Housing

Suburban Tent City?

As foreclosure rates rise across the country, former homeowners are seeking shelter in suburban "tent cities" while municipalities struggle to cope with extra costs and declining tax revenues.

December 24, 2007 - Reuters

San Mateo: First California County To Subdivide Housing Need Allocations

"Regional Housing Needs Allocations" are generally dreaded by California cities who resist state mandates to provide affordable housing. Rather than being assigned the requirement by the regional COG, San Mateo's 20 cities chose to do it themselves.

December 23, 2007 - Redwood City Daily News

Affordable Housing Plans More Achievable In D.C.

This post from The Next American City's blog looks at plans for building affordable housing in Washington D.C. and how the city is in a much better position to provide for its low income residents than many other major cities.

December 23, 2007 - The Next American City

NOLA Demolitions: One of 'Greatest Crimes in U.S. Urban Planning'

HUD's arguments for the demolition of thousands of public housing units in New Orleans echoes the worst of the "tabula rasa" approach to urban renewal of the 1960s, writes Nicolai Ouroussoff.

December 21, 2007 - The New York Times

Fair Housing, But For Whom?

The Fair Housing Act was passed by Congress in 1968, but some minorities still struggle to obtain mortgages and home loans. This article from The Next American City asks why.

December 21, 2007 - The Next American City

Housing The Most Vulnerable

Homeless advocates are working in Los Angeles to identify the city's most vulnerable homeless people on Skid Row. With this list the county intends to take a piecemeal approach to housing the city's homeless.

December 20, 2007 - NPR

Minneapolis Neighborhood Revitalized For Renters, Owners and Retailers

The non-profit neighborhood housing group Hope Community has renovated ten houses, built 126 affordable rental units, and has two mixed income projects under way in one depressed and crime-ridden Minneapolis block.

December 19, 2007 - The New York Times

What's Next For New Orleans Demolition Sites?

In this commentary from Bloomberg, James S. Russell looks as the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's threat to withdraw hundreds of millions of dollars worth of housing vouchers from New Orleans and the future of the city.

December 19, 2007 - Bloomberg

The Pleistocene Dream?

Owning a home may appeal to primitive happiness-seeking instincts, but the resulting suburban isolation and solitary commutes many people face may be making us profoundly unhappy, writes Charles Montgomery.

December 18, 2007 - The Walrus

Buying Foreclosed Homes A Struggle Unless Occupants Are Booted

Buyers looking to snatch up renter-occupied foreclosed homes and apartment buildings are meeting opposition from mortgage companies who want all tenants out before a sale. This leaves many buyers unsatisfied and many renters feeling insecure.

December 18, 2007 - The Boston Globe

New York: The New American Teardown Capital

Surpassing metropolitan Chicago, metro New York now hosts the highest amount of teardowns in the country.

December 18, 2007 - The New York Times

Anaheim Plans To Remake Its Sports District Into Highrise Urban Village

Anaheim (Orange County, CA) has big plans: 20,000 urban infill homes planned for their sports district. While the zoning change passed the council on a 4-1 vote, developers will wait for the housing market to recover.

December 17, 2007 - The Los Angeles Times

Land of the Living, Dead

Vice Magazine presents this photo essay on a cemetery in Manila that is heavily populated with both the living and the dead. More than 10,000 families make this graveyard their home.

December 17, 2007 - Vice Magazine

Inclusionary Housing Bill Gets Approval In Philadelphia

The Philadelphia city council has approved an inclusionary housing bill requiring developers to include a certain percentage of affordable housing in all projects of 20 units or more.

December 16, 2007 - The Philadelphia Inquirer

Are Jerusalem's Ghost Towns A Problem To Solve?

Jerusalem has an increasing number of "ghost town" neighborhoods, where tourist housing has left areas empty for much of the year. This article looks at the proposed solution to this problem, and wonders whether there is even a problem at all.

December 15, 2007 - The Jerusalem Post

NOLA Public Housing Demolished

Despite protests, thousands of public housing units in New Orleans are being demolished.

December 14, 2007 - Yahoo! News

Housing Demolitions Spark Protests In New Orleans

Plans to demolish about 4,500 units of public housing in New Orleans have angered many in the city and inspired a string of protests.

December 13, 2007 - Associated Press via The Times Picayune

Spanish Government To Green Houses

Officials in Spain have announced billion-dollars plans to help homeowners retrofit and renovate houses to be more energy efficient.

December 13, 2007 - Reuters

Lagos: Africa's New York City

This video from Current profiles Lagos, Nigeria, the world's fastest growing megacity.

December 11, 2007 - Current

Small Towns Look To Keep Young Professionals By Increasing Affordable Housing

County officials in New York are looking to award more than $87 million to small towns to increase their stock of affordable housing -- an effort aimed at luring and keeping young professionals. But opposition to this development type is a hurdle.

December 11, 2007 - The New York Times

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