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New Community Responses Bring Hope to the Homeless in Washington, D.C., But They Still Need More Permanent Housing

Joseph Young Robert Warren

August 30, 2020 |

Law at the Margins |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Washington, District of Columbia

Washington D.C. has decreased the number of people experiencing homelessness through the implementation of its permanent supportive housing programs. The 'housing first' initiatives prioritize providing permanent housing to those experiencing homelessness and then connecting those residents to all the services they need to maintain that housing. There are no requirements of sobriety, employment, or medication to receive the permanent housing. The local government adopted the housing first approach in 2008 and has seen a decline in homelessness.

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Homeownership for Black families in Milwaukee is worse now than 50 years ago. Could a regional approach to affordable housing help?

James E. Causey

August 07, 2020 |

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Milwaukee, Minnesota

The Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity provides a comprehensive approach to providing affordable housing in seven counties across Minneapolis and St.Paul. The large area it serves allows families to move into either urban or suburban neighborhoods near schools of their choosing and with greater flexibility to take public transportation, jobs, and extracurricular activities into consideration. Milwaukee's uncoordinated efforts to improve housing for low-income families could benefit from a similar approach.

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Behind the Accidentally Resilient Design of Athens Apartments

Feargus O'Sullivan

July 15, 2020 |

Bloomberg |

Text |

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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Why Singapore Has One of the Highest Home Ownership Rates

Adam Majendie

July 08, 2020 |

Bloomberg |

Text |

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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Co-Op City Succeeds With Census While Much of NYC Struggles. What's Its Secret?

Gabriel Sandoval

May 19, 2020 |

The City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

In New York City, where the average census response rate is only 49 percent, the city's largest co-operative housing complex achieved over a 70 percent response rate, well above the 40 percent rate typical in the co-op's neighborhood of the Bronx. Co-op City, as it is known, has a strong sense of community and promoted the census through its internal TV station, robo-calls, and community newspaper.

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Chinatown Housing Group Feeds Vulnerable SRO Tenants – by Reviving Legacy Restaurants

Cecilia Lei

May 06, 2020 |

KQED |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

The Chinatown Community Development Center (CCDC), a San Francisco nonprofit, is helping those living in single-room occupancy (SRO) or public housing access food safely during the COVID-19 pandemic. The CCDC has partnered with Self-Help for the Elderly and local restaurants to help deliver cooked meals and create pick-up stations for residents. So far, they’re helping deliver over 2,000 meals each day.

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Building Trust

Megan Kimble

April 07, 2020 |

Texas Observer |

Multi-Media |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Houston, Texas

The Houston Community Land Trust (CLT) is a nonprofit that sells affordable homes in Houston to help resist gentrification. They keep it affordable by only selling the houses on top of the land and not the land itself. Their goal to build or convert 1,100 homes into the trust over five years, which essentially allows prospective homeowners to turn their land over to the community so that everyone benefits from the purchase. They are already underway on this goal, and this article features many voices of residents who personally benefitted from the CLT.

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Housing rents in big cities: What happens if we regulate them?

Pablo Jiménez Arandia

March 23, 2020 |

Global Government Forum |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom

Rising rents are being addressed through a variety of interventions in cities around the world. While rent control has worked in some cities, it has been a lesson of what does not work for others. Policies to keep rent affordable have included negotiations between tenants and landlords, limiting price increases, and even freezing rents. The effects - both long and short term - of these measures have all depended on the fluctuating variables in each city.

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As Seattle Seeks to Tax Amazon (Again), What Can It Learn From California?

Gregory Scruggs

January 24, 2020 |

Next City |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

In 2018, a per-employee tax levied on Amazon and other Seattle businesses making over $20 million a year was struck down by council members with unfavorable polling. In 2020, that same referendum is being brought back to life with renewed support. This article compares Seattle's past failures to San Francisco's current success in implementing a tax inspired by Seattle's. The processes differ in many areas, and this article considers what would happen if Seattle now followed someone else's lead.

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Tenants Organize to Keep Building Affordable Through Nonprofit Purchase

Laura Wenus

December 20, 2019 |

San Francisco Public Press |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

Affordable housing in San Francisco is becoming more and more unattainable. When the landlord tried to change its status to not be rent-controlled to not, a group of residents at said building banded together with a nonprofit to preserve the building. A nonprofit, the Mission Economic Development Agency, bought the property from the landlord so that its residents could maintain their rent in a very expensive city. Organizations like MEDA are key to helping the city and its residents transition over time to ownership.

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