New Jersey Regional Coalition Wins Affordable-Housing Victory
Tomorrow afternoon, Gov. Jon Corzine will sign one of the most important changes to New Jersey’s affordable-housing laws since the Fair Housing Act was...
When Deep-Income Targeting Doesn’t Hit the Mark
Deep-income targeting, where the focus is on housing those with the lowest incomes, can mean dramatically different things to affordable rental housing developers in different states, and even in different market areas within the same state.
Sustainable for Whom? Large-Scale Sustainable Urban Development Projects and “Environmental Gentrification”
Absent a fundamentally new approach to redevelopment planning that places housing affordability at the center of the process, large-scale sustainable development projects are likely to become engines of what has been termed “environmental gentrification.”
Suing the Suburbs
Fights against the displacement caused by rapid gentrification tend to focus on the gentrifying neighborhoods themselves. But some housing...
American Nightmare
Homeowners under threat of foreclosure suffer a level of trauma that's largely invisible to most Americans, while professionals working to keep people in their homes are often overwhelmed by the complexity of the crisis.
Could “Loft Home” Conversions Make Rust Belt Rehab Pencil Out?
A few weeks ago, Alan Mallach wrote on Rooflines about the mismatch between the buildings built for families of another...
Tackling Exclusionary Housing Policy in California
Diving into the issue of exclusionary practices that have exacerbated the housing crisis and offering some policy solutions.
Save What Works: Making the Case for Long-term, Fixed-rate Home Loans
Last week I testified before the Senate Banking Committee on the virtues of the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. For eight decades running, this type of...
Bloomberg Thinks You Profited from the Housing Crisis
The following is, sadly, not a spoof, but a real cover illustration on an article about the housing market:Now,...
PETRA Perspectives: National People’s Action—Housing Justice Campaign
We all know public housing needs radical transformation to survive. The system teeters on the verge of collapse: The 1.2 million units of public...
Public Lands in the Community’s Hands
Last month, PODER (People Organized to Demand Environmental and Economic Rights) achieved another victory in the fight for a more...
It’s Time to Build New, Mixed-Income Public Housing
An interview with Ryan Cooper, co-author of the report (with Peter Gowan), Social Housing in the United States, about current approaches to government intervention in the rental market, the politics of home ownership, why public housing needs to be mixed-income, and envisioning a society that provides adequate, affordable housing to all of its citizens.
Building Community Support for Public/Social Housing
A few weeks ago, Jubilee Housing, an organization in Adams Morgan that runs a portfolio of seven buildings providing...
Who Owns the Land?
When I was a 20-something my family received a copy of the board game Monopoly as a gift. Being all varying levels of anti-capitalists,...
HAMP Modification to Include Principal Writedowns
The Home Affordable Modification Program will make further attempts to extend relief to struggling homeowners, the administration announced last week,...
Six Steps to Stabilize High-Foreclosure Neighborhoods
1. Don't Let the Lenders Lie. When lenders and servicers say they can't modify the principal on a loan because...
Housing Assistance for All Is a Matter of Racial Justice–and It’s Achievable
Project-based Section 8 has been a successful public-private partnership that helps provide affordable housing to very low-income households while...
What Do Housing Groups Think About Dems’ Affordable Housing Plans?
Despite the near silence about the housing crisis during the last five Democratic debates, several frontrunners have proposed serious housing legislation. But will the plans actually address the crisis? We talk with several housing groups to get their take.
Opinion: Make the Cost of Home Something We Can All Afford
Two former HUD secretaries come together to help launch a national housing affordability advocacy campaign that calls on local, state, and federal officials (and candidates) to come up with credible solutions to solve the nation’s housing emergency.
Staying Ahead of the Age Wave
Groups working with older adults, including many community developers, are crafting a range of creative interventions, from home modifications to service-enriched housing models, to allow seniors to age in place. Will it be enough?