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.
As billions for infrastructure flow from Washington, moving away from dependence on the automobile will require new cooperation between federal grantmakers and state and local recipients. Are carless cities in our future?
While the state tracks data on job loss, inflation and rising housing costs, it does not include eviction numbers, leading many officials to underestimate the number of renters who need financial aid.
During the 2021 session, state lawmakers passed bills affecting police oversight, affordable housing, ballot counting and cold medicine. Here’s a look at some of the new changes.
A report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found that the city had 28 issues, including insufficient oversight, conflicts of interest and inaccurate documentation, in its administration of federal grants.
In 2019, 12 percent fewer Black residents owned homes than white residents and the average Black household income was $30,000 less than for white households. The city’s racial gap has worsened over the last 30 years.
Some of their concerns, such as housing costs and homelessness, track with those of their constituents. But elected leaders should pay more attention to crime, inflation and other issues increasingly on the minds of residents.
As the giving holidays remind us, too many Americans must work for paltry wages and face high costs of housing or homelessness. Elected officials need to pay attention to the real needs of the people who can’t shower them with campaign contributions.
When cities reject new projects because they don’t fit an ideal notion of “affordability,” they further worsen the housing shortage.
In responding to the pandemic, state and local governments quickly put in place new program infrastructure to distribute housing aid with flexibility and expediency. We need to build on that for the future.
Taking public meetings online was supposed to broaden civic engagement, but little has changed: The same vocal residents, interest groups and activists still dominate them. We need to find better ways.
Too much of the space in our downtowns is taken up by parked cars, and requiring developers to provide so many parking slots inflates the cost of housing. It’s becoming clear that those mandates are irrational.
Cities spend millions to raze vacant buildings. Why not use that money to repair them instead?
Richmond and other cities are looking to amend zoning codes for new housing and business developments, hoping that looser parking requirements will allow greater investment in housing, retail and greenspace.
Local leaders are pushing back against California’s new housing laws and a newly announced housing strike force. Some worry about the loss of single-family communities, while others want more housing for low-income and homeless populations.
Collinwood is a microcosm of Cleveland’s majority Black neighborhoods, where years of racism, predatory lending, gun violence and falling property values have left few options for stability and growth.
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