http://www.rooflines.org/ Blogging beyond bricks and mortar en Copyright 2009 2009-11-19T16:14:31+00:00 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Rooflines/~3/nVkSV906kNw/ http://www.rooflines.org/1745/homeowner_meet_your_lender/#When:15:14:31Z The reconciliation that takes place Thursday mornings at Philadelphia City Hall is not some attempt to further prove that Philadelphia is the City of Brotherly Love, it’s part of a citywide program that allows homeowners in danger of defaulting on their mortgages to meet with their lender in an attempt to work things out. The one thing we always have to ask, however, is “Is it enough?” The answer typically results in a resounding “It never is.” The New York Times reported this week on another program mirroring similar efforts around the country where the courts arrange a conciliation hearing after homeowners received legal default notices from their mortgage lenders. Foreclosure & Financial Crisis 2009-11-19T15:14:31+00:00 http://www.rooflines.org/1745/homeowner_meet_your_lender/#When:15:14:31Z http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Rooflines/~3/FX2hQjdN-DU/ http://www.rooflines.org/1742/stim_tracking_lets_get_this_part_right/#When:15:34:00Z You’ve probably seen the reports that highlight some pretty ridiculous inaccuracies on the federal government’s very own virtual stim-tracking tool, Recovery.gov, including listing 440 non-existent Congressional districts, and other geographical errors in highlighting the successes of the $787 billion stimulus. While the administration credited human error resulting from unintentional faulty reporting from stimulus recipients, and while it says the errors in crediting proper districts do not reduce the tally of jobs created, the errors nonetheless elicited a good ol’ lambasting from David Obey, the chairman of the House appropriations committee—and rightfully so. With the stimulus so politically touchy, any distraction like this, even if it’s inconsequential in the proverbial grand scheme, can prove to be negatively consequential in the long-term. Tracking the stimulus: this needs to be done right. ## Editor’s Note: Vice President Biden appeared on The Daily Show the day the Recovery.gov story broke and addressed the miscalculations, saying they would be corrected. Policies 2009-11-17T15:34:00+00:00 http://www.rooflines.org/1742/stim_tracking_lets_get_this_part_right/#When:15:34:00Z http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Rooflines/~3/-SySKTKfCCQ/ http://www.rooflines.org/1741/an_antiforeclosure_plan_that_works/#When:05:25:00Z Dean Baker, co-director for the Washington, DC-based Center for Economic and Policy Research will present his case in the Winter 2009 issue of Shelterforce for a homeowner’s right to rent in an effort to reduce the impact of the ongoing foreclosure crisis, as well as providing a foreclosure alternative for homeowners, giving them the option to remain in their home for a substantial period of time as renters: If a family does not expect to be able to stay in a home for at least five years, then they are likely to lose by being owners rather than renters. Those who do not have stable family or employment situations will typically be much better off renting than owning. It was irresponsible that many people in policy positions urged homeownership on families who did not expect to stay in their homes for a substantial period of time. It was especially irresponsible that they urged homeownership for these families in a context where house prices were clearly out of line with long-term trends. The bubble made it virtually certain that new homebuyers would lose money on their houses. Baker has long argued for a rental option for homeowners near default, and some of that philosophy was incoportated into Fannie Mae’s Deed for Lease program announced earlier this month. The program allows for homeowners with Fannie Mae mortgages facing foreclosure the opportunity to rent their home at market rate for up to a year. While the move is a notable first step, Baker, and most recently the editorial page of The New York Times have argued for a longer-term approach: To help unemployed people who cannot qualify for loan modifications, Congress and the administration should expand programs to provide rental assistance, including help for foreclosed homeowners to rent their homes at a market rate. That would at least help prevent the blight that comes with abandoned housing. The Times piece points to other elements of the Obama administration’s foreclosure strategies, including the move to provide subsidies to lenders to modify loans nearing default, calling it “flawed from the start” with no “teeth to compel lenders to participate.” Moreoever, it states that while the aim of reducing monthly payments is admirable for borrowers whose loans had skyrocketing interest rates, the efficacy wears a bit thin with unemployment over 10 percent with more and more homeowners simply not able to make a mortgage payment, never mind a reduced payment. Foreclosure & Financial