News

Think Globally, Build Like Hell Locally

Clara Jeffery · Mother Jones · May-June 2023

NIMBYs come in a variety of forms, but the most confounding are those who call themselves progressive yet abuse laws conceived to protect the environment in order to block desperately needed housing, driving up costs and fueling homelessness.

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Imagine a Renters’ Utopia. It Might Look Like Vienna.

Francesca Mari · New York Times · 23 May 2023

Soaring real estate markets have created a worldwide housing crisis. What can we learn from a city that has largely avoided it?

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‘Granny flats’ play surprising role in easing California’s housing woes

Erica Werner · Washington Post · 21 May 2023

More than 23,000 ADU permits were issued in California last year, compared with fewer than 5,000 in 2017.

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How finding a home in America became so absurdly expensive

Alvin Chang · The Guardian · 10 May 2023

The dream of home ownership or an affordable rental is becoming unreachable for many.

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Five takeaways from Minnesota Legislature’s housing deal

Jessie Van Berkel · StarTribune · 9 May 2023

The $1 billion bill is the most the state has ever spent on housing, but much of the money is one-time cash.

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Minnesota legislative ‘big, big deal’ spends $1B on affordable housing

Peter Callaghan · MinnPost · 9 May 2023

The first-ever tax devoted to affordable housing would raise $200 million a year for housing projects and programs in the seven-county area. It is part of a $1 billion investment in affordability that sponsors and advocates are calling historic.

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Who’s afraid of integration? A lot of people, actually

Thomas Edsall · New York Times · 5 April 2023

Policymakers of good will face the enormous and perhaps insuperable task of restoring integration to center stage while somehow avoiding the political and logistical errors that characterized busing and affirmative action in the past.

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Understand tax increment financing before throwing shade

Stephen Bubul · StarTribune · 6 April 2023

Tax increment financing is often criticized by those who don’t understand it. You just can’t build a building that will be affordable to people with lower incomes unless the costs are subsidized somehow.

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Triplexes facing hurdles in Mpls.

Susan Du · StarTribune · 5 April 2023

Despite the 2040 Comprehensive Plan’s elimination of single-family zoning four years ago, zoning codes have not yet been updated to align with the plan, making it hard to redevelop lots into multifamily housing.

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Duluth apartment-to-hotel conversion rankles residents, city officials

Dan Kraker · MPR News · 4 April 2023

A Duluth developer’s plans to convert part of an apartment building built with a public subsidy into a boutique hotel has prompted a public outcry.

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