Radical Urban Planning Can Fight Gentrification With Affordable Housing

February 24, 2020                      By: Valerie Schloredt, YES! MAGAZINE

We tend to talk about gentrification as if it’s beyond our control, that replacing old urban houses with identical high-end condos is a law of nature. We sigh as historically Black, ethnically diverse, and immigrant communities are displaced, destroying social infrastructure that was built up over generations.

But it isn’t inevitable; it’s the result of decades of policies that reflect the power of wealth in shaping our urban landscapes. So why do city governments in the United States usually do such a poor job of balancing people’s rights with property rights?

Members of the Brooklyn Anti-Gentrification Network took took to the streets at Brooklyn's third borough-wide march 

against gentrification, racism and police violence on September 21, 2019, in New York City.  

Erik McGregor/Lightrocket Via Getty Images

Samuel Stein, a doctoral student at City University of New York whose work focuses on urban planning and gentrification, takes on that question in his well-received new book, Capital City: Gentrification and the Real Estate State (Verso, 2019). The answer has to do with money, history, and the economy. As North America deindustrialized from the mid-20th century on, capital began investing in land and buildings, “the literal and figurative space left by urban industrial flight.” Real estate is now a $217 trillion industry, Stein writes, forming 60% of global assets. We’re living in “a real estate state,” where real estate interests with capital to invest have undue influence in city planning decisions.................Read More.

When Public Housing is Erased

February 25, 2020                                                          By: Holly Dutton

A new documentary produced by renowned filmmaker Ken Burns sheds light on the legacy of public housing in the U.S. and what happens when it disappears.

Queensbridge Houses in New York City.  Image via Wikimedia Commons

The concept of public housing in the U.S. first began in 1936 in Atlanta, Ga., with the opening of Techwood Homes, the nation’s first government-owned housing development. Since then, the role of public housing in cities has changed dramatically, at times becoming synonymous with the idea of disinvestment, crime and poverty.

“East Lake Meadows,” a new documentary by Sarah Burns and David McMahon, explores one public housing development in-depth, telling the story of how the project came to be, the people who called it home, and how it all fell apart. The 650-unit project was built in 1970 in Atlanta and later became notorious for drugs and crime in the early 1990s, before it was eventually torn down by the city and turned into a mixed-income community.

Portions of the film, which will air March 24 on PBS, were screened at an event hosted by the CUNY Graduate Center recently in New York City, where the filmmakers, former residents and executive producer Ken Burns, the acclaimed documentary filmmaker, spoke on a panel following the film screening. The filmmakers said they sought to tell the real story of the community and its chapter in the legacy of public housing in the U.S.

“The story of East Lake Meadows has been told before, but it’s often from the same perspective,” said McMahon.........Read More

Administration Proposes to Cut HUD Budget by $8.6 Billion

February 10, 2020               By: Affordable Housing Finance

Home and CDBG programs are targeted for elimination.

The Trump administration has again released a budget proposal that cuts funding for longtime public housing and community development programs.

The fiscal 2021 plan requests $47.9 billion for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), $8.6 billion less than the enacted level for this year. Under the proposal, the HOME and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) programs would be eliminated.

The administration has tried to kill the programs and reduce funding for other HUD initiatives before, but Congress has maintained its support, with HOME receiving $1.35 billion and the CDBG fund receiving $3.43 billion in 2020.

On the public housing front, the proposal requests $28.4 billion for the Office of Public and Indian Housing, about $4 billion less than this year. HUD is seeking to combine the public housing operating and capital funds into a “public housing fund,” which would receive $3.57 billion. That’s about $3.8 billion less than the enacted levels for the two funds in 2020.

HUD says the decrease is partly due to moving funds to a proposed Moving to Work (MTW) account. There are 39 current MTW public housing authorities (PHAs), and HUD expects to add 30 new PHAs, which would serve 94,000 of the approximately 915,000 public housing units, says the budget plan...............Read More

The Affordable Housing Industry's Top 10 Stories of 2019

December 27, 2019                                By: Christine Serlin

AHF, industry leaders count down the news events of the year.

2019 was a relatively quiet year for the affordable housing industry, unlike the previous several years when effects of tax reform and the 2016 presidential election dominated the news. Even so, the year brought us new trends and notable changes.

