Housing

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    Fahroni via Getty Images
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    Unused parking adds over $2M to typical multifamily projects: study

    New Jersey should adopt new parking ratio standards that better align with usage, a Rutgers University white paper proposes.

    By Mary Salmonsen • Sept. 27, 2023
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    DenisTangneyJr via Getty Images
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    Boston launches pilot to help small housing owners go electric

    Two- to four-unit buildings are the city’s most common building type. Boston hopes the new grant program will yield lessons on scaling up building decarbonization.

    By • Sept. 22, 2023
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    Trendline

    Top 5 Stories from Smart Cities Dive

    Flying taxis and expanding high-speed rail promise to transform the urban transportation landscape, as cities increasingly harness the natural and built environments to mitigate and adapt to climate change impacts.

    By Smart Cities Dive staff
  • A clip from an animated Airbnb ad showing three people showing up for a hotel pool day to see a slew of kids running around during what is meant to be their vacation.
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    Retrieved from YouTube on September 13, 2023
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    Airbnb’s marketing touts short-term rental benefits as local restrictions tighten

    Restrictions such as New York’s Local Law 18 may have a greater impact on the city’s residents and tourism economy than on the company.

    By Aaron Baar • Sept. 20, 2023
  • A curved beige building with rows of square windows.
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    Highsmith, Carol M. (2011). "Robert C. Weaver Federal Building, headquarters of HUD, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, D.C" [Photograph]. Retrieved from Wikimedia Commons.
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    To improve multifamily housing energy efficiency and resiliency, HUD offers $4.8B for retrofits

    The first round of the $4.8 billion GRRP covers upgrades for 28 rent-assisted properties.

    By Mary Salmonsen • Sept. 18, 2023
  • Construction workers are on a platform. The platform is also under construction, and workers wear safety gear.
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    Michael M. Santiago via Getty Images
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    Reforms could add 300K housing units to New York City over 10 years: report

    With the city’s housing costs surging to unprecedented levels, RAND Corp. researchers examined the most promising policy reforms.

    By Danielle McLean • Sept. 11, 2023
  • People picket outside of Paramount Pictures studios during the Hollywood writers strike on May 4, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.
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    David McNew via Getty Images
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    Apartment owners don’t feel impacts from Hollywood writers’ strike — yet

    Despite few effects so far, a prolonged work stoppage could exacerbate occupancy issues in Los Angeles.

    By Leslie Shaver • Aug. 21, 2023
  • Housing on a residential street with city skyline in background.
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    DenisTangneyJr via Getty Images
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    Boston grants aim to lower carbon footprint of affordable housing

    Building owners can get up to $10,000 each for comprehensive energy assessments.

    By • Aug. 16, 2023
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    Maudib via Getty Images
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    As rents continue to rise, legislators eye new regulations

    Ongoing affordability challenges have led lawmakers to consider rent control and fee notifications, data provider Yardi said in its most recent report.

    By Mary Salmonsen • Aug. 15, 2023
  • A colorful, peaked-roof tiny house with other tiny houses around it, designed to help transition homeless individuals into housing in Eugene, Oregon
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    Diane Bentley Raymond via Getty Images
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    Tiny houses for the homeless: What 2 nonprofits have learned to date

    Nonprofit leaders from Syracuse, New York, and Kansas City, Missouri, discuss the benefits and challenges of using tiny houses to provide shelter for the unhoused.

    By Amanda Loudin • Aug. 15, 2023
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    Yongyuan via Getty Images
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    Millions in back rent due in Los Angeles

    This collective debt has raised concerns about a potential wave of evictions, despite the city’s efforts to keep residents housed while also supporting landlords.

    By Mary Salmonsen • Aug. 14, 2023
  • Aerial view of a modern houses in a new housing development.
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    Bim via Getty Images
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    How ‘snob zoning’ blocks opportunity

    Exclusionary zoning policies’ problems — and possible solutions – are on the mind of Richard Kahlenberg, author of the new book “Excluded.”

    By Joan Mooney • Aug. 10, 2023
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    Moeru Matsunoo via Getty Images
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    Office-to-residential, other adaptive reuse construction reaches record high

    Los Angeles has the largest development pipeline in the country, followed by New York City and Chicago.