Crisis 2009-11-17T05:25:00+00:00 http://www.rooflines.org/1741/an_antiforeclosure_plan_that_works/#When:05:25:00Z http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Rooflines/~3/SXHpos1NXeY/ http://www.rooflines.org/1740/acorn_turns_up_the_volume/#When:05:02:00Z In September, when Congress voted to ban federal funds for ACORN, it was clear, if it hadn’t been already, that the organization had emerged as a political liability. ACORN had sustained right-wing attacks for years, but at this point, even its more progressive allies wouldn’t give the organization the time of day. But now, ACORN is challenging that Congressional ban in federal aid in the courts, saying it was unfairly targeted—singled out—by the resolution, with Congress taking punitive action “without an investigation.” The cut in federal aid, while originally portrayed by ACORN as a minor hit to the organization, has reportedly resulted in layoffs within the organization, and cuts in programming, including counseling for homeowners facing foreclosure or struggling to pay bills. Exacerbating the loss of federal funding is the increasing number of long-time supporters distancing themselves from the organization. At the time of ACORN’s loss of federal funds, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) said in a statement that the move to cut ACORN funding, in the form of an amendment to a bill on college lending, was a “blatant violation of the Constitutions prohibition against Bills of Attainder—referring to legislation crafted for punitive purposes: “Congress must not be in the business of punishing individual organizations or people without trial, and that’s what this Amendment does. Whatever one may think of an organization, the Constitution’s clear ban on Bills of Attainder is there for the protection of all of our liberties.” The lawsuit names as defendants Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, and Peter Orszag, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, according to The New York Times. Organizing 2009-11-13T05:02:00+00:00 http://www.rooflines.org/1740/acorn_turns_up_the_volume/#When:05:02:00Z http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Rooflines/~3/FJTQFRLol-k/ http://www.rooflines.org/1737/housing_first_offers_hope_for_homeless_veterans_others/#When:14:24:00Z On this Veterans Day, when we remember those who have served, it is troubling to note that, although veterans make up around 9 percent of our population, they comprise 23 percent of our homeless population and fully a third of our homeless men. In a country that perpetually holds itself up as the best, most compassionate in the world, it is a disgrace that we do so little for this troubled part of our society. Seventy-six percent of our homeless veterans experience mental illness or alcohol/drug abuse problems, according to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans. Homeless veterans tend to be whiter and older than homeless non-veterans, with 46 percent of them white males (compared to 34 percent of white males among non-veteran homeless), and 46 percent also older than age 45 (the number is 20 percent among non-veterans). Nearly half served during the Vietnam War years. The reasons are complex, says the coalition’s Web site: “In addition to the complex problems associated with homelessness – extreme shortage of affordable housing, livable income, and access to health care – a large number of displaced and at-risk veterans live with lingering effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and substance abuse, compounded by a lack of family and social support networks. Military occupations and training are not always transferable to the civilian workforce, placing some veterans at a disadvantage when competing for employment . . . While most homeless people are single, unaffiliated men… most housing money in existing federal homelessness programs is devoted to helping homeless families or homeless women with dependant children.” Seattle’s “Housing Frist” program is among the nation’s foremost innovators in seeking better ways to address the problems of its homeless population. It sounds so simple, but providing housing has in itself been found to bring major results in decreasing medical and social problems for the homeless while also decreasing public costs. What makes this most basic of all gestures innovative is that in Seattle it is being provided without preconditions, unlike other programs that, in effect, require homeless to first become clean, well and sober as a prerequisite to receiving housing. Seattle’s Downtown Emergency Services Corporation (DESC) believes that providing housing unconditionally can reduce those problems more effectively and humanely than can providing it only, in effect, as a reward for shaping up. The evidence is beginning to support them. In a study published earlier this year in the Journal of the American Medical Association , researchers at the University of Washington found that Housing First was saving public expenses and reducing drinking among