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Roshan Abraham

17 Posts

Roshan Abraham, Next City's housing correspondent, is a journalist whose reporting on criminal justice, housing, and health has appeared in VICE, The Verge, Pacific Standard, The Village Voice, and more. He is a graduate of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and a former Equitable Cities fellow.
Stock image of small gray house, perhaps a dollhouse, with peaked roof and white shutters, surrounded by stacks of pennies, nickels, and quarters. Some of the coin stacks are higher than the house, others have collapsed into piles in front of the house.
Financialization

Blockbusting the Big Boys: Bill Would Ban Hedge Funds from Owning Single-Family Homes

The End Hedge Fund Control of American Homes Act is an ambitious attempt to keep private equity’s influence out of single-family homes. If passed, the bill will need ownership transparency to be effective.

St. George, Utah, seen from a hillside. In the foreground are deep brick-red and orange rocks, with light green/yellow grasses. The town lies in a valley, and trees lining the streets are a darker green than the grasses. Far in the distance are mountains, under a blue sky with sparse clouds.
Housing

Running Rampant: How Short-Term Rentals Affect Communities with Loose Restrictions

Brendan O’Brien, author of “Homesick,” talks with us about his new book, and what’s he’s learned about the effects of short-term rentals in communities like Flagstaff, Arizona; Bozeman, Montana; and St. George, Utah.

A sign on a brick wall advising drivers of a steep hill. The sign is all-caps black lettering on a white background.
Housing

How ‘Tenant Stewards’ Are Using TOPA to Form a Co-op

Organized by a pandemic-era mutual aid group, this housing cooperative is taking advantage of D.C.’s pioneering Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act. But the pressure of paying back a loan with mounting interest could stymie the group’s plans to provide affordable housing.

Aerial shot of a huge hotel, 12 or 13 stories high, surrounded by mature trees, other apartment buildings or hotels, with a roadway in front of it. The building is shaped vaguely like a stick figure of a person, but with a C-shaped head.
Organizing

The Unfulfilled Potential of D.C.’s TOPA Law

Tenant Opportunity to Purchase laws empower renters to get control when their buildings go up for sale. But in D.C., the hurdles to becoming owners are many, and often insurmountable.

A favela of Rio de Janeiro. In the foreground is a small white building with a corrugated tin roof. Beyond it, in the distance, is a hilly landscape covered with similar dwellings. Tall power lines are visible in the distance.
Organizing

How Organizers in Rio’s Favelas Are Harnessing Solar Energy

Neighborhoods on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro face a multitude of challenges, including social and racial inequity, and a lack of public services. This organization is hoping to prove that solar energy can benefit neighborhoods, lower electric bills, and provide jobs.

View of a Chicago neighborhood and the city skyline
Housing

Squatters Ask Chicago: Why So Many Vacancies?

Officials in Chicago are struggling to address the city’s homelessness and housing crises. So why does the Chicago Public Housing Authority have one of the highest rates of vacancy in the country?

A night view of San Francisco, with a dark blue sky and golden lights shining in all the windows.
Policy

San Francisco Is Fighting to Keep Its Homeless Sweeps Going—With or Without Shelter

Courts are curbing cities’ ability to threaten, cite, or arrest people merely for being homeless. Now states and cities are searching for loopholes to avoid the injunctions.

A group of people stand around a person with a megaphone. There are signs in the back of the room.
Policy

What Happened to Rent Control in Minneapolis?

Minneapolis voters gave their city council the power to enact rent control by ordinance. Two years later, the future of rent control is still in limbo.

A three-story red/brown brick building with white window frames. In the foreground, a thick green hedge. Behind the building, a clear blue sky. There are no people in the photo.
Housing

What Can We Learn From the U.K.’s Council Housing? (Hint: Vienna Isn’t the Only Example of Transformative Social Housing.)

Social historian John Boughton explains how the U.K.’s social housing system changed millions of low- and middle-income people’s lives—and how privatization has crippled its power.

A three-story yellow building with moss growing in the first floor entrances and second floor.
Housing

How One Organization Is Preserving Housing Co-Ops

A group formed to promote student housing co-ops in the ’60s is acquiring and preserving cooperative housing for future generations.

A close nighttime view of the front of a squad car, with red and blue lights glowing on the roof, and red and blue lights in the grille. The headlights are also on. The windshield appears black and no people are visible in the car.
Equity

Sweeps Aren’t Outreach—Policing Homelessness Still Doesn’t Work

A new study shines light on the connection between homeless outreach teams and policing, and examines why so many cities are still using resident complaints to guide their response to the homelessness crisis.

A nighttime photo in Jersey City, NJ. The photo is take on the side of a street, with orange light trails in the center of the image going down the street. There are parked cars on the right side of the image, and high-rise buildings to the left.
Policy

Jersey City Grants Free Counsel to Renters Facing Eviction

Jersey City renters can’t keep up with a housing crisis fueled by proximity to New York City. A new right to counsel program, funded by development fees, could help.