Housing

  • Several rats on the ground next to full black trash bags.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Chanawat Phadwichit via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Boston has a new anti-rat plan. Here are 3 takeaways.

    “We’re working to make Boston a home for everyone. Except for rats," Mayor Michelle Wu said as the city released a report by a leading urban rat researcher.

    By • July 18, 2024
  • An elevated shot of a street lined with high-rise buildings. One person walks across a crosswalk.
    Image attribution tooltip
    John Moore/Getty Images via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Seattle encourages office-to-residential conversions with new law

    The city's mayor said Seattle needs to take advantage of every tool available to fend off a housing shortage as downtown buildings sit empty.

    By • July 15, 2024
  • smart city, smart cities Explore the Trendline➔
    Image attribution tooltip
    jamesteohart via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip
    Trendline

    Top 5 stories from Smart Cities Dive

    From worsening climate change to a shifting transportation landscape and the housing affordability crisis, cities have their work cut out for them in 2024.

    By Smart Cities Dive staff
  • Eviction notice on door of house with brass door knob.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Bill Oxford via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip
    Opinion

    The White House just took steps to combat housing discrimination. States and local governments should follow.

    As the country’s eviction epidemic grows, lawmakers must take aim at tenant screening practices locking millions out of affordable housing.

    By Jasmine Rangel • July 9, 2024
  • A person ina black puffy jacket, black beanie and backpack walks along a street with residential brick buildings and parked cars.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Anna Kapustina via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Boston was the first major city to pair fair housing with zoning. How’s it going?

    Community input was key to the policy’s passage but should be a larger part of the review process it created, advocates say. 

    By Kalena Thomhave • July 8, 2024
  • A person in a yellow vest loads items into the pack of a truck parked below a raised freeway. A group of shopping carts sit on the grass nearby.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Permission granted by Downtown Dallas, Inc.
    Image attribution tooltip

    Homelessness in Dallas area is down after response transformation

    As service providers try a new approach to closing encampments, unsheltered homelessness has dropped 24% in Texas' Dallas and Collin counties since 2021.

    By • July 2, 2024
  • Aerial shot of wooden beams put together in the early stages of housing construction.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Mario Tama/Getty Images via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Cities, states to knock down affordable housing barriers with $85M from HUD

    Barriers to affordable housing development include expensive land and insufficient infrastructure, Vice President Kamala Harris said on a Wednesday teleconference.

    By • June 28, 2024
  • People hold signs that read "Housing not handcuffs" in front of a courthouse.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    US Supreme Court rules Oregon city’s homelessness laws not ‘cruel and unusual’

    The decision elicited swift reactions from stakeholders across the country, including officials in the city where the case began: Grants Pass, Oregon.

    By • Updated June 28, 2024
  • People in coats and masks stand in line against a building behind a metal fence. Many have large backpacks and bags.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Spencer Platt/Getty Images via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    What US mayors want from the next president, Congress

    The creation of a first-ever city mental health block grant, affordable housing investments and gun safety legislation are among the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ requests.

    By • June 27, 2024
  • A rendering of the exterior of a multifamily building.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Permission granted by KGD Architecture
    Image attribution tooltip

    Clark makes headway on first affordable housing project in Tysons, Virginia

    Amazon is funding $56 million of the project through its housing equity fund.

    By Zachary Phillips • June 25, 2024
  • An overhead view of the Overland Park, Kansas, cityscape.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Davel5957 via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    The most sought-after destinations for renters this spring

    Select Midwest metros remain the most popular cities searched for by apartment hunters.

    By Mary Salmonsen • June 18, 2024
  • New York City Mayor Eric Adams fields questions during a press conference.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Adam Gray via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    NYC approves second set of zoning changes

    The changes aim to boost commercial corridors, promote life sciences activity and bolster manufacturing in the city. One ends a decades-old rule that barred certain commercial building uses.

    By Joe Burns • June 13, 2024
  • A person in a blue shirt and black pants and shoes wears a surgical face mask and walks past a window. In the window, a sign reads "Retail for Lease."
    Image attribution tooltip
    Justin Sullivan/Getty Images via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    5 US cities prime for office-to-residential conversions

    An Urban Institute analysis names the cities that could benefit most from adaptive reuse projects based on office real estate markets and housing supply needs.

