AltWeeklies Wire
L.A.'s Fight for Public Green Spacenew
The most park-impoverished major city in America, Los Angeles devotes only 4 percent of its land to public greenery. By contrast, parkland comprises 17 percent of New York City and 9 percent of Boston (where 97 percent of the city’s children have immediate access to a park--as opposed to one-third of kids in Los Angeles).
L.A. Weekly |
Matthew Fleischer |
07-18-2008 |
Housing & Development
Tags: housing & development
The Yearlong Campaign to Introduce You to Your Homeless Neighborsnew
What good did it do?
San Diego CityBeat |
Kelly Davis |
07-16-2008 |
Housing & Development
Federal Homeless Official Tours Santa Barbara Housingnew
Philip Mangano, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, is on a multi-city tour of the US touting permanent housing as the solution to homelessness that will relegate it to the dustbin of history.
Santa Barbara Independent |
Martha Sadler |
07-14-2008 |
Housing & Development
NYC's Parks Commish Squares Off Against His Father Over the Future of Union Squarenew
When the parks department turned its attention to renovating Union Square Park, the clash between the community and city officials hit home for Adrian Benepe when his father spoke out publicly against his own son.
New York Press |
Kimberly Thorpe |
07-10-2008 |
Housing & Development
Mobile Home Park Residents Caught in Catch-22new
Since the Homestead Village case began, some residents and affordable housing advocates have begun to ask whether the old park could be fixed up and restored as a place where people of modest means can continue to live, if not in grand style, then at least in very comfortable surroundings. Depending on the Raleigh City Council's decision, Homestead Village could add to the junk pile, or it could turn out to be a preservation success story.
INDY Week |
Bob Geary |
07-10-2008 |
Housing & Development
Can Philly's Bold Experiment in Preventing Foreclosures Work?new
With the foreclosure crisis in full swing, Judge C. Darnell Jones issued an order declaring that before any foreclosure goes to sale, a representative for the lender must sit down with the borrower in court. He also postponed all sales of owner-occupied houses scheduled for April or May until July. The order immediately drew national attention, and last week, the experiment began.
Philadelphia City Paper |
Isaiah Thompson |
06-24-2008 |
Housing & Development
In Texas, A Storied Prison Farm Gives Way to Suburban Sprawlnew
Today it's almost impossible to tell where Houston ends and Sugar Land begins, and therein lies the story of how Sugar Land's historic prison, once considered the pride of the Texas penal system, came to find itself in the middle of one of the fastest-growing communities in the nation.
The Texas Observer |
Patsy Sims |
06-18-2008 |
Housing & Development
Chicago's TIF That Keeps On Takingnew
The city has found a way to extend the life of its oldest, fattest tax increment financing district.
Chicago Reader |
Ben Joravsky |
06-10-2008 |
Housing & Development
New Haven Housing Authority Slapped with Class-Action Suit Demaning Help for Disablednew
The lawsuit was filed by a woman with spina bifida, a birth defect affecting the spine, who is losing her apartment because her landlord is facing foreclosure. The disabled woman, Rebecca Taylor, hoped the Housing Authority would help her find a new handicap-accessible apartment, but she had to resort to a federal lawsuit to get that help.
New Haven Advocate |
Betsy Yagla |
06-10-2008 |
Housing & Development
Home Equity Loans Threatened in Mortgage Crisisnew
As property values drop, many banks are freezing their customers' home equity loans.
East Bay Express |
Anna McCarthy |
06-04-2008 |
Housing & Development
Smart Tips for First-Time Home Sellersnew
From tips on how to go about purchasing a house to materials proclaiming the advantages of owning a property, new buyers don't have a shortage of print and online references. But how about people selling their homes for the first time?
The Georgia Straight |
Carlito Pablo |
06-02-2008 |
Housing & Development
Eminent Domain Targeted by California's Propositions 98 and 99new
Californians face two radically different choices for protecting private property on the June 3 ballot. But the campaigns for propositions 98 and 99 have managed to create enough confusion, suspicion and hyperbole that fresh surveys indicate neither measure is currently luring the 50-percent-plus-one voters needed for passage.
L.A. Weekly |
Jill Stewart |
05-30-2008 |
Housing & Development
Houses in Cleveland are Selling on eBay for as Little at $810new
Turns out that real estate fiends from as far away as Florida and Texas have been buying up the slums of our fair burg, then flipping the houses on eBay
Cleveland Scene |
Staff |
05-30-2008 |
Housing & Development
One Orlando Resident Wants to Use the Historic Preservation Board to Fight a Developernew
Sue MacNamara is fighting Eola Capital's plans to erect a 200-foot-tall office complex at the end of Washington Street, right off Lake Eola.
Orlando Weekly |
Bill Manes |
05-29-2008 |
Housing & Development
House Built on High Hopes Goes Down in Flamesnew
A cauldron of squatters and property owners, stirred by green dreams and the bursting housing bubble, set an unusual Oakland house ablaze.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Shane Bauer |
05-28-2008 |
Housing & Development
