News

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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Governors Push Faster Construction to Meet Housing Needs

Erika Bolstad · Route Fifty · 20 March 2023

Several states are working to increase the pace of home construction and the availability of affordable housing.

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Sociologist Matthew Desmond on why poverty persists in the U.S.

Ayesha Rascoe · NPR News · 19 March 2023

Audio interview with the author of Poverty, by America.

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Minneapolis 2040 zoning remains stuck in the 1960s

Bill Lindeke · MinnPost · 17 March 2023

Cities in general, and downtowns specifically, have been organized for too long to be specialized places.

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