homeless alcoholics. Moreover, other cities are following suit. For more, go here. Housing 2009-11-11T14:24:00+00:00 http://www.rooflines.org/1737/housing_first_offers_hope_for_homeless_veterans_others/#When:14:24:00Z http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Rooflines/~3/x1tyikxO7Mg/ http://www.rooflines.org/1734/the_right_to_rent/#When:04:31:00Z Fannie Mae this week announced its Deed for Lease Program that effectively allows qualifying homeowners with Fannie Mae mortgages facing foreclosure the opportunity to rent their home at market rate for up to a year. The move was the latest in a host of federal maneuvers to ward off the adverse effects of foreclosures, with this one intended to reduce the number of actual foreclosed properties from hitting an already foreclosure-flooded housing market, keeping people in their homes, and keeping properties in foreclosure-heavy neighborhoods from becoming vacant. In short, it’s a good idea long overdue. But is it enough? According to the Fannie announcement, the program “is designed for borrowers who do not qualify for or have not been able to sustain other loan-workout solutions, such as a modification. Under Deed for Lease, borrowers transfer their property to the lender by completing a deed in lieu of foreclosure, and then lease back the house at a market rate.” The program stipulates that the near-foreclosed property is the owner’s primary residents, and that borrowers or tenants looking to lease prove that the new market rental rate is no more than 31 percent of their gross income. After the 12-month period, leases can be extended on a month-to-month basis, according to Fannie Mae. Foreclosure & Financial Crisis 2009-11-06T04:31:00+00:00 http://www.rooflines.org/1734/the_right_to_rent/#When:04:31:00Z http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Rooflines/~3/HEu4A-ZuwwE/ http://www.rooflines.org/1733/enviros_lacking_in_indianapolis_redevelopment_push/#When:18:23:00Z Last week I had the honor of being one of seven smart growth types recruited by the American Institute of Architects to work with the city of Indianapolis and community residents on the model revitalization of a distressed urban neighborhood. Really a composite of two neighborhoods divided by an old rail corridor, the city’s Smart Growth Renewal District has experienced serious depopulation and industrial contamination (some 30 to 70 brownfields, depending on which report you read) over the past several decades. But it also has assets: a resilient population with a lot of heart, beginning pockets of revitalization here and there, and a good location not far from downtown. That location could get even better if a light rail line under consideration to run alongside a popular recreational trail in the old corridor is approved, bringing one or more stops to the district. But there is a long way to go, and the community appears to be justified in some skepticism given past planning exercises that have come and gone with little result. Sustainability 2009-11-02T18:23:00+00:00 http://www.rooflines.org/1733/enviros_lacking_in_indianapolis_redevelopment_push/#When:18:23:00Z http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Rooflines/~3/WE-d0UuVoVo/ http://www.rooflines.org/1732/housing_code_for_social_economic_and_racial_integration/#When:14:06:00Z Last week, the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey celebrated its 20th anniversary in New Brunswick, New Jersey’s humble urban area in the center of the the state. The mood was celebratory, at times raucous, at times reflective, but most important was the dominant tone of work unfinished. In places like New Jersey, and throughout the country, the work to promote social equity is never complete, and while HCDNNJ, or “The Network,” as it’s more commonly known, celebrates entering its third decade, no one is ever satisfied, nor should they be. “This is a great time, but we still have challenges,” said Diane Johnson, field office director at the Newark HUD. “And it’s not only about affordability and community, but also to do our job well. That said, while optimism was typically guarded, Johnson was definitive when she predicted that “under this administration, we will win the victory.” Affordable Housing 2009-11-02T14:06:00+00:00 http://www.rooflines.org/1732/housing_code_for_social_economic_and_racial_integration/#When:14:06:00Z http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Rooflines/~3/Ai80Lb4yeS4/ http://www.rooflines.org/1730/habitat_gets_into_marin/#When:13:34:01Z Just three years ago, Marin county residents were busy raising money for a legal fight to stop Habitat for Humanity from building four homes affordable to families making under $56,000/year, saying it would “blight” their exclusive neighborhood of million dollar plus houses. (The project is still being debated.) But now they are being welcomed with open arms in another part of the county as they renovate one of the foreclosed homes that even Marin has acquired a passel of. Habitat bought the house, which needs extensive