AltWeeklies Wire
After 36 Years Without, Some Residents of La Presa, Texas, Finally Get Electricitynew
For 36 years, the people in this dusty, sweltering colonia south of Laredo, have lived without electricity, potable water, or an adequate sewage system. Now an innovative experiment is bringing power to a dozen lucky residents. While the wheels of bureaucracy turned slowly or not at all, residents suffered, despite many applications for assistance from state and local government.
The Texas Observer |
Forrest Wilder |
08-13-2008 |
Housing & Development
How Renters Work the System to Live for Free in a Very Expensive Citynew
Depending on the vigilance of the landlord, a seasoned serial evictee like John Getzow can get away with a minimum of 45 days and sometimes up to a year of free rent. The actual number of serial evictees operating in San Francisco is difficult to track, but some attorneys who specialize in representing landlords estimate there are between 20 and 100.
SF Weekly |
John Geluardi |
07-31-2008 |
Housing & Development
Wall St. Demands Earth-Friendly Buildings, but Main St. Doesn'tnew
Demand for sustainable living remains low, and even during the height of the housing boom, homebuilders didn’t really go for the green. So why do executives and taxpayers demand environmentally sensitive buildings, and then go home to their wasteful old houses?
San Diego CityBeat |
Eric Wolff |
07-30-2008 |
Housing & Development
Ken Ortiz Hopes No One in Chicago Will Ever Simply Demolish a Building Againnew
Ortiz is a contractor who takes down buildings and saves almost all the pieces. After doing construction for 25 years and throwing away "tons of good building materials," he delights in being able to save 23-foot-long two-by-sixes for reuse as two-by-sixes. And pretty much everybody else is delighted too -- environmentalists, preservationists, antiques dealers, even the folks who live around the houses he's taking down.
Chicago Reader |
Harold Henderson |
07-28-2008 |
Housing & Development
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
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
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
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
Foreclosure May Hurt Children the Mostnew
"When foreclosures force children from their homes, their education is disrupted, their peer relationships crumble, and the social networks that support them are fractured," according to a recent study by First Focus. "Indeed, their physical health, as well as their emotional health and well-being, is placed at risk." Tiffany Rodriguez, a North Philly 14-year-old, would have to agree.
Philadelphia Weekly |
Tasneem Paghdiwala |
05-27-2008 |
Housing & Development
Cohousing Creates Community (and Density)new
Central Virginia's first cohousing development is springing up. As it does so, its proponents battle misconceptions of what it is and the argument that the development, Blue Ridge Cohousing, was just too dense.
C-Ville Weekly |
Scott Weaver |
05-22-2008 |
Housing & Development
In Kansas City, Tax Breaks Don't Cure Blight -- They Create Sprawlnew
TIF is a tool that cities can use to spur development in distressed areas. But in Kansas City, TIF is often used to make sprawl.
The Pitch |
David Martin |
05-21-2008 |
Housing & Development
Oil Costs Reshaping the Suburbsnew
Current property values in the U.S., where the subprime-mortgage crisis has unleashed a sea of foreclosures, demonstrate how surging oil prices can affect the real-estate market. Cities with more suburban sprawl are suffering more in terms of depressed prices than denser areas that are less dependent on cars.
The Georgia Straight |
Carlito Pablo |
05-19-2008 |
Housing & Development
