Housing

  • A person in a suit speaks in front of a seal for the state of California.
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    Justin Sullivan/Getty Images via Getty Images
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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 • Aug. 30, 2024
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    John Moore via Getty Images
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    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 • Aug. 27, 2024
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    Anna Moneymaker / Staff via Getty Images
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    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
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    Michael M. Santiago via Getty Images
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    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 • Aug. 26, 2024
  • The Colorado Capitol building.
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    4nadia via Getty Images
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    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
  • Rendering of modern train station with people on a plaza. Sign reads "Parkchester/Van Nest."
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    Retrieved from New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority on August 23, 2024
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    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 • Aug. 23, 2024
  • Window AC units in a large building from the outside.
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    Johan_Spinnell via Getty Images
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    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 • Aug. 22, 2024
  • Three people speak with each other in front of a large multifamily building.
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    Kent J. Edwards/Reuters

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    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 • Aug. 20, 2024
  • Aerial shot of skyscrapers and city buildings surrounded by water
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    Eloi_Omella via Getty Images
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    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
  • California state flag and state capitol building in Sacramento
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    DustyPixel via Getty Images
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    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
  • Aerial View of San Francisco Skyline at Sunrise, California, USA
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    heyengel via Getty Images
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    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
  • Construction workers help build a mixed-use apartment complex which will hold over 700 units of apartment housing and 95,000 square feet of commercial space on January 25, 2024 in Los Angeles
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    Mario Tama/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    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 • Aug. 14, 2024
  • A person in a wheelchair sits next to large bags and a folding chair and table inside.
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    Scott Olson/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    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 • Aug. 9, 2024
  • A person in a leather jacket, jeans and baseball cap pushes a cart with a tarp over it while walking across a crosswalk. Another person walks in the opposite direction on the crosswalk. Behind them is a bus and street signs.
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    Justin Sullivan/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    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 • Aug. 6, 2024
  • A rendering of a streetscape with a tall white building on the left.
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    FCA Architects, courtesy cityofsacramento.gov

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    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
  • Two people wearing yellow wide-brimmed hats and orange work gloves hold a solar panel leaning on a home's roof.
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    Mario Tama/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    $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 • Aug. 1, 2024
  • Tall buildings in a dense urban downtown against a blue sky.
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    Justin Sullivan/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    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 • July 30, 2024
  • Several rats on the ground next to full black trash bags.
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    Chanawat Phadwichit via Getty Images
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    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 • July 18, 2024
  • An elevated shot of a street lined with high-rise buildings. One person walks across a crosswalk.
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    John Moore/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    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 • July 15, 2024
  • Eviction notice on door of house with brass door knob.
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    Bill Oxford via Getty Images
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    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
  • A person ina black puffy jacket, black beanie and backpack walks along a street with residential brick buildings and parked cars.
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    Anna Kapustina via Getty Images
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    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
  • A person in a yellow vest loads items into the pack of a truck parked below a raised freeway. A group of shopping carts sit on the grass nearby.
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    Permission granted by Downtown Dallas, Inc.
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    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 • July 2, 2024
  • Aerial shot of wooden beams put together in the early stages of housing construction.
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    Mario Tama/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    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 • June 28, 2024
  • People hold signs that read "Housing not handcuffs" in front of a courthouse.
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    Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    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 • Updated June 28, 2024
  • People in coats and masks stand in line against a building behind a metal fence. Many have large backpacks and bags.
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    Spencer Platt/Getty Images via Getty Images
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    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 • June 27, 2024