Affordable Housing Finance, with help from its Editorial Advisory Board members, takes a look at 10 news events for the industry from the past year.

1. Growing Focus on Affordable Housing

The affordability crisis made national and local headlines during 2019.

“There’s increased national interest in increasing the supply of affordable housing,” says Bart Mitchell, president and CEO of The Community Builders. “Everyone is talking about it, from presidential candidates with housing plans to more congressional sponsors to increase low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) resources than ever before.”

Affordable housing has been a key talking point for 2020 Democratic presidential contenders, even coming front and center during a primary debate in November. It also was a hot topic in local elections across the nation this past fall.

The LIHTC continues to receive broad bipartisan support in Congress. The Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act (S. 1703 and H.R. 3077) has 197 co-sponsors in the House—125 Democrats and 72 Republicans—and 37 co-sponsors in the Senate—24 Democrats, 11 Republicans, and two Independents. One of the bill’s provisions, the permanent 4% LIHTC rate, was in play up to the last minute in budget negotiations in mid-December but was abruptly pulled at the last minute....................Read More

The Affordable Senior Housing Challenge

December 5, 2019                             By: Sibley Fleming

Developers and service providers are grappling with the affordable senior housing dilemma.

By 2029, 54 percent of the nation’s 14.4 million middle-income seniors won’t be able to afford private-pay seniors housing options for long before they exhaust their resources and become eligible for Medicaid. Out-of-pocket costs for assisted living will be $60,000 by then. Those telling—and sobering—statistics are key findings of a study released this past spring by the University of Chicago’s National Opinion Research Center and sponsored by the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care, a Washington, D.C.-based research organization. The key takeaway? There is a huge need for affordable senior housing and care for middle-income seniors.

Pearlon Oyster Bay

“If you think of this as multifamily housing in the workforce world, this is workforce housing, but for seniors,” said Beth Burnham Mace, NIC chief economist and director of outreach.

The study sent a shot over the bow of the senior housing industry, which has to date been most prolific at providing seniors housing solutions in the form of continuing care retirement communities for the top 20 percent of the market and the government-subsidized bottom 20 percent.

Providing this much-needed housing and related services has become the talk of seniors housing conferences, policy and finance summits. “Everybody is paying attention to this market. But nobody has quite figured out how to get their arms around this market, what it’s going to look like,” said John Cochrane, CEO of Pleasanton, Calif.-based HumanGood, which owns and operates 21 continuing care communities serving primarily the upper income demographic as well as 96 affordable senior housing communities......................Read More

BIG CITIES ARE TAKING ON HOUSING AFFORDABILITY, BUT EVEN THE LARGEST WILL NEED HELP

November 4, 2019                            By: Daniel McCue

The nation’s largest cities are at the forefront of the battle against high housing costs. In efforts described in our latest State of the Nation’s Housing report and in previous blogs, several big cities have come forward to revise zoning and land use regulations to open up land and allow higher densities of housing development. Some have also made permitting procedures faster or less cumbersome, others have reduced requirements such as those for allocated parking to lower development costs, and a few have legalized less costly housing options such as accessory dwelling units. Many have also dedicated local funds to build and preserve affordable housing.

But how far can these big-city actions go to alleviate large-scale, regionwide challenges of high housing costs? A quick look at the Census Bureau’s latest population estimates suggests that cities can only go so far in solving affordability issues because even the largest cities are home to just a fraction of their metro area populations.

As shown in Figure 1, cities in the US make up just a small portion of the population within their overall metropolitan areas. Some cities make up a surprisingly low share. The cities of Miami and Atlanta, for example, are each home to just 8 percent of the populations in their respective metro areas. Washington, DC, despite its relatively high population density, is also home to just 11 percent of its metro area population. The city of Boston, which is part of a particularly fractured metropolitan area that includes dozens of small New England cities and towns, is home to just 14 percent of the population in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton metropolitan area...............Read More

FIGURE 1: EVEN THE LARGEST CITIES MAKE UP JUST A SMALL PORTION OF THEIR METRO AREA POPULATIONS

Tax-Exempt Loan Helps Structure NYC RAD Deal

October 24, 2019                              By: Multifamily Executive

$192.2 million public housing project demonstrates the power of creative teamwork.

