The landmark environmental bill, CEQA, has been credited with preventing irreversible damage to natural habitats. But it’s also provided an avenue for resistant neighbors to block new housing in urban areas.
An analysis of nearly 92,000 Road Home grants statewide found that the program to help homeowners rebuild after hurricanes Katrina and Rita gave more funding to wealthier neighborhoods than low-income ones.
The law, which capped rent increases and laid out terms by which certain landlords could evict tenants, was enacted by the City Council last year in an attempt to enact eviction protections to prevent homelessness.
States and local governments should craft coordinated policies that promote housing construction and first-time ownership. A winning formula includes tax relief for buyers and rebated permit fees for builders.
Maine’s largest city has proposed funding for affordable housing, employee retention bonuses, an addiction medicine program, health care for the homeless and more.
Voters in San Francisco and Berkeley, Calif., approved new taxes on vacant dwellings. Meant to tame speculation and increase supply for renters, the measures have raised revenue in other cities but the impact on housing markets remains unclear.
Many of them want to develop their properties to help revitalize their communities. Partnering with them can be a challenge for governments, but there’s much they can do to help these institutions build capacity to help.
The fifth annual Health Equity Summit this week reported the housing crisis in the Pennsylvania community has not been dealt with adequately. About 34 percent of households are cost-burdened.
The New York City mayor said the reforms to the rental assistance program will make it easier to access the CityFHEPS voucher program but did not address removing the 90-day rule which housing advocates have slammed.
A statewide clean-energy lending program in Ohio stalled last year before making any loans. Lawmakers want to add consumer protections in case the program resurfaces.
The housing tends to be older, is more often rented, making it less likely to be maintained and more vulnerable to serious damage in the wake of a disaster. But there are steps communities can take to help.
Los Angeles and Austin will elect new mayors; Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo is facing a Republican challenger; and San Francisco will get a new D.A. after recalling its last one. These are the local races to watch next week.
A term that once referred only to housing now encompasses everything from politics to economic life to the disappearance of community. But the center is still out there somewhere.
The City Council has issued a halt to renewals of existing permits and those in the application pipeline. The moratorium, which could begin as soon as Nov. 3, would phase out nearly all 1,300 residential short-term rentals.
Even as cities’ African American populations decline in the face of gentrification, Black candidates can win elections if they focus on the needs of the public.
Taxes on mansions and vacant properties, rent control policies, and record-breaking housing bonds: Californians are throwing everything at the wall this November.
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