News Updates
-
Furman Center Co-sponsors Talk on Increasing Single Living
February 4, 2013 – More than 30 percent of the world’s population lives alone—a portion that is growing daily. How is this profound demographic shift transforming the economic and cultural life of cities around the globe? Join NYU sociologist Eric Klinenberg, the author of Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone, and Jerilyn Perine, Director of the Citizens Housing and Planning Council, for a discussion about the rise of single adults in New York, Paris, Tokyo, and other world metropolises at an event co-hosted by the Furman Center on February 7th at the Museum for the City of New York. Read more background on this topic here and get event details here.
Posted February 4th 2013
-
Micro-Unit Buzz Presages Furman Report
January 24, 2013 – Mayor Bloomberg’s announcement last week of a winning design for a new micro-unit development in New York City reflects growing national interest in compact rental housing. With a series of roundtables last fall and a full report coming out in March, the Furman Center is actively researching the topic in 5 cities. In addition to New York, Denver, and Austin, the report will look at regulatory and other challenges to building compact rental housing in Washington DC, which has the highest percentage of single people living alone in the country, and Seattle, where micro-unit developments are selling out as fast as they are built. Check out Furman Center Legal Fellow John Infranca’s blog post on micro-units here.
Posted January 30th 2013
-
Becky Koepnick Presents LIHTC Research
January 28, 2013 – Since it was created in 1986, the LIHTC program has created over 2.2 million units of affordable housing and today it is the largest affordable housing program in the US. Presenting at the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition annual meeting, Director of the Furman Center’s Moelis Institue for Affordable Housing Policy Becky Koepnick will discuss current and ongoing Furman Center research on the LIHTC program. Past research has found that LIHTC residents live near higher performing schools than other poor residents and that the program serves lower income residents official rules require.
Posted January 30th 2013
-
Furman Staff Present to City Planning Commission in Advance of Parking Requirement Decision
January 24, 2013 – Applauding the Department of City Planning’s willingness to reexamine parking regulations in the Manhattan Core, The Furman Center’s Josiah Madar and Simon McDonnell presented a letter to the City Planning Commission. Among the changes included in the Department of City Planning’s proposed zoning text change, parking built to serve residential development would no longer be restricted to the building residents, and earlier changes to minimum parking requirements would be extended to buildings built before 1982 when the changes were enacted. The Furman Center’s commentary notes that these changes would add flexibility to the use of current and future parking. Read the full letter here, and the Furman Center’s 2012 policy brief on minimum parking requirements here.
Posted January 24th 2013
-
Furman Center Research on Neighborhood Integration Featured in HUD Journal
January 24, 2013 – A Furman Center paper identifying the pathways through which neighborhoods become and stay integrated appears in the most recent issue of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Cityscape Journal. Looking at all American cities, the paper finds the number of integrated neighborhoods has risen since 1990 from 20 to 30 percent. The paper also considers the factors that influence neighborhood integration and help neighborhoods stay integrated. Read the paper here.
Posted January 24th 2013
-
Mark Willis Discusses Affordable Housing History with the Architectural League
January 24, 2013 – In 1986 Furman Center Research Fellow Mark Willis was the Deputy Commissioner of Development at NYC Housing Preservation and Development at the launch of Mayor Ed Koch’s initial 10-Year Housing Plan. In an interview with the Architectural League, Willis describes some of the challenges of creating affordable housing out of the stock of vacant buildings and vacant lots that had come into the City’s possession and some of the elements that made it possible for the program to succeed in reviving neighborhoods across the city. Read the full interview here.
Posted January 24th 2013
-
Mark Willis Defends Record of Community Reinvestment Act
January 17, 2013 – Furman Center research fellow Mark Willis argued in a co-authored editorial Wednesday that the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) did not encourage risky loan practices in the lead up to the financial crisis. The CRA, enacted in 1977 and intended to expand access to credit and reduce credit related discrimination, is a regular target of groups aiming to place greater responsibility for the mortgage crisis on government. The editorial was prompted by a recent National Bureau of Economic Research article that claims to make a case against law. To clear the record, the editorial was accompanied by a report which clearly refutes claims that the law supported risky loan practices. Read the editorial here, and the report here.
Posted January 17th 2013
-
FACT BRIEF: NYC’s Low Rental Registration Compliance Could Interfere with Emergency Response
January 15, 2013 – In emergency situations like Hurricane Sandy, the city’s system for tracking rental property owners can serve as a crucial resource. However, a new Furman Center report, finds that the vast majority of landlords required to register with the city fail to do so. Only 23 percent of rental properties are registered with the city, and only 61 percent of NYC’s renters live in buildings with current registrations. The report outlines strategies for boosting rental registration to help make the registration ordinance a fully effective resource, including greater outreach and stronger penalties. See the press release or read the full report here.
Posted January 15th 2013
-
Furman Center Presentation Shows Impact of Sandy on City’s Housing Stock
January 12, 2013 – Furman Center Researcher Max Weselcouch showed how Hurricane Sandy’s storm surge affected New York City’s housing stock at a seminar organized by the Municipal Art Society. With city and FEMA data, the presentation showed the type and distribution of housing in areas affected by the surge, paying special attention to the location of NYCHA and other affordable housing properties. See the full presentation here.
Posted January 12th 2013
-
Furman Center Hosts Policy Breakfast on Transferable Development Rights
December 13, 2012 - The Furman Center hosted its second policy breakfast on the topic of transferable development rights (TDR), focusing on their role in achieving policy goals. Using two innovative ideas as the backdrop—one linked to affordable housing and the other to raising funds for landmarks–-the panel considered the advantages and disadvantages of loosening the rules governing the transfer of development rights; how to design new TDR programs so that they will be effective; and how to structure new TDR programs to co-exist with the broader city planning objectives for a neighborhood.
Posted December 13th 2012
- Page 2 of 15 pages < 1 2 3 4 > Last »