    By Mary Salmonsen • Aug. 9, 2023
  • The Executive Order harnesses new capital investments to drive decarbonization by retrofitting or constructing fossil-fuel-free buildings.
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    Sean Pavone via Getty Images
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    Boston mayor bans fossil fuels in new city-owned buildings

    The executive order, which also prohibits fossil fuel use in renovations of existing city-owned structures, is part of a larger push for carbon neutrality by 2050.

    By Nish Amarnath • Aug. 8, 2023
  • Volunteer workers raise a wooden framing wall on a Habitat for Humanity home under construction in Washington, DC.
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    Joe Raedle/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    New housing crisis measures announced by Biden administration

    Communities that remove housing production barriers, such as through zoning reform, and encourage commercial-to-residential conversions could qualify for new federal grants.

    By Danielle McLean • Aug. 4, 2023
  • A shift to remote work has softened the demand for office space, accelerating the need for commercial-to-residential conversions.
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    Fang Xia Nuo via Getty Images
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    Deep Dive

    Commercial-to-residential conversions could accelerate under HUD initiative

    Building industry experts say the Housing and Urban Development Department grant will give much-needed guidance on projects stalled by zoning hurdles and outdated permitting processes.

    By Nish Amarnath • Aug. 4, 2023
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    Diy13 via Getty Images
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    Q&A

    How to safely store e-bikes, e-scooters in apartments

    The uptick in micromobility battery fires shows electrification is "moving faster than we’re able to necessarily adapt to," a fire protection expert at an engineering consulting firm said.

    By Mary Salmonsen • Aug. 3, 2023
  • Homeless young man sitting on sidewalk and begging alone. He is wearing protective face mask.
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    urbazon via Getty Images
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    Emergency financial assistance reduces risk of homelessness

    Households were 81% less likely to become homeless within six months when they received money through one California county’s program, a new study finds. 

    By Danielle McLean • July 31, 2023
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    Screenshot: Google Maps

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    Regulations, building layouts impede office conversion projects

    Even as Congress faces pressure to overhaul outdated permitting processes, builders, architects and property owners cite complex zoning laws as barriers to converting existing office space to residential and other uses.

    By Nish Amarnath • July 24, 2023
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    dszc via Getty Images
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    California clears path for safe conversion of underused commercial buildings

    The California Building Standards Commission’s vote to amend existing building code allows multiple compliance paths for adaptive reuse.

    By Nish Amarnath • July 24, 2023
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    Darwin Brandis via Getty Images
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    Cost concerns spur North Carolina’s move to delay vote on building code update

    The state’s Building Code Council has shelved a vote on a proposed overhaul of building energy efficiency rules as it waits for reports detailing the costs and benefits of implementing the changes. 

    By Nish Amarnath • July 24, 2023
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    Art Wager via Getty Images
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    Seattle downtown revitalization plan reimagines area post-pandemic

    The plan aims to make downtown safer and more welcoming, but critics say it comes at a cost for people living on the streets.

    By Joan Mooney • July 24, 2023
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    Mikey_Man via Getty Images
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    Rising insurance costs could force apartment sales, threaten new development

    When insurance increases kill affordable deals, they knock much-needed moderately priced housing out of the market.

    By Leslie Shaver • July 19, 2023
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    Dan Zukowski/Smart Cities Dive
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    House bill would slash funds for transit, Amtrak, equity programs

    The proposed fiscal 2024 federal transportation budget would cut two major grant programs and impose restrictions on how certain funds could be used.

    By • July 19, 2023
  • Downtown Los Angeles California skyline cityscape skyscrapers
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    dszc via Getty Images
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    Residential conversions continue to rise as office values decline

    Work-from-home trends and market conditions have made conversion projects more feasible.

    By Mary Salmonsen • July 18, 2023
  • A moving truck stands with its back open on a street next to brick buildings.
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    Liudmila Chernetska via Getty Images
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    The top 10 states residents want to move into (and out of)

    Florida stands out for its high amount of churn, as both the No. 2 state Americans want to move to and the top state current residents want to leave.

    By Mary Salmonsen • July 17, 2023