Brought to you by Freddie Mac Multifamily

The Hope Gardens NYCHA development in Brooklyn, NYC | Courtesy: Hunt Companies (Photo: Michael Ratliff)

The story and great lesson of the $192.2 million Hope Gardens portfolio acquisition and renovation can be summarized in seven words: Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

The ”way” involves the enabling Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) conversion of 1,321 New York City public housing units to clear the way for an ambitious and desperately needed renovation program. The immediate list of improvements includes everything from new boilers and wiring to updated kitchens and bathrooms. Longer term, the conversion ensures Hope Gardens residents in Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood gain the permanent stability and peace of mind of housing affordability.

The federal RAD program seeks to improve and preserve at-risk public housing developments by allowing the properties to convert to long-term Section 8 rental assistance contracts. This is critical because it puts the housing authorities in better position to leverage additional financing to perform needed improvements.

Still, the road to closing was a challenge, requiring an impressive array of creative strategies and tools— tax-exempt loans, low-income housing tax credits and other funding sources; rent blending; and judicious risk taking by all players factored into the deal............................Read More

Wells Fargo to Donate $1 Billion to Affordable Housing and Homelessness Across America

October 23, 2019                                        By: Good News Network

In June, Wells Fargo announced a new philanthropic strategy that will address the key issues of housing affordability and small business revitalization with one billion dollars in grants and support.

The bank that serves one in three households in the United States said it is committing $1 billion over the next six years to support nonprofits and private entities that demonstrate ability to create positive outcomes in homelessness, available and affordable rentals, transitional housing and home ownership.

Last year, the Wells Fargo Foundation donated $444 million to more than 11,000 nonprofits to help address economic and social needs in underserved communities—and yesterday it announced $9 million in grants to more than 60 nonprofits, such as Habitat For Humanity and Covenant House, in support of housing affordability solutions. (See the full list below)

Bringing more than 30 years of experience in public and private philanthropy, Brandee McHale stepped in to take over the helm at the Foundation in August, after being the head of Corporate Citizenship at Citigroup. and president of the Citi Foundation, and previously working at the Ford Foundation.

To address challenges in construction, financing, and support services for low- and moderate-income families, the elderly and the homeless, Wells Fargo hopes to ease the cost burden for housing across the country, “from Alaska to Florida.”..............Read More

Facebook announces $1 billion investment package to bolster affordable housing

October 23, 2019                                              By: Kate Bradshaw/Almanac

Facebook, the social media behemoth headquartered in Menlo Park, announced Tuesday, Oct. 22, that it plans to invest $1 billion over the next decade toward affordable housing in California and elsewhere, including some existing commitments.

Facebook has temporarily subsidized rent for 22 local teacher households, including that of Konstance Kirkendoll, a teacher at Beechwood Elementary School in Belle Haven, as part of an ongoing pilot program. Last week, the company announced a $25 million commitment toward housing for those teacher and others in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, just one of a number of major investment commitments toward affordable housing Facebook announced Oct. 22. (Photo by Michelle Le | 2016.)

In an announcement posted on the company's newsroom website, Facebook's Chief Financial Officer David Wehner stated that the funds will go toward creating up to 20,000 new housing units "to help essential workers such as teachers, nurses and first responders live closer to the communities that rely on them."

These job types typically represent what policymakers refer to as the so-called "missing middle," or middle-income earners who don't qualify for existing subsidy programs but are increasingly not earning enough to live in the Bay Area.

Wehner announced a new $250 million investment from Facebook for a partnership with the state of California aimed at developing mixed-income housing on excess state-owned land "in communities where housing is scarce."

(This refers to areas where affordable housing and a housing supply are scarce compared with the demand, not necessarily rural areas where there is a low housing supply overall, a Facebook spokesperson confirmed via email.)

As part of the press release, Gov. Gavin Newsom said, “State government cannot solve housing affordability alone, we need others to join Facebook in stepping up – progress requires partnership with the private sector and philanthropy to change the status quo and address the cost crisis our state is facing. Public-private partnerships around excess land is an important component in moving us forward.”.....................Read More

How Lenders are Supporting Affordable Housing Construction

October 7, 2019                              By: Kelsi Maree Borland

Capital is recognizing the need and opportunity in affordable housing development and LIHTC-backed rehab projects.

