Housing
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California tackles housing shortage, homelessness with 2 new laws
“The homelessness crisis demands immediate and innovative action, not the status quo,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has recently cracked down on encampments of people experiencing homelessness.
By Ysabelle Kempe • Aug. 30, 2024 -
Cities assert tenants’ right to cooling in a warming world
Grappling with fatal heat waves, local governments are passing laws that make landlords provide working air conditioning. Financial and other challenges remain, however.
By Ysabelle Kempe • Aug. 27, 2024 -
DOJ sues software firm RealPage over algorithm that allegedly drives up rents
The attorneys general of several states joined the suit, which accuses the company of an “unlawful scheme to decrease competition among landlords.”
By Leslie Shaver • Aug. 26, 2024 -
Q&A
Will New York City make landlords provide air conditioning? Its climate chief is optimistic.
Coordinating any such mandate with the city's building decarbonization law requirements could reduce the burden it might create for building owners, Rohit Aggarwala explained.
By Ysabelle Kempe • Aug. 26, 2024 -
Colorado sees a wave of landlord-tenant rules
Local governments recently gained a right of first refusal on affordable housing sales, as well as a first offer on market-rate housing. Other new laws focus on for-cause evictions and rent stabilization after natural disasters.
By Mary Salmonsen • Aug. 23, 2024 -
Retrieved from New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority on August 23, 2024
NYC rezoning allows transit-oriented development around four new train stations in the Bronx
The New York City Council plan includes 7,000 new housing units around the stations in the East Bronx, currently considered a transit desert.
By Dan Zukowski • Aug. 23, 2024 -
Deep Dive
An air conditioning law, the first in its region, changed tenants’ rights in this Maryland county
Montgomery County began requiring landlords to provide AC in 2020 amid climate concerns and renter complaints. Despite a shaky start, officials say things are going smoothly now.
By Ysabelle Kempe • Aug. 22, 2024 -
Deep Dive
Should tenants have a right to cooling? More cities say yes amid record heat.
As rental cooling standards pop up around the country, experts warn that they aren’t a perfect solution to the rising danger of scorching temperatures.
By Ysabelle Kempe • Aug. 20, 2024 -
The cities expecting the most newly constructed apartments this year
Although apartment construction is expected to break records in 2024, the U.S. is still behind on the number of new units some say are needed by 2035 to mitigate affordability issues.
By Mary Salmonsen • Aug. 19, 2024 -
23 mayors oppose California’s rent control ballot measure
Proposition 33 would repeal the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, allowing local governments to set rent control without restrictions.
By Mary Salmonsen • Aug. 16, 2024 -
San Francisco passes ban on revenue management software in rental housing
The ordinance, which has not yet been enacted, asserts that the software allows residential landlords to indirectly coordinate with one another, raising rents, lowering occupancy rates and increasing evictions.
By Mary Salmonsen • Aug. 14, 2024 -
HUD’s latest affordable housing push is $100M for communities
State and local governments can apply for grants to address high development costs, outdated land-use policies, climate change risks and other barriers, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced.
By Ysabelle Kempe • Aug. 14, 2024 -
Homeless veterans get supportive housing leg-up with HUD policy change
Expanded eligibility and a $20 million investment in local agencies will get more veterans into housing, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced.
By Ysabelle Kempe • Aug. 9, 2024 -
Relocation first is San Francisco’s new homelessness strategy
With a report that shows 40% of the city's homeless population comes from elsewhere, San Francisco can't "solve the housing and behavioral health needs of people across our country," Mayor London Breed said.
By Ysabelle Kempe • Aug. 6, 2024 -
2,500 homes slated for former basketball arena site in Sacramento, California
The 183-acre master-planned community is one of several new multifamily projects underway on or near sports arenas across the U.S.
By Mary Salmonsen • Aug. 1, 2024 -
$36M for low-income housing energy efficiency available from US DOE grants
Local governments and other entities can get up to $2 million each for weatherization and workforce training efforts.
By Ysabelle Kempe • Aug. 1, 2024 -
More housing, fewer offices: San Francisco mayor proposes zoning change
Certain projects currently must include a minimum amount of office space. The city’s proposed legislation would change that.
By Ysabelle Kempe • July 30, 2024 -
Boston has a new anti-rat plan. Here are 3 takeaways.
“We’re working to make Boston a home for everyone. Except for rats," Mayor Michelle Wu said as the city released a report by a leading urban rat researcher.
By Ysabelle Kempe • July 18, 2024 -
Seattle encourages office-to-residential conversions with new law
The city's mayor said Seattle needs to take advantage of every tool available to fend off a housing shortage as downtown buildings sit empty.
By Ysabelle Kempe • July 15, 2024 -
Opinion
The White House just took steps to combat housing discrimination. States and local governments should follow.
As the country’s eviction epidemic grows, lawmakers must take aim at tenant screening practices locking millions out of affordable housing.
By Jasmine Rangel • July 9, 2024 -
Boston was the first major city to pair fair housing with zoning. How’s it going?
Community input was key to the policy’s passage but should be a larger part of the review process it created, advocates say.
By Kalena Thomhave • July 8, 2024 -
Homelessness in Dallas area is down after response transformation
As service providers try a new approach to closing encampments, unsheltered homelessness has dropped 24% in Texas' Dallas and Collin counties since 2021.
By Ysabelle Kempe • July 2, 2024 -
Cities, states to knock down affordable housing barriers with $85M from HUD
Barriers to affordable housing development include expensive land and insufficient infrastructure, Vice President Kamala Harris said on a Wednesday teleconference.
By Ysabelle Kempe • June 28, 2024 -
US Supreme Court rules Oregon city’s homelessness laws not ‘cruel and unusual’
The decision elicited swift reactions from stakeholders across the country, including officials in the city where the case began: Grants Pass, Oregon.
By Ysabelle Kempe • Updated June 28, 2024 -
What US mayors want from the next president, Congress
The creation of a first-ever city mental health block grant, affordable housing investments and gun safety legislation are among the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ requests.
By Ysabelle Kempe • June 27, 2024