rehab, for $215,000it doesn’t sound affordable exactly to those of us in more affordable parts of the country, but in a county where the median home price is $800,000, I guess it qualifies. I do wonder with a gap that big how affordable property taxes will be/remain for the incoming family. I suppose this is what they call a silver liningnot only for Habitat overcoming NIMBY attitudes, but for those of us concerned about vacant problem property. It’s been good to see Habitat moving into more rehab through their Neighborhood Revitalization Program instead of just new construction. (Photo IJ/Frankie Frost.) Foreclosure & Financial Crisis 2009-10-28T13:34:01+00:00 http://www.rooflines.org/1730/habitat_gets_into_marin/#When:13:34:01Z http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Rooflines/~3/yLfDZX0LXUI/ http://www.rooflines.org/1728/its_bankers_versus_realtors_in_arizona_what_about_communities/#When:14:26:01Z In Arizona, the ever-shifting attempt to assign or avoid the pain of the foreclosure crisis has gone to court. Arizona’s laws had previously said that lenders had no recourse if a homeowner walked away from an underwater residential mortgagethey got the collateral and ate the difference. In commercial properties, however, they were allowed to sue for the difference. As the number of underwater mortgages kept rising, the bankers fought for and won legislation that would give some exceptions to this “no recourse” provision: It wouldn’t apply to unfinished construction, would only apply to one- and two-family homes, and would only apply after six months of owner-occupancy. In other words, they were trying to separate the homeowners from the speculators. This provision was repealed in a special budget session, at the behest of the real estate industry, and the bankers are suing to overturn the repeal on procedural grounds. The real estate industry’s arguments seem kind of weak to me (really? You want to include second homes in the no recourse provision?). On the other hand, why do the lenders get recourse at all? Foreclosure & Financial Crisis 2009-10-23T14:26:01+00:00 http://www.rooflines.org/1728/its_bankers_versus_realtors_in_arizona_what_about_communities/#When:14:26:01Z http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Rooflines/~3/kqygM4NwVXM/ http://www.rooflines.org/1723/is_it_faster_stimulus_spend_spend_or_think_before_you_buy/#When:13:10:01Z James Oberstar, the Democrat from Minnesota who chairs the House Transportation Committee, has been sending out cranky letters to governors around the country who haven’t been spending their economic stimulus money fast enough on highway projects. Massachusetts and Virginia, which ranked 48th and 51st among the states, got letters last month. These states had done a poor job thus far to meet the purpose of the $787 billion stimulus package, which was to “create and sustain family-wage jobs,” he wrote. Gov. Deval Patrick wrote back, arguing that Massachusetts was identifying projects that could have a short-term stimulus effect as well as a long-term economic impact. Virginia. Gov. Tim Kaine took a different approach, noting that Virginia didnt have a wish list of shovel-ready projects that the stimulus would make actionable. New projects had to be identified through a public comment period, he said. Another state at the bottom of Oberstars list, Florida, reminded the Congressman that the money had to be funneled through counties and cities, all of which have their own regulations to comply with before a project can go forward. Transportation 2009-10-20T13:10:01+00:00 http://www.rooflines.org/1723/is_it_faster_stimulus_spend_spend_or_think_before_you_buy/#When:13:10:01Z http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Rooflines/~3/Bwt_0Qbq8fY/ http://www.rooflines.org/1726/another_tired_argument_against_acorn/#When:12:11:00Z It’s not news in the most literal sense (you know, revelatory, fresh, etc.), but AP reports this week that conservatives are, once again, tacking even further into misguided waters, attacking CRA, blaming the victim for the housing crisis, and, of course, ACORN. “Should we repeal CRA? Absolutely,” said Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, a member of the House Financial Services Committee. “Do we have the votes for it today? I seriously doubt that.” Could it be there’s more than one reason you don’t have the votes to repeal CRA? Just a thought. At this point, I’m surprised we’re not seeing ACORN blamed for wild fires in California, the Giants’ terrible loss to the Saints, or for tomato blight, but no matter: we have to continue flagging comments like these, and that the record is straightened every step of the way. Foreclosure & Financial Crisis 2009-10-20T12:11:00+00:00 http://www.rooflines.org/1726/another_tired_argument_against_acorn/#When:12:11:00Z http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Rooflines/~3/JOkA-SaVNCI/ http://www.rooflines.org/1725/what_makes_people_love_a_city/#When:14:34:01Z The Knight Foundation, sponsor of Soul of the Community, a three-year