    By • June 6, 2024
  • The New York state capitol building, a white building with multiple towers.
    Image attribution tooltip
    4nadia via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    States see wave of squatting-related legislation

    Florida, New York and other states passed laws this spring enabling removal of residents who are not legal occupants. Similar bills are being considered in other jurisdictions.

    By Mary Salmonsen • May 29, 2024
  • The hallway of a home with white walls, with a thermostat that reads "70" on the wall. Above it is a panel that reads "Year-Round Comfort & Savings."
    Image attribution tooltip

    Dylan Slagle, BGE

    Image attribution tooltip

    EPA launches new Energy Star residential standard

    Requirements for certification include heat pumps, resident electric vehicle charging stations, electric cooking appliances and highly energy-efficient construction.

    By Mary Salmonsen • May 17, 2024
  • Three rats on the sidewalk next to a trash can at night
    Image attribution tooltip
    Katie Dobies via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    To win the war on rats, NYC convenes National Urban Rat Summit

    “The best way to defeat our enemy is to know our enemy,” Mayor Eric Adams said. Municipal experts from cities across the U.S. will be in attendance.

    By • May 17, 2024
  • Apartment for rent sign
    Image attribution tooltip
    Blacqbook via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Rents are on the rise again, moving close to all-time highs

    New York City is the market with the strongest year-over-year rent growth this month.

    By Mary Salmonsen • May 15, 2024
  • Hotels line the coastline of Honolulu.
    Image attribution tooltip
    okimo via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Hawai’i counties can regulate short-term rentals under new law

    Some local leaders have voiced support for reducing short-term rentals in their area as the state faces a housing affordability crisis.

    By Noelle Mateer • May 9, 2024
  • Apartment building with three cars parked in front
    Image attribution tooltip
    Retrieved from Bauer House on Facebook on May 09, 2024
    Image attribution tooltip

    HUD’s $4.8B green retrofit program announces first construction project deal

    A new heat pump system will replace the existing gas-powered system at an apartment community housing low-income older adults.

    By • May 9, 2024
  • Roofs of three buildings against a blue sky
    Image attribution tooltip
    APCortizasJr via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    A unique zoning policy creates financial certainty, affordable housing developers say

    “I can actually know what my costs are,” a housing authority’s executive director said of one city’s zoning overlay, which relaxes certain requirements for 100% affordable housing.

    By Adina Solomon • May 7, 2024
  • The Colorado Capitol building.
    Image attribution tooltip
    PeterPhoto via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Colorado’s for-cause eviction bill signed into law

    Colorado is the sixth U.S. state to establish a law that prevents landlords from evicting tenants or denying lease renewals without cause.

    By Mary Salmonsen • May 3, 2024
  • Tents lined up underneath a bridge. A person walks by, silhouetted by the sun.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    How tracking homelessness in real time ‘by name’ can guide local action

    Federally mandated annual “point-in-time” counts paint a picture of homelessness in broad strokes. But some communities are collecting information to understand what happens in between.

    By • May 3, 2024
  • Landscape shot with trees in the foreground and a downtown skyline in the background
    Image attribution tooltip
    graphiknation via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Atlanta office conversion goes to foreclosure

    Atlanta, like many cities, has plenty of office conversion candidates. However, those projects come with challenges. 

    By Leslie Shaver • April 30, 2024
  • A pair of gloved hands holds a wrench and grasps pipes
    Image attribution tooltip
    wip-studiolublin via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    A first-in-the-nation home repair program sees overwhelming demand

    A "gaping need" exists nationwide for programs that improve housing quality, said a senior research analyst at the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies.

    By Kalena Thomhave • April 25, 2024
  • A person walks by tents lined up on the sidewalk in front of stores.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Mario Tama/Getty Images via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Are homeless encampment bans ‘cruel and unusual?’

    The Supreme Court begins to examine laws that restrict camping even when no shelter space is available as advocates for the homeless and city officials weigh in.

    By Danielle McLean • April 22, 2024
  • A person in a yellow rain covering pulls a cart in front of tents on a sidewalk
    Image attribution tooltip
    Mario Tama/Getty Images via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    ‘Street to home, same day’: LA’s master leasing program to tackle homelessness

    The city plans to rent out blocks of housing units and sublease them to tenants who might otherwise struggle to qualify for rentals.

    By Gaby Galvin • April 18, 2024