Anand Kannan

Demand for affordable housing is growing across the country, including in emerging markets like Denver. However, capital is catching on to the need for affordable housing, both on new development projects and LIHTC-backed rehab projects. This capital has been an important aspect of bringing more affordable housing to markets suffering from a housing shortage.

“Investors such as banks and insurance companies are realizing that there is incredible value in LIHTC-backed rehab projects,” Anand Kannan, leader of the preservation and development teams at Community Preservation Partners, tells GlobeSt.com. “In addition to offsetting tax burdens and providing a yield that is competitive to market-rate investments, an affordable housing investment comes with significantly lower risk of vacancy.”

It isn’t only the financial benefits, but capital is also attracted to social impact benefits of affordable housing. “Investors also enjoy the derivative impact of deploying capital with a purpose, which generates value in the form of PR and employee productivity,” says Kannan. “The rehab model, particularly, supports intangible value through environmental sustainability because no property is cleaner than the one that’s already built. All of this ROI adds up to an enticing proposition for those in charge of capital investments.”.........Read More

Bernie Sanders lays out an ambitious plan on affordable housing

September 14, 2019                                  By: Chelsea Janes

LAS VEGAS — A few days after reports surfaced that President Trump is considering a crackdown on homelessness, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued an unofficial rebuttal, outlining his national housing plan in an address to a crowd of 100 at the local chapter of a plumbers and pipe fitters union.

Sen. Bernie Sanders said he will pay for the policy by establishing a wealth tax on the top one-tenth of 1 percent — or, according to his estimate, the wealthiest 175,000 families. (Jason Bean/AP)

Sanders railed against Trump’s housing policies and explained his own plan, which calls for federal investment of $2.5 trillion over the next decade and a national rent control standard. He said he will pay for the policy by establishing a wealth tax on the top one-tenth of 1 percent — or, according to his estimate, the wealthiest 175,000 families.

“Instead of expanding federal housing programs, Trump is proposing to cut them by $9.6 billion or 18 percent,” Sanders said. “Instead of working to substantially reduce the outrageously high price of housing, Trump is proposing to triple what some of the poorest senior citizens and persons with disabilities in America are paying for rent today.”

The Sanders campaign said a full outline of the plan will “be released in the coming weeks,” but Sanders did provide some details Saturday. He proposed a national rent control standard that would cap rent increases at no more 1½ times the rate of inflation or 3 percent, whichever is higher. He promised to promote legal protections for fair housing and take steps to eliminate racial discrimination in loan practices....................Read More

Administration Releases Housing Finance Reform Proposals

September 6, 2019                                           By: Donna Kimura

Affordable housing leaders raise concerns about potential changes to GSE goals and other moves.

The Trump administration has released wide-ranging plans for housing finance reform that call for replacing the statutory housing goals of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with a new system and giving the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) more autonomy.

Affordable housing leaders are keeping a close eye on these proposals and others outlined in two separate plans released by the Treasury Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

“It’s really a road map to government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) reform rather than a blueprint,” says David Dworkin, president and CEO of the National Housing Conference. “It includes a mix of ideological red meat for conservatives and practical suggestions and concessions to moderates and liberals. There are different paths you can take. I expect the strategy is to move forward incrementally with Congress as opposed to acting unilaterally, which the administration has enormous power to do.”

However, some moves require congressional approval, including changing the affordable housing goals of the GSEs with a more accountable mechanism...............Read More

Department of Housing and Urban Development News Briefs - August 2019

August 6, 2019                                                  By: Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits Volume 10 Issue 8

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published a notice June 12 announcing the monthly per-unit fee rates used to determine administrative fees for each public housing agency that administers certain HUD programs. The fees involve the Housing Choice Voucher and Moderate Rehabilitation programs for calendar year 2019 (CY 2019). HUD provided two charts: one for the first 7,200 voucher units leased in CY 2019, the second for the remainder of the units. The notice is available at www.hudresourcecenter.com.

