Affordable Housing

New Jersey struggles to develop fair rules on affordable housing. "The whole thing is madness at this point," says a Sussex County administrator.

May 26, 2008 - New Jersey Herald

Hoping to head off a competing ballot measure, Miami-based developer Lennar Corp. has voluntarily agreed to set aside 3,200 of the planned 10,000 homes on San Francisco's Hunters and Candlestick Point for low- and moderate-income families.

May 20, 2008 - The San Francisco Chronicle

An influential Vancouver Realtor has proposed a density bonus scheme that he says would get developers to provide more housing affordable to first-time buyers.

May 15, 2008 - The Province

Massachusetts wants to require affordable housing developers to pay construction workers a "prevailing wage", but with costs already totaling $200,000 or more per unit, the proposal may ultimately decrease the amount of affordable housing built.

May 9, 2008 - The Boston Globe

The Federal Reserve has announced plans to help community non-profits to acquire foreclosed homes for use as affordable housing.

May 8, 2008 - The Washington Post

A new 85-unit apartment building in Harlem shows that affordable housing and green building practices can go hand in hand.

May 3, 2008 - Inhabitat

A bill intended to expand the stock of affordable housing in Middlebury, Vermont, is coming under criticism for actually making it harder for developers to build affordable housing.

March 26, 2008 - Addison County Independent

With government plans to increase the amount of land used for affordable housing in Melbourne, Australia, some say it's time for a regional planning entity.

March 8, 2008 - The Age

A measure to require half of all new housing units in San Francisco's planned redevelopment of Bayview-Hunters Point is heading to the city's June ballot. The developer says the measure will kill the project.

March 8, 2008 - The San Francisco Chronicle

Plans to convert one of San Francisco's public housing projects into market rate housing has resulted in dozens of evictions, and more are expected.

March 7, 2008 - The San Francisco Chronicle

Thanks to Planetizen, I found “Opportunity Urbanism,” a report that posits Houston as “an emerging paradigm for the 21st century.” (There's a related op-ed here.) The report, regrettably, is a manifesto as empty as the title -- which Kotkin clearly hopes will become a catchphrase. So why is it important?

June 28, 2007 - James S. Russell

Houston or Holland? The rapidly growing suburbs of Madrid uncomfortably (and instructively) amalgamate some of both. I was lucky to receive a recent tour from David Cohn, a long-time colleague and 20-year resident of Madrid; Sylvia Perea, a post-doctoral student and, until recently, an editor at the journal Arquitectura Viva, and Emilio Ontiveros, a young architect of the local Research Group on Social Housing.

May 28, 2007 - James S. Russell

The city's planning commission wants to use "incentive zoning" to encourage the development of taller buildings and generate revenue for the city's affordable housing fund.

February 28, 2007 - The Seattle Times