The Uncharted, Uncertain Future of HOPE VI Redevelopments: The Case for Assessing Project Sustainability

Discusses the need for a third-party assessment of the management and financial stability issues posed by the publicly and privately funded redevelopment of housing projects into mixed-income, mixed-tenure properties. Explores feasibility at two sites

Rethinking the Renter/Owner Divide in Private Governance

The revered status of American homeownership has deep and seemingly impenetrable roots. In our modern mythology/reality, the castles that shelter and nurture our pursuit of the good life are under siege. A narrative common to both popular media accounts and a burgeoning property literature warns that private homeowners’ associations hold dominion over millions of Americans, dictating what they may do with their property and foreclosing when they cannot pay association fees or fines. In response to this threat, legislatures, courts, and academics are fighting to stave off these intrusions by the content and use of constraining servitudes. In focusing on the harms to property owners, these critics have unjustifiably omitted renters—a large and growing segment of the population. Nearly every American rents living space at some stage of life, and rentals are expanding as the real estate market continues on its uncertain trajectory. Tenants have no less lofty life goals than do homeowners, yet they, too, are governed by private rules for property use that severely limit certain property uses and allow termination of their property interest through eviction or sale. The rules in rental communities, moreover, serve fundamentally the same purpose as those set by homeowners associations, which is to control neighbors’ uses to increase property value. The key difference between the two types of communities, beyond simple physical layout, lies in tradition: a woman’s home is her castle, but her apartment is her rickety tenement. Even this distinction is vanishing, however, as private communities with now-familiar “intrusive” rules continue their decades-old proliferation, objections notwithstanding. If, then, private governance of property is fundamentally problematic, it is no less problematic for renters. But if, as seems more likely, we are generally willing to accept certain private rules in communities as a reasonable response to the interests of both owners and tenants, critics of private governance must explain why traditional notions of property should prevail over a modern approach to property consumers’ demands

Good Neighbors or Unwelcome Guests? Examining the Impact of Short-Term Rentals on Local Housing Markets

Over the past decade, short-term rentals have proliferated in local housing markets across the United States. The rising popularity of this home-sharing model has caused concerns about the impacts these rentals have on local rent prices and housing supply. Policymakers at the local, state, and federal levels have introduced a host of regulatory measures to curb adverse impacts and restore balance to the market, maintain housing affordability across tenure groups, and ensure compliance with state and local law. However, short-term rentals still manage to strain local housing markets with each passing year. Rather than enacting blanket legislation, policymakers should adopt comprehensive planning strategies focused on both short-term rentals and other contributors to housing mismatches perpetuated by this industry, tailored to meet the needs of their specific communities.https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154844/1/Bell_GoodNeighborsorUnwelcomeGuests.pd

Community Consequences of Airbnb

Short-term rental accommodations account for more than 20% of the United States lodging market, with annual sales now greater than those of nearly all legacy hotel brands. The rise of companies like Airbnb has created a booming market that provides affordable short-term rentals for travelers and new income for those with an extra couch, spare room, or even an unused home. However, while individual hosts and guests may benefit economically, the use of short-term rentals produces significant consequences for the surrounding community. Airbnb proliferation causes fewer affordable housing options, higher average asking rents, and erosion of neighborhood social capital. Due to discrimination among users on Airbnb’s platform, many of the benefits of short-term rental accommodations accrue to white hosts and guests, locking communities of color out of potential income and equity streams. These issues raise a question at the core of property law: which stick in the bundle is implicated by a short-term rental accommodation? Current regulations attempt to walk the line between protecting property rights and mitigating externalities created by short-term rental accommodations and borne by the local community. In doing so, the law fails to adequately address consequences resulting from the vast increase in short-term rental accommodations. This Article assesses the benefits and costs of short-term rental accommodations and analyzes how current statutory approaches amplify or diminish these effects. After examining the legal, economic, and social interests of multiple short-term rental accommodation stakeholders, including hosts, guests, the local community, and platform operators, it argues that current policies are fragmented, inconsistently applied, and ineffective. Instead, the law must be reformed to better secure access to affordable housing stock, prevent “hotelization” of residential neighborhoods, create meaningful opportunities for diverse users to share economic gains, and eliminate pathways to discriminate on homesharing platforms like Airbnb

Engaging as Partners in Energy Efficiency: A Primer for Utilities on the Energy Efficiency Needs of Multifamily Buildings and Their Owners

The multifamily building sector presents a unique set of challenges and opportunities for utilities seeking to implement effective energy efficiency programs. To deliver successful programs, utilities must understand what motivates building owners to take part in these programs, as well as barriers that may prevent participation.This paper outlines the opportunities to meet energy efficiency goals with multifamily programs. It then describes the benefits that multifamily building owners gain from these programs, and the barriers they face to participation. The paper focuses on rental housing, because these buildings are owned by a single entity and form the largest sector of the multifamily housing market. The paper provides a framework to help utilities develop successful programs that maximize energy savings and create benefits for building owners, tenants, and communities. And lastly, the paper recommends nine program design considerations that can help attract multifamily building owners to utility energy efficiency programs

Central Eastside Urban Renewal Area housing strategy

53 pp. Bookmarks supplied by UO. Map, tables, appendices. Published October 16, 2003. Captured January 19, 2009.The Central Eastside Urban Renewal Area (CES URA) Housing Strategy has been developed to guide urban renewal investments in the CES URA. The Strategy will serve as the guiding policy document for all housing expenditures administered by the Portland Development Commission (PDC) within the CES URA. [From the document

Assessment for sustainable housing in the district of Uptown

tableOfContents: Executive summary -- Chapter 1. Introduction -- 1.1. Housing challenges in the Uptown District -- 1.2. Profile of the Reinvent Phoenix grant -- 1.3. Sustainable housing research in the Uptown District -- 1.4. Objectives of the current state assessment -- Chapter 2. Research design and data sources -- Chapter 3. Sustainable housing goals, indicators, and targets -- 3.1. Goal 1. Meet demand with adequate housing options -- 3.2. Goal 2. Provide sufficient housing quality and health -- 3.3. Goal 3. Secure affordability of housing -- 3.4. Goal 4. Conserve natural resources in homes -- 3.5. Goal 5. Maintain valuable cultural and historical character -- 3.6. Summary -- Chapter 4. Sustainability of the current state of housing -- 4.1. Goal 1. Current state of meeting demand with adequate housing options -- 4.2. Goal 2. Current state of providing sufficient housing quality and health -- 4.3. Goal 3. Current state of securing affordability of housing -- 4.4. Goal 4. Current state of conserving natural resources -- 4.5. Goal 5. Current state of maintaining valuable cultural and historical character -- 4.6. Summary -- Chapter 5. Housing causal problem maps -- 5.1. Goal 1. Problem map of meeting demand with adequate housing options -- 5.2. Goal 2. Problem map of providing sufficient quality of housing and promoting healthy housing conditions -- 5.3. Goal 3. Problem map of securing affordability of housing -- 5.4. Goal 4. Problem map of conserving natural resources -- 5.5. Goal 5. Problem map of maintaining valuable cultural and historic character -- Chapter 6. Discussion and conclusions -- 6.1. Priority areas -- 6.2. Promising intervention points -- 6.3. Trade-off issues -- 6.4. Improving assessment accuracy -- References.Report submitted to the City of Phoenix Planning and Development Department by the ASU-SOS Team for the project grant 'Reinvent Phoenix--Cultivating Equity, Engagement, Economic Development and Design Excellence with Transit-Oriented Development', funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)Report mistakenly includes Executive summary from Assessment for sustainable housing in the district of Eastlake-Garfiel