***

President Donald Trump signed an executive order June 25 to establish a White House Council on eliminating Barriers to Affordable Housing Development. The group will consist of members from eight federal agencies and the chairman will be Ben Carson, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The council is tasked with measuring how federal, state and local regulations affect affordable housing, with the goal of reducing regulatory barriers.

***

The percentage of cost-burdened renters dropped slightly, but there remains a significant gap in affordable housing, according to the State of the Nation’s Housing 2019 report issued June 27 by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University. The annual report says that 1.5 million units of housing should be built each year, which is 260,000 units more than were built in 2018. According to the report, 31.5 percent of American households spend more than 30 percent of their income for housing, the standard for being cost-burdened. It was the seventh-straight year that figure declined, but the share of renters who are cost-burned is 47.4 percent. The report highlights that the low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) remains the primary provider of assisted rental affordable housing in the United States, having produced 2.5 million homes since 1987.

***

HUD awarded $63 million to 85 Native American communities throughout the country June 18 to improve housing conditions and stimulate community development for residents. Funding was provided through HUD’s Indian Community Development Block Grant program to support a wide range of community development and affordable housing activities. Award amounts ranged from $400,000 to $2 million.................Read More

City looks to boost affordable housing by changing how it doles out $60M in tax credits

August 6, 2019                                 By: Fran Spielman

The new “Qualified Application Plan” targets the greatest areas of need in the city while giving developers clear ground rules, officials said.

Housing Commissioner Marisa Novara talks to a housing advocate after Novara's confirmation hearing in June.

 | Fran Spielman for the Sun-Times

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration is changing the rules for how the city allocates federal low-income housing tax credits to confront an affordable housing crisis that has left Chicago 120,000 units short.

Homeless advocates and their City Council allies have been pressuring Lightfoot to deliver on her campaign promise to raise Chicago’s real estate transfer tax on high-end home sales by a whopping 160% to reduce homelessness and bankroll affordable housing.

Instead, Lightfoot wants to reserve that potential windfall — as high as $150 million — for reducing Chicago’s massive budget shortfall.

The new “Qualified Application Plan” for up to $60 million in low-income-housing tax credits does not include any additional revenue to solve an affordable housing crisis that has contributed to Chicago’s shrinking population.

The rules target the money to the greatest areas of need and income while giving developers clear ground rules for the awarding of tax credits that represent roughly two-thirds of city spending on affordable housing...................Read More

How much affordable housing is too much?

August 2, 2019                                      By: Greg Hinz

It's a tough question to answer, but it's one City Hall must get right as it weighs proposals that could either make Chicago more livable for many or stifle residential construction altogether.

Getty Images

Nervous Chicago business folks won a modicum of reassurance last month when a compromise work-notice ordinance finally was crafted. The deal admittedly had some aspects of a shotgun marriage, but business groups pulled enough concessions out of Mayor Lori Lightfoot that they ended up signing off on the new law.

Now, a much bigger test of business's relationship with the new mayor has begun. At stake literally is the health of the city's entire residential market, both rental and homeowner-occupied.

My reference is to a series of pending proposals to expand the city's stock of affordable housing—or at least to prevent it from shrinking amid a central-area economic boom that's sparking a gentrification wave. Get it right and lower-income people will get new options to stay in town without having to starve their kids. Get it wrong and both new and renovated residential construction will dry up.....................Read More

Congress Considering Retroactive Changes Affecting Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Property Owners

July 24, 2019                          By: Dirk Wallace, Michael Novogradac

Two bills recently introduced in Congress would retroactively alter rights of existing owners of low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) properties: One bill changes the terms of rights of first refusal (ROFR) and the other alters qualified contract exit price calculation. Part I of this blog post reviews rights of first refusal. Part II will address qualified contracts.

Rights of First Refusal

Under current law, Section 42(i)(7)(A) specifies that “No [federal] income tax benefit shall fail to be allowable to the taxpayer with respect to any qualified low-income building merely by reason of a right of 1st refusal held by … a qualified nonprofit organization …. after the close of the [15-year] compliance period for a price which is not less than the minimum purchase price ….” The minimum purchase price is generally the outstanding debt on the property, plus all tax liability arising on the sale.