study that asks people in 26 communities about their perceptions of their city when it comes to things like crime, schools, beauty, nightlife, and roads, has released some interesting data from its first two years of surveys providing potentially invaluable information for CDCs and others working toward revitalizing neighborhoods and reversing out-migration. Residents were also asked how attached they are to their city (Are they satisfied there? Would they recommend it to a friend?), as well as calculating which factors are the best at predicting an attachment to “a place.” The top three factors so far might be a little unexpected: “Openess,” “Social Offerings,” and “Aesthetics.” I think this is worth paying attention to, inasmuch as it reinforces that cultural work, open space (parks come under asthetics), and good design should never be shortchanged, or even necessarily made to wait in line until other things have been fixed. Communities 2009-10-19T14:34:01+00:00 http://www.rooflines.org/1725/what_makes_people_love_a_city/#When:14:34:01Z http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Rooflines/~3/7RCKSkKLl5Y/ http://www.rooflines.org/1721/foreclosure_mitigation_plans_need_work_and_need_work_now/#When:19:07:00Z The Congressional Oversight Panel assembled a year ago when TARP was enacted in order to review the regulatory system and financial markets offered a sobering analysis last week on the state of the administration’s efforts to stem foreclosures. In short: Make policy that moves faster than the crisis. Specifically, the report gives an updated analysis of Making Home Affordable, which comprises the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), aimed at helping homeowners refinance more affordable mortgages, and the larger Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), that aims to reduce mortgage payments to keep people in their homes. Those programs, according to the panel’s Elizabeth Warren, have helped “at least temporarily,” and could continue to help in the long term, but, she added, “three major concerns” still haunt the market, as one in eight mortgages is now in default, and foreclosures could rise as high as 12 million in the months to come. The reports documents concerns about Making Home Affordable’s scope, scale, and asks if it’s solving the problem, or simply dragging it out. Most worrisome, however, is Warren’s assertion that Making Home Affordable is simply anachronistic at this point, addressing a foreclosure crisis as it existed in March 2009, pointing out that HAMP only helps certainly types of borrowers, like subprime borrowers, but not other foreclosures, like those caused by unemployment—one of the biggest drivers of foreclosure. Warren also expresses concern about the speed of the programs, saying that foreclosures are expected out outpace modifications by about two to one. Foreclosure & Financial Crisis 2009-10-13T19:07:00+00:00 http://www.rooflines.org/1721/foreclosure_mitigation_plans_need_work_and_need_work_now/#When:19:07:00Z http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Rooflines/~3/tuEjQ_XqCw0/ http://www.rooflines.org/1718/inspiring_revitalization_in_the_third_world_jamaicas_rose_town/#When:19:49:00Z A great story is emerging in Rose Town, Jamaica, a community in the process of being reborn with the help of HRH the Prince of Wales and The Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment. My very favorite writings since becoming a blogger involve the revitalization of distressed communities, when done in an inclusive, sustainable fashion. Whether in St. Louis, Cincinnati, Houston, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta, Milwaukee, or elsewhere (and I’ve written about all of those), the people in these places are giving us amazing energy, creativity, and shining examples of how to build and strengthen neighborhoods in ways that form the antithesis of sprawl. Rose Town brings us another such story, in a community that in some ways has been even more severely in need. Rose Town, according to my friend Hank Dittmar, who heads The Prince’s Foundation, is the ghetto in Kingston next to Trenchtown, which of course gave us Bob Marley. One of the poorest districts in a poor country, Rose Town has witnessed pronounced hardship, including devastating gang warfare between its northern and southern sectors that led to the abandonment of houses and the demolition of buildings and roads. This turmoil created a substantial vacated area that, along with an underbuilt portion of the community, has become the focus of the reconstruction efforts. Working with the Rose Town Benevolent Society and other local partners, the Prince’s Foundation is “rehabilitating existing housing and will build new affordable housing units, which reflect the local vernacular style and are suited to prevailing climatic conditions and the traditional way of life; over time we hope that these will prove to be exemplars for projects elsewhere in Jamaica. In addition, we have begun and will continue to improve infrastructure, provide