Community Development Stories | Housing Affairs Letter

HUD Awards To Four Housing Models

Four model housing developments in California, Illinois, Texas and Washington State receive the 2016 HUD Secretary’s Housing & Community Design Awards. Each of the developments is recognized for excellence in affordable or accessible housing design.

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Gentrification Effect On Neighborhoods

Gentrification has provoked considerable debate and controversy about its effects on neighborhoods and the people residing in them. A new study from The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia draws on a unique, large-scale consumer credit database to examine the

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Firms Invest In Housing For Workers

Two major U.S. employers decide to invest in affordable housing ventures in Colorado and Minnesota that would benefit their workforces, leading the way for other such ventures and modeled on similar efforts in earlier times to provide workforce housing.

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Novel Approach To Affordable Housing

Affluent San Luis Obispo, CA on the Pacific Coast between San Francisco and Los Angeles develops a novel approach to housing affordable to service and public sector workers -- affordable homeownership opportunities.

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Mississippi Port Expansion Revisited

Prior to his arrival in New Orleans Aug. 28 for the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, HUD Secretary Julian Castro is scheduled for a private visit to a controversial port expansion in Gulfport, MS. The visit and tour, while heralded in the local media, isn’t mentioned in an official

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New HUD Promise Zones Targeted

HUD creates eight new Promise Zones across the country, including six in cities, one in a rural area, and one in a tribal community.

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Google Plans Massive Housing Project

High tech giant Google Inc. plans to build a large company town to accompany its decision to expand its Silicon Valley headquarters. The firm is one of several tech firms frustrated by their contributions to the high cost of living in the San Francisco Bay area, including a spike in

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Colonias Targeted For Funding Hike

HUD proposes to increase the amount states along the U.S.-Mexico border can use to promote affordable housing and community development in immigrant communities known as colonias.

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Touchy Zoning Plan Buried In Budget

A potentially controversial housing plan designed to upstage local zoning laws has been tucked into an obscure section of the 2,000-page FY 2016 budget document under the heading of “Mandatory & Receipt Proposals.”

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HUD CDBG Policy Shift Slammed

HUD’s shift in policy to make the department’s study of Community Development Block Grant spending more rigorous has communities fuming. HUD now declares three Washington state communities ineligible to receive further CDBG subsidies. They persuade Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA) to intercede and

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