Mixed Development

Political, social and practical issues and events arising from ‘trendy’ development projects involving both market rate and affordable housing

New Zealand Housing Adventures: From Kiwibuild Disaster To De-Zoning Heaven?

At the height of New Zealand's 2017 fever dream of 100,000 new housing units, we were perplexed. Us Canadians had duly noted that New Zealand lacked the resources to...

Looking Beyond Zoning To Change The Shape Of Cities

Zoning is often named as the culprit in shaping cities in North America. There are vast areas of low density, with single detached homes, along with areas of high...

Warning About Social Housing ‘Separate-But-Equal’ Plans That Aren’t

Public Private Partnership 'mixed income' construction projects have been generally considered a success. Their biggest drawback is often that they lack enough units of truly affordable social housing in...

What Happens If NIMBY Takes Aim At Net Zero?

Net ZeroSee the United Nations Net Zero Coalition for more on this term: Climate Action , Social Housing and NIMBY: what lies at the intersection of these murky futures?...

Atlanta’s East Lake Experiment — Mixed Housing. Success Or Failure?

Mixed income communities have been the clarion call of progressive city planners trying to harness the income and influence of wealthier neighbours in the downtown 'hood, without driving out...

Housing For All: Have We Abandoned The Will To Plan Utopia?

In a dog eat dog housing world, those who can afford housing compete in a low-choice social universe that offers the suburban dream home sprawl versus gentrified shoe box...

King County, Washington Faces Up To The Real Cost Of Truly Affordable Housing

Two years ago, the consulting firm McKinsey & Company delivered a controversial report to King County, Washington. It called for spending a quarter of a billion dollars a year...

Sidewalk Labs Presses ‘Affordable’ Button To Scam Cash For Toronto Smart City

These days, any luxury mega-project worth its salt is bound to lightly lard its housing components with 'affordability.' Sidewalk LabsSidewalk Labs is a subsidiary of Alphabet, which is also...

If At First You Don’t Succeed . . .NY Affordable Mega-Project 70 Years In The Making

The saga of Essex Crossing began in the 1950's with the demolition of some of New York's historic gateway slums — the squalid welcome to America for waves of...

Developer Wet (Riverside) Dream: Pull Down Austin Affordable Housing, Build Less New

Confused about what affordable housing really is? You are not alone. Austin City Council would appear to be more than confused, indeed thoroughly bamboozled. Which is just where any...

Community Vs Diversity? NYC Affordable Housing Study Reveals No Right Answer

For years, the City of New York fought to keep hide a study that investigated the impact of affordable housing on neighbourhoods. A judge has now ended the secrecy....

NYC Mission Impossible? PPP That Builds True Affordable Housing. . . In Volume

Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) have been a darling of neo-conservative "leave it to the private sector," thinking. Alas, when it comes to affordable housing in mixed income projects, they've...

Chicago Tried To Do Two Things At Once: Is It A Fatal Flaw Of Inclusionary Zoning?

Inclusionary zoning projects seem to offer the best of all worlds. In the form of public/private partnerships, they appear to address both the capitalist free market right to profit...

Affordable Housing Path Forward: Don’t Assume Shelter & Investment Are Compatible

Affordable Housing discussions in modern capitalist nations begin with a faith-based assumption: that the human need for shelter can be compatible with the capitalist right to invest in a...

Nooo! Say It Ain’t So! Scotland Builds PPP Affordable Rental Homes Without Government Subsidy

Rental homes of mid-range affordability, as well social rent affordability are in the mix of a new Public/Private Partnership (PPP) project in Dunbar, Scotland. At affordablehousingaction.org, we feel positively betrayed....

Are Mixed Uses Nashville’s Affordable Housing Future? Major League Soccer Is Beginning To Think So.

Zoning has weaknesses. It is exclusionary in nature, making it easy to divide one kind of neighborhood from another. That can lead to 'all or nothing' controversies like the...

Form-Based Code: What Is It? Why Is It Different From Conventional Planning? How Does It Help Affordable Housing?

Form-based code is a method of land use regulation promoted by the Form-Based Codes Institute, which operates out of Washington D.C. Urban planning is in many ways like flying blind....

As American Poor Are Pushed Out To Suburbs, Mumbai Commits To Affordable City Core

The flight of poverty in American cities has been towards the suburbs. Downtown affordable housing has evaporated in the face in urban renewal and gentrification. This has largely been...

Unholy Partnership Of ‘NIMBY + Environmental Review’ Proves Toxic To Speedy Affordable Housing Development

Developers and Local Government alike are fond of blaming each other for lengthy delays in the planning of housing projects. In the United Kingdom, a Government draft proposal is...

Still Hope For Public Housing: Milwaukee’s Westlawn Gardens Renewal Wins National Award

According to free market conservatives, American public housing is dead. It was the victim of its socialist anti-free-enterprise roots and of the lower class inhabitants who, in fits of...

Why Urban Renewal Vision Needs Bifocals

Focusing on progress and urban renewal is vital for the ever-changing nature of a city. Yesterday's housing, retail, business and industrial needs have given momentary shape to a dynamic...

Affordable Housing: Less Is More In Baltimore

Many private/public partnerships to build affordable housing do not pass the smell test with their handfuls of affordable houses or apartments in projects numbering hundreds of market rate or...

Affordable Housing + Jobs + Greenspace: Buffalo Builds The Bailey Green Project

These days, adding affordable housing to a city is challenge enough without adding permanent jobs as part of the same project. With it’s Bailey Green Project, Buffalo, New York...

Connecticut Sinks The Affordable Housing Hook Into Slippery Communities

In the midst of a global affordable housing crisis affecting many nations, NIMBY is a rallying cry for entire communities. A major defensive weapon is zoning — manipulating the...

Singapore’s Million Dollar Affordable Housing: A Public/Private Partnership Future?

A recent development by Singapore's public Housing and Development Board suggests an alarming future for public/private partnerships in countries who may be helping the needy to find affordable housing...

The State Seizes Your House. Public good? Or Middle-class Land Grab Conspiracy

Is American eminent domain a sinister weakness of public-private partnerships? Imagine that you own a small, old family dwelling in a downtown neighbourhood that has seen better days. A young...

Public/Private Housing Partnerships. ‘Gullible’ Climbs Into Bed With ‘Venial’

Imagine a partnership in which both parties bring their particular skills and interests to the table. There they strike a fair bargain. Alas, it doesn't necessarily happen in Britain's...
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