Posts tagged Housing Shortage
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Did Silver Spring build enough housing to stay affordable? Sort of.
In 2013, I looked at rents in Silver Spring to see if building tons of new homes could help keep our community affordable. Five years and about 1,700 new apartments later, did it work? Sort of. Keep reading…
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For housing affordability, warehouse the rich
Local residents might complain about cranes and “luxury” developments, but the truth is that cities with the strongest economies have not allowed construction of enough housing units to meet growing demand. This has caused what Rick Jacobus at Shelterforce calls “the new planning dilemma: where to put the rich?” Keep reading…
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National links: Some places view sea level rise as an opportunity to innovate
Virginia sees climate change as an opportunity to become the “Silicon Valley of sea level rise.” Google Maps' futuristic walking directions are about to make getting around a lot easier. “Vertical villages” contain everything you need—but what about community? Keep reading…
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Now more than ever, DC must comply with fair housing rules
Housing in DC is as unfair as it is expensive. There’s a clear discrepancy between the parts of the city with the strongest schools, plentiful amenities like grocery stores and health services, and frequent and reliable transit, and where the most housing—and the most affordable housing—is and is built. Keep reading…
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Events: “Generation Priced Out” book talk, rail happy hour, and more
Concerned about the future of urban America? Randy Shaw’s Generation Priced Out is a call to action on one of the most talked-about issues of our time: how skyrocketing rents and home values are pricing low- and middle-income people out of urban America. Keep reading…
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This Brightwood congregation built affordable housing for their community
The Emory Fellowship, a United Methodist Congregation in Ward 4, has been holding their Sunday worship services in a nearby school for more than two years. It was a hardship they knowingly undertook when they decided to build affordable housing for the surrounding community. Keep reading…
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Virginia just passed a law that removes a barrier to building more housing
While the public attention has been focused on his high-profile blackface scandal, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam quietly signed an important housing law on February 21. SB1373 will have a direct impact all over Virginia on the cost and availability of a house, the average person's biggest and most important purchase. Keep reading…
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What housing does the District’s workforce need?
Increasingly, DC's workforce is comprised of either high-income or low-income jobs, with few middle-income jobs available. Among DC’s most common occupations, 40% are low wage jobs that do not pay enough to cover DC’s high housing prices. Keep reading…
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DC’s affordable housing fund is falling further behind
Washington, DC’s Housing Production Trust Fund (HPTF) does not have enough funding to keep up with rising costs, according to a new report from the DC Fiscal Policy Institute. The report states that higher construction costs mean that the HPTF has lost about a third of its purchasing power since 2015. Keep reading…
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Long-term visions, immediate needs: What we learned at the GGWash forum with Andrew Trueblood
As the District grows and changes, its leaders need to balance the needs of current residents with the needs of residents in the future. The Office of Planning is “the only agency in the DC government really charged with thinking about the long term,” said Andrew Trueblood, the Office of Planning's acting director, when he introduced himself at the GGWash Forum Tuesday night. Keep reading…