October 2009

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    Habitat Gets Into Marin

    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 $215,000—it 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 lining—not 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.) more

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    It’s Bankers Versus Realtors in Arizona: What About Communities?

    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 mortgage—they 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 This provision was repealed in a special budget session, at the behest of the real estate industry, and the bankers are suing to overturn the repeal on procedural grounds.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? more

  • Is it: “Faster, Stimulus! Spend! Spend!” or “Think Before You Buy”?

    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 didn’t 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 Oberstar’s 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. more

  • Another Tired Argument Against ACORN

    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…

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    What Makes People Love a City?

    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…

  • Foreclosure Mitigation Plans Need Work and Need Work Now

    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:…

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    Inspiring Revitalization in the Third World: Jamaica’s Rose Town

    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…

  • The “Real Threat” of ACORN

    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,”…

  • If You Lived Here, You’d Be Home By Now: A Cautionary TOD Tale

    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…

  • IOC’s Rio Pick Could Be Good News for Chicago

    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…

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    Bring Back Rent Control?

    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…