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Want More Housing? Ending Single-Family Zoning Won't Do It.

Emily Hamilton

July 29, 2020 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Houston, Texas

Abolishing single-family zoning rules as an affordable-housing solution has failed in places such as Minneapolis and Oregon because their narrowly drawn reforms left other obstacles in place. Houston serves as an example of effective policies that promote "missing middle" housing – denser developments than detached houses – because it combined its lack of single-family zoning with a reduction in minimum lots sizes. The result is far more affordable housing than in other booming job markets. Lot-size restrictions are among several other rules that can frustrate the desire for more housing.

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How Lightfoot and housing activists reached an uneasy détente in the battle for Woodlawn's future

Alex Nitkin

July 22, 2020 |

The TRiiBE |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

After tense negotiations and protests, the Coalition for a CBA (Community Benefits Agreement) and the mayor of Chicago agreed to an ordinance guaranteeing a percentage of affordable housing for tenants making below 50% of median income. The coalition expects gentrification to accelerate due to the nearby $500 million Obama Presidential Center, making housing unaffordable for current residents. In addition to negotiations, the coalition organized a blockade of the mayor’s office and set up a “tent city” to emphasize their message. Not all residents want the ordinance and neither side got everything they want.

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Behind the Accidentally Resilient Design of Athens Apartments

Feargus O'Sullivan

July 15, 2020 |

Bloomberg |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Greece, Athens

Athens's distinctive apartment buildings, known as polikatoikia, have unintentionally solved problems most cities grapple with. The housing complexes have given rise to a city that has socio-economic integration, decent living conditions, and well-lit apartments with ample outdoor space for fresh air. The varying heights of the buildings have allowed the city to avoid the austerity common for affordable housing projects and efforts to control costs resulted in a modernist design that gives Athens a unique roofscape. Additionally, the outdoor spaces foster a warm and welcoming sense of community.

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The Perks of Roommates With a 50-Year Age Difference

Daniel J McGraw

July 10, 2020 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States

Intergenerational home sharing is a mutually beneficial option for seniors and young people. There are about 60 programs, run by cities, nonprofits, and platforms in the style of Airbnb, that connect seniors and young people for cohabitation. Seniors benefit by being able to stay in their homes, collect income, and have someone to help with social isolation and household chores. Young people benefit from access to affordable housing options in high-cost areas and engaging in rich relationship building. Home sharing services are facing legal challenges and the Covid-19 pandemic made cohabiting more risky.

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Renters are rising up to unionise and take on dodgy landlords

Andrew Kersley

July 09, 2020 |

Wired |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom

Renters' unions in the United Kingdom have provided more aide recently because the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated problems facing renters. The Association of Community Organisations for Reform Now is one of the largest renters’ unions in the UK and has been helping members fight illegal evictions and stop landlords from breaking lockdown rules. The group fears a “glut of evictions” when the government lifts restrictions. There are many renters’ unions in the UK, which might dilute their effectiveness, and the combined membership in the thousands is just a small fraction of Britain’s 4.5 million renters.

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Why Singapore Has One of the Highest Home Ownership Rates

Adam Majendie

July 08, 2020 |

Bloomberg |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Singapore

Affordable housing in Singapore has resulted in one of the highest rates of home ownership in the world. In 1964 the government embraced a "Home Ownership for the People Scheme" in which it gave lower and middle-income citizens access to affordable home ownership. Subsidized apartments were sold at low prices and were not to be sold for at least five years after which the real estate value had risen significantly. Apartments sold in 2009, for example, gained almost half a million dollars in value by 2020. New subsidized apartments are under construction and 16,000 have already been sold in the past year.

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This New York Program Is Getting Ahead of Homelessness

Agostino Petroni

July 02, 2020 |

Yes! Magazine |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

A program that aims to help New Yorkers who are at risk of losing their homes has proven effective in keeping people housed. Studies have shown that it is difficult to transition out of homelessness so its goal is to prevent it entirely. The group operates in all five boroughs of NYC and has helped almost 30,000 people on its budget of $53 million. The program provides both cash and services: money for rent, utilities, legal aid to fight evictions and settle landlord disputes, in addition to job training.

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The housing policy that's turning back gentrification

Nick Bowlin

June 30, 2020 |

High Country News |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

A "right-to-purchase" policy has enabled nonprofits to purchase residential buildings in gentrified neighborhoods in order to prevent the displacement of those relying on rent-controlled housing. Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA) is a Bay Area nonprofit leading the cause to counter gentrification and prevent developers from purchasing residential buildings that house low and moderate-income households. MEDA has purchased and managed 32 buildings and is one of fewer than 10 nonprofits in the area that exercise the "right-to-purchase" policy.

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For Survivors of Violence and Their Kids, a Push to Prioritize Housing

Claudia Boyd-Barrett

June 25, 2020 |

California Health Report |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, California

Since 2016, California's Domestic Violence Housing First program has grown to 65 organizations that give victims the financial help they need to stay housed after leaving an abusive spouse. Financial and housing instability are major reasons victims stay with their abusers, and domestic violence is a leading cause of homelessness. The program spends more than $20 million per year, or an average of $3,000 per victim, to help them and their children with rent, moving costs, utilities, and other needs. Typical domestic violence shelters usually lack the resources to help victims move to permanent housing.

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To reach vulnerable populations, Berkeley goes on the road to offer COVID-19 testing

Frances Dinkelspiel

June 25, 2020 |

Berkeleyside |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Berkeley, California

City officials in Berkeley have recently implemented a mobile testing site for Covid-19 to better reach vulnerable populations throughout the region. Although the physical testing site will remain as the central point for testing, the mobile option has helped test those in senior homes and nursing facilities, as well as their caretakers.

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