News
The Neighborhoods We Will Not Share
The New York Times · Jan 20, 2020
Persistent housing segregation lies at the root of many of our society’s problems. Trump wants to make it worse.
What You Need to Know About How Section 8 Really Works
ProPublica · Jan 9, 2020
A guide to the Section 8 program. Learn how to apply, how to qualify for a voucher, and what it’s like to live in Section 8 housing.
How Wealthy Towns Keep People With Housing Vouchers Out
The Connecticut Mirror · Jan 9, 2020
Section 8 vouchers should give low-income people the opportunity to live outside poor communities. But discriminatory landlords, exclusionary zoning and the federal government’s hands-off approach leave recipients with few places to call home.
California Is Booming. Why Are So Many Californians Unhappy?
The New York Times · Dec 29, 2019
Fire, garbage and homelessness increasingly plague the Golden State. For all its forward-thinking companies and liberal social and environmental policies, the state has mostly put higher-value jobs and industries in expensive coastal enclaves, while pushing lower-paid workers and lower-cost housing to inland areas like the Central Valley.
Life in the 2020s: Slower Growth Will Be the New Normal
StarTribune · Dec. 28, 2019
The accumulated effects of previous growth rates will widen the gap between slow growers like Minnesota and fast ones like Texas and California.
Interview with Economist Enrico Moretti
Econ Focus · 2019
Enrico Moretti, an economist at UC Berkeley, has found that the sorting of highly educated Americans into certain communities has led to other communities falling behind.
Watch 4 Decades of Inequality Drive American Cities Apart
The New York Times · December 2, 2019
The biggest metropolitan areas are now the most unequal.
Mpls Council Wants to Give Tenants Chance to Purchase Rentals
MinnPost · November 25, 2019
A group of Minneapolis city council members are developing a proposal that would require landlords who want to sell rental homes to give tenants an opportunity to buy the property.
It’s Time to End the Affordable Housing Crisis Once and For All
StarTribune · Nov 22, 2019
On a single night, more than 10,000 people in Minnesota were homeless last year — the highest number ever recorded.
Latest Metropolitan Council Growth Forecast
Metropolitan Council · Nov 2019
Regional forecast: Household growth revised downward; population growth expected to slow.
Researchers Assess Link Between Healthcare and Evictions
Next City · Nov. 2019
A new study suggests that expanding access to healthcare for low-income people is associated with a significant reduction in the rate of evictions.
The Inflation Gap
The Atlantic · Nov 2019
A new analysis indicates that rising prices have been quietly taxing low-income families more heavily than rich ones.
Secrets of the World’s Most Livable City
CityLab · Oct 29, 2019
Viennese lawmaker Maria Vassilakou explains why the Austrian capital ranks so high on quality-of-life rankings, despite its rapidly growing population.
Secret Deal Helped Housing Industry Stop Tougher Rules on Climate Change
The New York Times · October 26, 2019
A secret agreement has allowed the nation’s homebuilders to make it much easier to block changes to building codes that would require new houses to better address climate change, according to documents reviewed by The New York Times.
The arrangement, in place for years, guarantees industry representatives a bloc of seats on two powerful committees that recommend building codes.
When the Dream of Owning a Home Became a Nightmare
The New York Times · October 19, 2019
A federal program to encourage black homeownership in the 1970s ended in a flood of foreclosures.
“Racial discrimination persisted in the new market because it was good business, not simply because the industry was stuck in its old ways. Our failure to fully recognize this history has meant that housing policy continues to uncritically revolve around market-based solutions even as black homeownership rates fall to historic lows. It’s hard to uproot these predatory practices because race has been so important to the real estate industry’s bottom line.”