Housing

Community Park Addresses Open Space, Air Quality Disparities in L.A.
Lou Calanche and Esther Feldman discuss the Natural Park at Ramona Gardens, a green solution project to improve air quality and community health in one of the most polluted neighborhoods in Los Angeles.

Report: $15.5 Billion Per Month Needed for Housing Market Relief
A new report from researchers at the Urban Institute makes the case for federal and state relief for renters and property owners hurt by the economic realities of the coronavirus pandemic.

Demand for City Living Hasn't Declined Yet, According to Real Estate Searches
Media is full of stories about people fleeing the city for suburban or even rural climes during the pandemic. The data from real estate search sites tell a different story.

Ithaca Approves Historic #CancelRent Legislation
Ithaca, New York is the first city in the nation to go through with a plan to cancel rent, giving three-quarters of the residents in the city a needed safety net as the coronavirus pandemic and resulting economic crisis persists into the summer.

The Great Retrofit: Transforming Tysons With Walkable Residential Development
A 2010 comprehensive plan set a goal to add 100,000 residential units with walkable access to public transit to this unincorporated corner of Fairfax County in Northern Virginia.

Another Way to Achieve Racial Justice: Zoning Reform
An opinion piece calls out suburban communities for perpetuating structural inequality and housing discrimination. Recently converted social justice advocates should focus their zeal on zoning reform, according to the argument that follows.

Racial Disparity in Home Lending Is Today's Redlining
According to a new report detailing discriminatory lending in Chicago, people in majority-white neighborhoods continue to receive more loans, and in greater amounts, than people in majority-Black and majority-Latino areas.

Advocates Push for Policy Reform to Overcome History of Discriminatory Deed Covenants
The debate about police reform in Minneapolis is only one arena for the city's reckoning with systemic racism.

Renters Falling Behind, Survey Says
New survey data from Massachusetts finds massive housing market stress as more and more renters falling behind on payments.

Housing Programs on the Chopping Block in Philadelphia
The city of Philadelphia is facing a $649 million budget shortfall, and Mayor Jim Kenney is proposing to cut deeply from the city's housing budget to make up the difference.

The Housing Market During COVID-19: Supply Dips, Prices Rise
While fewer houses are being bought and sold in the first months of the pandemic, prices are on the rise as buyers find less supply available on the market.

Budget Crunch Threatens California's Climate Resilience Plans
Facing a massive budget due to the declining revenues created by the coronavirus pandemic, California will have to cut a program intended to retrofit homes and roofs as a protection against wildfire, among other climate resilience programs.

Silver Spring Downtown Plan Expanding to Make Room for the Missing Middle
Planners are hoping that by expanding the boundaries of the Silver Spring Downtown Plan in Montgomery County, Maryland, new opportunities for missing middle housing will create new opportunities for housing affordability.

The Singapore Exception
Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong were credited early in the pandemic with having successfully contained the coronavirus without resorting to lockdowns. However, Singapore lost its standing in that elite group. Crowding vs. density may explain why.

Connecting the Dots Between Planning and Policing
The newest issue the Journal of Planning and Education Research responds to a clear need of the time: the need to address social justice in the public realm while reforming planning practices in the United States.

The Looming Eviction Crisis
Of all the nightmare scenarios that became possible when the coronavirus hit the shores of the United States, the possibility of massive evictions and a rental market failure seems to have averted the worst possible outcomes. That could still change.

Laying the Groundwork for Cheaper Multi-Family Housing Construction
The processes of clearing land, building foundations, and making space for parking are three of the most expensive components of the construction process. Zoning can help reduce the costs to deliver more affordable housing supply.

Poverty Concentrating in Already High-Poverty Neighborhoods
A pair of reports analyzing U.S. Census Bureau poverty data from the last two decades show that high-poverty neighborhoods have become further impoverished.

Overcrowded Housing Connected to Coronavirus Infection
"This is a housing disease."

UCLA Report Raises Housing Crisis Alarm to L.A. Officials
A new UCLA report predicts a grim future for renters in Los Angeles. The report, the first issue published in a new journal dedicated to housing and the coronavirus, spells out what government officials must do to offset and prevent further damage.
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