Posts by Brian McCabe — Contributor
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Commuters in the region continue to choose gridlock
Around 80% of commuters in the region still drive alone or carpool, compared to around 15% who ride public transit. But transit ridership is much higher in Greater Washington than in most US cities. Keep reading…
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What pre-pandemic job trends say about the region’s post-pandemic future
While the long-term economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are still uncertain, the sharp increase in remote work has raised some fundamental questions about the geography of jobs and the demand for both housing and commercial real estate. Keep reading…
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DC’s New Communities Initiative, explained
A look into the origins, goals, and limitations of an ambitious program to revitalize several DC communities. Keep reading…
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The Housing Production Trust Fund, explained
The Housing Production Trust Fund (HPTF) is a pot of money used to build affordable housing in DC. Since 2001, money from the fund has helped to produce or preserve nearly 10,000 units of affordable housing. Keep reading…
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The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, explained
The Hodge, a 90-unit housing development in Shaw, offers affordable apartments for seniors in the District. To create these apartments, developers of the Hodge used the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program to partially finance the project. This post explains how the LIHTC works. Keep reading…
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What it means for a household to be cost-burdened
When housing advocates talk about the affordability crisis, they often focus on one important statistic: the share of cost-burdened households in a city. A household is said to be cost-burdened when it pays more than 30 percent of its income toward housing expenses. As a more extreme measure, a household is said to be severely cost-burdened when it pay at least 50 percent of its income toward housing expenses. Keep reading…
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The region has built a lot of housing – but not enough, and not in the right places
Walk through downtown Washington, DC these days, and it looks like we’re in a construction boom. Not exactly. Our new report shows that, over the past 20 years, the region added almost twice as many people as housing units. As in many parts of the US, housing prices have been rising faster than income – a predictable outcome of housing demand outpacing supply. Keep reading…
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DC’s New Communities Initiative, explained
A look into the origins, goals, and limitations of an ambitious program to revitalize several DC communities. Keep reading…
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Housing cost burdens, explained
When housing advocates talk about the affordability crisis, they often focus on one important statistic: the share of cost-burdened households in a city. A household is said to be cost-burdened when it pays more than 30 percent of its income toward housing expenses. As a more extreme measure, a household is said to be severely cost-burdened when it pay at least 50 percent of its income toward housing expenses. Keep reading…
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The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, explained
The Hodge, a 90-unit housing development in Shaw, offers affordable apartments for seniors in the District. To create these apartments, developers of the Hodge used a the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program to partially finance the project. This post explains how the LIHTC works. Keep reading…