Housing

St. Louis Lawsuits Focus on Delinquent Properties
Special suits give property owners an opportunity to fix up rundown properties before the city sells them.

Fair Housing Bill Targets Voucher Discrimination
A bipartisan bill tackles landlords' unwillingness to rent to housing voucher holders.

White People Don't Recognize Black Middle Class Neighborhoods
According to a series of studies, white people have a blindness for seeing the black middle class in neighborhoods—even if they don't display other forms of racial animus.

Upzoning, Inclusionary Zoning Designed to Increase Affordable Housing Supply in Miami
The city of Miami will for the first time require that affordable housing be included in private residential development projects. The mandatory inclusionary zoning was made more palatable to developers by upzoning the affected area.

High Housing Prices Concern the Nation's Homebuilders
High prices and rising mortgage rates are called a "toxic cocktail" for the homebuilding industry.

An Argument for a Graduated Real Estate Transfer Tax in Chicago
As it exists today, Chicago's real estate transfer tax is a flat tax that charges the same percentage for modest homes and mansions.

Atlanta Housing Authority Changing Course as Affordable Housing Problems Grow
Housing costs are rising in Atlanta, while available affordable housing has decreased. The Atlanta Housing Authority needs to ramp up construction after a lull in development.

Vancouver Launching its First Citywide Plan Since 1928
The Vancouver City Council decided to launch a new housing vision for the British Columbia city. Planners will have their work cut out for them balancing all the stakeholders in the expensive city.

How San Francisco Ran Out of Affordable Housing Funds, and What to Do About It
Analysis and policy recommendations from Bay Area-based think tank SPUR focuses on how poorly designed inclusionary zoning the exact opposite of the desired effect.

Kansas City Trying New Approaches to Affordable Housing
After years of neglecting its affordable housing policy, Kansas City is developing a new five-year vision on policy matters like a public-private trust fund and inclusionary zoning.

Flood Risk and Community Resiliency
An analysis of how flooding, the most frequent and costliest natural disaster in the U.S., will cause stress to the housing market in coming decades.

Airbnb Suing Boston Over New Regulations
The front lines of the short-term rental wars shift to the city of Boston.

Speculation Leaves 50 Million Homes Empty in China
Experts say China has the highest vacancy rate on residential units of any country in the world. The roots of the problem lay in housing speculation, according to China's leaders.

Real Estate in the U.S.: More and More 'Million-Dollar Neighborhoods'
A new report from Trulia reveals the quickly increasing number of neighborhoods in the country that have a median home price touching seven figures.

Citing Lack of ADU Development, Ann Arbor to Refine its ADU Ordinance
After legalizing accessory dwelling units in 2016, the city of Ann Arbor hasn't added many accessory dwelling units. Some regulations designed to limit the number of ADUs developed have made the building type impossibly cost prohibitive.

Veteran Homelessness on the Rise Again in Expensive Cities
The news about veteran homelessness rising in expensive cities might come as a surprise, after years of reported progress.

Net-Zero Energy Homes Use Technology to Work With the Energy Grid
A housing development near Tampa will have high-tech smart homes with grid-optimized solar power.

New Urbanists and New Housing
The Charter of the New Urbanism favors infill development, yet new urbanists sometimes oppose infill, especially in historic urban areas. This post speculates on why that might be the case.

Granny Flats Take on the Los Angeles Homelessness Crisis
A program financed by Bloomberg Philanthropies will pay homeowners to build accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and rent them to the recently homeless.

Rent Control Rejected in California, But the Debate Is Far From Over
An opinion piece in CityLab reiterates the body of research showing evidence that rent control is not an effective tool in reducing housing costs.
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