The Section 42(i)(7) right of first refusal was enacted in 1989 after a task force convened by Sens. George J. Mitchell, D-Maine, and John C. Danforth, R-Mo., recommended that the safe harbor allow for non-profits to hold a below-market purchase option. Following the task force recommendation, Mitchell and Danforth sponsored a bill in Congress in 1989 (S.980) that would have provided that “the determination of whether any qualified low-income building is owned by the taxpayer shall be made without regard to any option by a qualified nonprofit organization (as defined in subsection (h)(5)(C)) to acquire such building at less than fair market value after the close of the compliance period.”...................Read More

Bill Seeks to Eliminate, Modify Qualified Contract Option

July 12, 2019                     By: Donna Kimura

The legislation aims to preserve LIHTC properties.

Legislation has been introduced to modify the qualified contract option for low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) properties.

LIHTC developments generally must remain affordable for at least 30 years—a 15-year compliance period and a 15-year extended-use period. However, owners are permitted to pursue a qualified contract, a process that can allow properties to convert to market rate after just 15 years.

Introduced by Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), the Save Affordable Housing Act (S. 1956) seeks to eliminate the option for future projects. In addition, it would alter the statutory qualified contract price formula and require existing properties to be sold at a fair-market price.

The legislation seeks to prevent the premature loss of affordable housing and ensure that housing credit properties remain affordable for at least 30 years. Many states have set longer affordability requirements..........................Read More

Housing Leaders Blast HUD Plan to Ban Mixed-Status Families

July 2, 2019                            By:  Donna Kimura

They say the move will increase the nation's homelessness crisis.

Thousands of American children will be at risk of homelessness under a controversial proposal by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), according to public housing leaders.

The plan, which would evict families in which a member is undocumented from obtaining subsidized housing, threatens the housing stability of 25,000 mixed-immigration status families, including 55,000 children who are U.S. citizens or otherwise eligible for HUD assistance, say officials who are fighting the move.

The proposal is a major change from a long-standing rules that allow families of mixed-immigration status to reside in subsidized housing as long as one family member is a legal resident.

Opponents of the new proposal stress that housing subsidies do not support undocumented immigrants. These individuals are permitted to live with their families, but the rents are prorated to ensure that subsidies do not assist with the undocumented immigrant’s portion of the rent.......Read More

Seizing the Opportunity for Affordable Housing Nationwide

July 16, 2019                       By: Emily Cadik

AHTCC's Emily Cadik says it's a critical time to advocate.

Emily Cadik

Advocates of affordable housing have an important opportunity in today’s political climate. Despite legislative gridlock and deep partisan conflict, affordable housing has emerged as one of the few topics met with bipartisan support.

Rent is skyrocketing in nearly every corner of the United States. From rural farm regions to our densest cities in red and blue states alike, paying the rent has become increasingly burdensome. Rental rates soar as wages slowly creep, still below prerecession benchmarks in many states. As a result, over 10 million American households pay more than half their monthly income on rent. For particularly vulnerable demographics, including people with disabilities, veterans, and senior citizens, the situation can be even more dire.

And while white-hot housing markets in urban centers continue to make headlines, housing affordability challenges extend far beyond metro regions, where rents are driven upward by scarcity and rising demand. As the crisis spans more and more of the U.S., so has the recognition among members of Congress that something must be done to address it................Read More

5 Lessons from Cities on Affordable Housing

July 22, 2019                   By: Bill Duryea                             Illustrations By: Matt Chinworth

In America’s fast-growing cities, the need for new housing isn’t keeping up with the demand. A handful of cities have found some new policy ideas to address a problem that doesn’t have a silver-bullet solution. Five big lessons from cities across the country—and a surprise.

1.  Single-family housing can be un-zoned

The middle-class dream of a single-family home is the biggest impediment to affordable housing, according to some housing activists—it keeps prices up by preventing new and denser developments, and NIMBY homeowners can be a potent political obstacle to change. But not always: In Minneapolis, the city council abolished single-family zoning in December. On lots where only one home could be built, now developers can put duplexes and triplexes.

2.  Veterans have a secret weapon

In Arlington, Virginia (outside Washington, D.C.) one American Legion post has partnered with a local affordable housing non-profit to build 160 affordably priced apartments on its property, about half of which will go to veterans. The Legion has thousands of posts across the country, a huge inventory of convertible locations...........................Read More