemic-linked economic shifts affected hous...

Brad Pitt’s Green Housing Dream For Hurricane Katrina Survivors Turned Into A Nightmare

31Jan

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

CELEBRITIES

Brad Pitt’s Green Housing Dream For Hurricane Katrina Survivors Turned Into A Nightmare

Brad Pitt’s Make It Right Foundation built 109 eye-catching and affordable homes in New Orleans for a community where many people were displaced by damage wrought by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Now this housing development is in disarray. The vast majority of the recently constructed homes are riddled with construction-related problems that have led to mold, termites, rotting wood, flooding and other woes. At least six are boarded up and abandoned. Many residents have filed lawsuits that are still pending. That is, a nonprofit that built houses with input from Frank Gehry and other prominent architects amid much fanfare for survivors of one disaster then ushered in another disaster. Structural and other problems are making many residents fear for their health. Make It Right, despite what ...

‘Food Apartheid’ In US Cities Created By Urban Planning And Housing Policies

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

IN OTHER NEWS

‘Food Apartheid’ In US Cities Created By Urban Planning And Housing Policies

Hunger is not evenly spread across the U.S., nor within its cities. Even in the the richest parts of urban America there are pockets of deep food insecurity, and more often than not it is Black and Latino communities that are hit hardest. As an urban planning academic who teaches a course on food justice, I’m aware that this disparity is in large part through design. For over a century, urban planning has been used as a toolkit for maintaining white supremacy that has divided U.S. cities along racial lines. And this has contributed to the development of so-called “food deserts” – areas of limited access to reasonably priced, healthy, culturally relevant foods – and “food swamps” – places with a preponderance of stores selling “fast” and “junk” food. Both terms are controversial and have...

Student Housing Scarce For College Students With Kids

5Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

EDUCATION

Student Housing Scarce For College Students With Kids

Before the family housing program opened at his university, Blake and his two young daughters were couch-surfing at the homes of their friends and family. “They only saw me coming and going,” Blake explains, describing how he had to juggle a job at a local casino, college classes and parenting as a single homeless dad pursuing a career in nursing. When the university opened its family housing program in 2014, Blake and his daughters were among the first to move in. Living on campus changed their lives. The girls claimed a place within the college community. They made friends with people across campus, ate with their dad in the dining hall and did homework together as a family. And Blake was able to better focus on his studies. The program – which has since been discontinued – is a rarit...

Should architecturally significant low-income housing be preserved?

8Jul

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SOCIAL JUSTICE

Should architecturally significant low-income housing be preserved?

This past January, in Buffalo, New York, the second phase of demolition for a low-income housing complex called Shoreline Apartments commenced. A 1974 photograph of Buffalo’s Shoreline Apartments. George Burns/National Arcvhives at College Park The property owner had long wanted to replace the crumbling buildings. Residents also sought a safer and more welcoming living space that better blended in with the rest of the neighborhood. It sounds like a win-win for all parties. But Shoreline, designed by famed architect Paul Rudolph, had been considered an exemplar of modern architecture in the Western New York area. For this reason, local preservationists wanted to landmark the complex – and save it from the wrecking ball. As historic preservation scholars, we were drawn to this controvers...

Another housing crisis is coming – and bailouts and eviction freezes won’t be enough to prevent many from losing their homes

30Mar

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

IN OTHER NEWS

Another housing crisis is coming – and bailouts and eviction freezes won’t be enough to prevent many from losing their homes

Millions of Americans are suddenly out of work as the financial and economic crisis sparked by the coronavirus pandemic deepens. Without an income, most of these people will have a hard time covering their expenses, including keeping a roof over their heads. But even before the current crisis, tens of millions of Americans struggled to pay for housing, spending more than 30% – or even half – of their income on housing-related expenses. This leaves less money for other essentials such as food, health care and savings. Governments have offered a variety of plans to support those hurt by the coronavirus pandemic, from direct payments and higher unemployment checks to eviction freezes and mortgage relief. We are researchers who study the intersection of housing and health. While these measu...

The Crackdown On Oakland’s Moms 4 Housing

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

IN OTHER NEWS

The Crackdown On Oakland’s Moms 4 Housing

Just after 5 a.m. on Jan. 14, about 30 deputies from the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office arrived at 2928 Magnolia St. in West Oakland. They came armed with rifles and a tank-like armored vehicle. Some deputies were dressed in camouflage fatigues. Their objective: Evict four mothers and their children from the three-bedroom house. “I’ve never seen anything like that. To come into the house not knowing if our children were there. Fortunately, the kids were not. But … they caused a lot of harm and trauma,” says Dominique Walker, one mother who occupied the Magnolia Street home. The house had sat vacant for several years. Walker and a woman named Sameerah Karim and their children moved into the house in November 2019. The two longtime Oaklanders were homeless and thought it made more sense f...