other amenities for the community, establish a skills training program and create employment opportunities.” The idea is to help heal the community’s social rifts by rebuilding it with participation by all. Pretty commendable, if you ask me. One of the aspects I like best is how much the rebuilding is respecting local conditions, tradition and culture (unlike, say, this place). This is in no small part due to the Foundation’s strong commitment to involving residents in extensive architectural and planning charrettes. To read more, including about the sustainability guidelines and the training of local residents in construction skills, and to see more images including some before-and-afters and a nice, narrated short slide show, go here. Communities 2009-10-09T19:49:00+00:00 http://www.rooflines.org/1718/inspiring_revitalization_in_the_third_world_jamaicas_rose_town/#When:19:49:00Z http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Rooflines/~3/nBWqI0psshs/ http://www.rooflines.org/1715/the_real_threat_of_acorn/#When:16:04:00Z We’ve long said here that the right-wing attacks on ACORN are rooted in fear: fear of voter registration, fear of increased wages for working people, fear of empowering certain demographics, and so on. So it was good (well, not “good,” per se) to read Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Karen Heller’s important piece on ACORN discussing the post-mortems of the ACORN smear job, including a now-nearly-vacant ACORN office in Philly: At the threadbare location at Broad and Parrish, the first-floor ACORN Housing office is dead, addressing only emergency cases. In March 2008, ACORN stopped the sheriff from selling owner-occupied homes that had punitive loans, helping well-intentioned residents keep their properties. Last tax season, local staffers completed 2,812 returns gratis, netting $4.3 million in refunds flowing back into the neighborhoods, and almost $1.7 million in earned-income tax credits, according to legislative director Ian Phillips. Now free tax preparation for the poor is on hold, too. Heller goes on to cite the report, “Manipulating the Public Agenda: Why ACORN Was in the News, and What the News Got Wrong,” prepared by Occidental College’s Peter Dreier (an NHI board member) and Christopher Martin, a journalism professor at the University of Northern Iowa that points to the imbalanced media coverage of ACORN framed by the conservative “media echo chamber.” Read Heller’s piece here Organizing 2009-10-06T16:04:00+00:00 http://www.rooflines.org/1715/the_real_threat_of_acorn/#When:16:04:00Z http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Rooflines/~3/-ajIvYb8Dn4/ http://www.rooflines.org/1712/if_you_lived_here_youd_be_home_by_now_a_cautionary_tod_tale/#When:05:21:00Z Everywhere we go we hear about transit-oriented development: bringing the home closer to the transit hub. Not only does TOD offer an opportunity to fix up areas near the rails, but it also provides a chance for localities to increase ratables with market-rate housing, while fulfilling social (and often mandated) goals like increasing affordable units, workforce housing, create retail space, etc. It sounds great, and it often is, until you run into that old story line, where, once again, the possibility is there that all this wonderful redevelopment actually increases property values, thus increasing the value of market rate housing, negating the ability for lower-income people to live there. “Redevelopment” really is all too often a four-letter word. The U.S. Government Accountability Office recently published a report that finds that “higher land and housing values have the potential to limit the availability of affordable housing near transit, but other factors—such as transit routing decisions and local commitment to affordable housing—can also affect availability.” That report links to another study conducted by the National Housing Trust, Reconnecting America, and AARP that warns that in “next five years as many as 160,000 renters in 20 metro areas could lose their affordable apartments near transit because the contracts on their privately-owned HUD-subsidized rental units are due to expire,” potentially prohibiting even more low-income renters from keeping their affordable housing near transit, if landlords choose to raise rents. The fed introduced earlier this year policy that addresses housing and transportation in the form of “sustainable communities,” but the GAO is recommending that HUD offer up interagency strategies to address affordable housing and transportation if TOD is going to be truly sustainable in the long-term. Affordable Housing 2009-10-06T05:21:00+00:00 http://www.rooflines.org/1712/if_you_lived_here_youd_be_home_by_now_a_cautionary_tod_tale/#When:05:21:00Z http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Rooflines/~3/YnH__KKu-Mc/ http://www.rooflines.org/1713/iocs_rio_pick_could_be_good_news_for_chicago/#When:03:46:00Z My friend Hank Kalet offered a prescient look last week about the potential pitfalls of Chicago being awarded the 