Urbanexus Update - Issue #14
Urbanexus Update - Issue #14
Please scroll down for my weekly collection of information and opinion about real estate and community development.
Homelessness
A Seattle area task force on homelessness has yet to make progress
A stalled King County (Seattle area) committee on homelessness looks to a post head-tax world.
String of assaults fuels criticism of Seattle’s handling of homelessness crisis — www.seattletimes.com
Advocates for the homeless say that while serious, they are a small fraction of such crime scene .
Survey of downtown San Francisco reveals 303 piles of feces and 100 drug needles — www.nbcbayarea.com
A survey of a section of downtown San Francisco quantified feces, hypodermic needles, and garbage littering the heart of the city.
Housing and community development
Digging Into non-profit housing costs — www.seattleforgrowth.org
No bargains found.
Challenges of golf course redevelopment
It’s not so simple.
Regulation represents over 30% of cost of apartment development — www.nahbclassic.org
According to a 2017 report published by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, “The lack of new, more affordable rentals is in part a consequence of sharply rising construction costs, including labor and materials.” The Harvard report goes on to say, “Tight land use regulations also add to costs by limiting the land zoned for higher-density housing and entailing lengthy approval processes.“
D.C. sued for gentrifying. — dcist.com
A Washington, D.C. lawyer has filed a discrimination lawsuit against the city that claims that the city’s housing and urban renewal policies have discriminated against some of the District’s longest-standing residents in favor of attracting millennial renters. The suit is seeking more than $1 billion in damages.
Planning detainment centers — time.com The U.S. Navy is preparing plans to construct sprawling detention centers for tens of thousands of immigrants on remote bases.
Real estate demand and supply
Competition for staff invigorates office space demand
With 223,000 jobs added, May became the 92nd straight month of employment additions.
World’s busiest real estate market — www.theinvestor.jll
Investment volumes in Tokyo more than doubled to US$9.1 billion in the three months to March just beating New York.
Could “mid-tech” jobs elevate more people and non-coastal places? — www.brookings.edu A surprisingly large share of classic tech jobs are actually quite accessible to workers without a bachelor’s degree.
Analysis vs headlines in apartment rents — www.seattlemultifamilyteam.com
Whether rental rates are shooting through the roof or dropping like a lead balloon, journalists are busy in the news room churning out sensationalized headlines.
Retail REITs surge after court ruling
Retail REITs rallied after the U.S. Supreme Court closed a loophole that had allowed online retailers to avoid sales tax.
Transportation, transit and parking
How neighborhoods can kick car habits — www.sightline.org
This is part two in a three part mini-series about how accessory dwelling units---in-law apartments and backyard cottages---change the urban carbon footprint.
Brooklyn bus drivers know how to fix the transit system — www.citylab.com The people who know buses best have ideas about how to reform the system, according to a survey of 373 Brooklyn bus operators.
Lessons from the first U.S. city to completely eliminate parking minimums — www.strongtowns.org
Hartford got rid of parking minimums.
Campaigning against public transit projects — mobile.nytimes.com
The billionaire conservative Koch brothers are waging a sophisticated fight against new rail projects and bus routes.
Environment
Quantifying damage to real estate from sea level rise
The Union of Concerned Scientists has published a report that attempts to quantify in economic terms the extent of possible damage and loss from rising sea levels.
The plastic of the future — www.comstocksmag.com
Timber may hold one key to staving off a plastics-induced garbage apocalypse.
Around the world
Caste-based killing in India over land — news.trust.org More than half of India's lower-caste population is landless