Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Housing

High Transportation Costs Make a Lot of HUD Housing Unaffordable

By Angie Schmitt | | 4 Comments
Rental assistance from HUD isn’t enough to make the cost of living affordable when the subsidies go toward housing in car-dependent areas, according to a new study by researchers from the University of Texas and the University of Utah. The study evaluated transportation costs for more than 18,000 households that receive HUD rental subsidies, estimating that nearly half of recipients have to spend more […]

Which Cities Are Adding Walkable Housing the Fastest?

By Angie Schmitt | | 8 Comments
As more Americans look for walkable places to live, cities are struggling to deliver, and a lot of neighborhoods are becoming less affordable. A new analysis by Kasey Klimes of Copenhagen’s Gehl Studio illustrates how major metro areas have let their supply of walkable housing shrink over the years, contributing to today’s housing crunch. In this chart, Klimes shows how […]

Seattle Policy Honchos Look to Parking Reform to Make Housing Affordable

By Tanya Snyder | | 12 Comments
Buried under headlines about Seattle Mayor Ed Murray’s plans to battle “economic apartheid” are little-noticed reforms that would reduce or do away with parking quotas that inflate the cost of housing. Murray’s Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda (HALA) Committee released its recommendations yesterday. Noting that about “65 percent of Seattle’s land — not just its residential […]

Are There Any Affordable Cities Left in America?

By Angie Schmitt | | 66 Comments
Are Washington, San Francisco, and New York the most affordable American cities? A new report from the New York-based Citizen’s Budget Commission [PDF], which made the rounds at the Washington Post and CityLab, argues that if you consider the combined costs of housing and transportation, the answer is yes. But a closer look at the data casts […]
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