2016 Olympic games. The following day, the IOC sent Chicago packing in the first round of voting in a move that could have been for the best for the Second City. Grand visions, sometime half-baked, of post-Olympic redevelopment, housing, various ratables, etc., often get lost in the municipal process. There are successes, of course (Olympic Village in Atlanta become dormitories for Georgia Tech, for example), but in the case of Chicago, the potential risk levied on the taxpayer could have reached upwards of $2 billion. according to The Chicago Tribune. Plus, there’s the risk of public monies going toward these projects and it’s the developer that wins out in the end. The post-mortems of a failed Olympic bid are not unfamiliar terrain. Sure, I was rooting for Chicago: who wouldn’t? But what better way to lick our wounds than to look at the “what if?” scenarios had Chicago actually been on the hook to hold the Olympic Games seven years from now? Victor Matheson, an economics professor at Holy Cross wrote in an Op-Ed in 2005 called “Luck of the Draw” after New York City lost to London in its bid for the 2012 games: Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said the Olympics would have added more than $12 billion to the economy and generated 135,000 jobs. Experts who study the impact of sporting events on the economy, however, uniformly find that such estimates routinely overstate the effect of mega-events like the Olympics on local economies. A study of the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, which I conducted with Prof. Robert A. Baade of Lake Forest College in Illinois, found that the Games there generated as few as 3,500 new jobs, a tiny fraction of the 77,000 new jobs predicted by the local organizing committee in the run-up to the Olympics. Communities 2009-10-05T03:46:00+00:00 http://www.rooflines.org/1713/iocs_rio_pick_could_be_good_news_for_chicago/#When:03:46:00Z http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Rooflines/~3/NIuCjaLjtoE/ http://www.rooflines.org/1711/bring_back_rent_control/#When:14:15:00Z Yesterday NY1 tried to set up New York City’s mayoral race as an affordable housing vs. education spat, based on the candidates’ negative soundbites about each other. Although this is a bit of a stretch anyway (and not generally two issues that are actually opposed to each other), it’s interesting to see that the responses from listeners they’ve posted are overwhelmingly concerned about the cost of housing. (They even had to post a defense saying they weren’t screening out pro-Bloomberg comments, they just weren’t getting any.) The rest of the country is still not Manhattan, but as Matt pointed out yesterday, a scarce supply of affordable rental housing in the middle of a deluge of foreclosures and swelling unemployment is something that isn’t unique to the Big Apple. I just finished Our Lot by Alyssa Katz, and her description of how the weakening of rent control fed the speculative frenzy and reduced both rental supply and affordability made me wonder if we’re ready to get over the bogus economic arguments against it and put it back in the toolbox. Photo courtesy of edenpictures. Affordable Housing 2009-10-02T14:15:00+00:00 http://www.rooflines.org/1711/bring_back_rent_control/#When:14:15:00Z http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Rooflines/~3/-_AqEkPe3h8/ http://www.rooflines.org/1710/rethinking_rentals/#When:02:54:00Z With the rental population growing and the stock of affordable housing rentals in decline, “due to the demolition of older apartment buildings, the abandonment of foreclosed rental properties, and the conversion of rental units to sales condominiums,” John Kromer of the Fels Institute of Government identifies an anything-but-nascent problem in the housing field. In Time for HUD to Rethink Rental, Kromer cites the National Low-Income Housing Coalition’s 2009 report, Out of Reach 2009: Persistent Problems, New Challenges for Renters, that points to the rising costs of affordable, two-bedroom apartments and a two-decade decline in HUD rental units, and an institutional disconnect between HUD, offices within HUD, and funding for municipalities and housing authorities, in making his case for a pretty thoughtful intervention: On a pilot-program basis, HUD should select a number of city governments that, each with the consent of their respective public housing authorities, would be eligible to receive in block-grant form the annual operating and capital funding that would ordinarily be awarded directly to the housing authority by HUDs Office of Public and Indian Housing. Although, under this proposal, a city’s municipal government would be the recipient of all of the consolidated block grant funding, the implementing agency for these activities could be a government agency, a housing or redevelopment authority, or both. Successful execution could result in nationwide implementation, Kromer writes. Read his piece here. Housing 2009-10-01T02:54:00+00:00 http://www.rooflines.org/1710/rethinking_rentals/#When:02:54:00Z