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Shelby R. King

31 Posts

Shelby R. King is Shelterforce's investigative reporter. She began her reporting career in 2010 covering cops/public safety and has been writing about housing and community development since 2014.
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Affordability

How Are LIHTC Rules Enforced—And How Well?

LIHTC developers must follow strict affordability rules—and fulfill other promises—for at least 30 years. While industry insiders insist compliance rates are high, tenant advocates say noncompliance is a real problem.

Open door to a new home with key and home shaped keychain.
Housing

A Critical Look at the Section 8 Program, a Webinar

In September, Shelterforce’s Shelby R. King was invited to participate in a virtual “Housing Hangout.” Panelists discussed the history of the Section 8 program, its strong points and failings, and ideas for large-scale reforms.

Disability

How the Housing Shortage Is Forcing People With Disabilities Into Institutions

People with disabilities have the constitutional right to choose community-based care rather than institutionalization, but without enough accessible, affordable units, some are still being forced to live in nursing homes.

A small, one-story, gray-shingled cottage with a red door and white trim, with overhanging trees on the left and right.
Policy

FHA Changes Could Make ADU Construction More Affordable

The Federal Housing Administration may soon allow homeowners to count projected rent toward their qualifying income to build an accessory dwelling unit. While ADU advocates call the change “monumental,” the proposed policy isn’t perfect.

A dark-skinned woman in a red blouse stands holding a mic and looking at a screen on which is projected "What are TIFs?" with several bullet points beneath in much smaller type. Behind her is a curtain, and in the corner a table and chair with some meeting materials on them. The audience she is speaking to is not visible.
Policy

Tax Increment Financing (TIF): Revitalization Tool, Developer Handout … or Both?

Tax increment financing attracts development in disinvested areas, but it also diverts millions of tax revenue away from city services to investors. And some claim officials are using the program in racist and corrupt ways. What is TIF? And how does it work?

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Policy

Colorado Passed a Historic Affordable Housing Measure. Is It Enough?

The state underfunded affordable housing for decades, but voters recently approved $300 million in new annual spending—and more could be coming.

Organizing

How to Build a YIMBY/Tenant Activist Bridge, a Shelterforce Webinar

Shelterforce’s investigative reporter Shelby R. King wrote two pieces about YIMBY (Yes in My Back Yard) groups in 2022, including one that focused on shared interests between YIMBY supporters and […]

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Housing Supply

Is a YIMBY/Tenant Activist Bridge Possible?

A culture war between housing justice advocates and YIMBYs began in 2014. While the groups have different priorities, they do have shared interests. Can they be allies or will the habitual quarreling keep them at odds?

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COVID

Organized Tenants Are Baaaaack

After a lull in the 1990s, the tenants rights movement reemerged and has only gained strength. What caused the resurgence and what do tenants’ prospects look like?

An illustration highlighting the 6 policies tenants are fighting for, including good cause eviction, right to habitability, right to counsel, rent regulation, tenant opportunity to purchase, and right to organize.
Organizing

Tenant Protections 101

Tenant advocates have long been pushing for a “tenants bill of rights” to codify rules that protect renters from landlords. Here’s a rundown of the top protections housing justice activists say need to be included.

YIMBY Action members chant over activists of color during an counter protest in California.
Housing

Have the YIMBYs Evolved?

Yes in My Back Yard activists started with a simple—and some would say simplistic—argument: to solve the nation’s housing crisis we just need to build more housing, of any type and in as many places as possible. But as the movement nears a decade of existence, some of its members argue that their message has become more nuanced.

A woman wearing a redish sweater and shirt look at at a piece of history at the Jack Hadley Black History Museum in Thomasville, Georgia. She is surrounding by other artifacts.
Community Development Field

CDCs Are Having a Moment. Can the Momentum Last?

Over the past couple of years, community development corporations have been popping up in sometimes-unexpected places across the country. Will this increased interest in CDCs last, or is it a trend that will end when the money runs out?