Sandy Task Force Releases Rebuilding Strategy | Racial Bias in Subprime Loans | IZ Not Enough

Housing prices rose in 69 out of 70 of China’s largest cities over the past year. (photo: Quartz)

1. Report finds inclusionary zoning is not producing enough affordable housing. “The report, to be released on Friday by Mr. Lander and the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development, which represents nonprofit groups that promote affordable housing, found that the optional program known as inclusionary zoning had generated about 2,700 permanently affordable units since 2005, or less than 2 percent of all apartments developed in the city during the same period.’ [New York Times – 08/16/13]
2. The dramatic racial bias of subprime lending during the housing boom. “Here is some data on exactly how skewed things really were: In 2006, at the height of the boom, black and Hispanic families making more than $200,000 a year were more likely on average to be given a subprime loan than a white family making less than $30,000 a year. ‘To me, I see that information and I kind of scratch my head,’ says Jacob Faber, a Furman Center doctoral fellow and PhD Candidate in New York University’s Department of Sociology who uncovered that gaping disparity studying nationwide mortgage data from that period.” [Atlantic Cities – 08/19/13]
3. Bloomberg proposes fingerprinting public housing residents to reduce crimes. “New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on Friday that access to public housing buildings should be controlled by fingerprint technology to prevent criminals from entering the buildings. Speaking during a weekly program on WOR-AM radio, Bloomberg said that fingerprinting tenants of the New York City Housing Authority, or NYCHA, buildings would help to bring down the crime rate there. ” [International Business Times – 08/17/13]
4. City slows plan for market-rate units on public housing land. “Facing fierce opposition from tenants in public housing projects, the administration of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is slowing down plans to lease land in some developments for market-rate apartments.Officials with the New York City Housing Authority announced on Friday that instead of requesting formal proposals to build on the grounds of eight housing projects in Manhattan, as previously envisioned, they would first solicit ideas from private developers - so-called expressions of interest - before choosing any construction projects.” [New York Times – 08/16/13]
5. From buildings to bike lanes, an interactive view of how Bloomberg reshaped New York.  This interactive tool released this weekend by the New York Times chronicles how the Bloomberg years physically reshaped New York City. The visuals highlight the city’s housing boom, widespread re-zonings, and new construction. [New York Times – 08/18/13]
6. Housing prices rose in 69 out of 70 of China’s biggest cities. “One of the ongoing debates about China’s economy is whether the country faces a housing bubble. Data out today suggest that government attempts to rein in the market haven’t done much. In 10 of China’s 70 biggest cities, July prices for new, non-commodity commercial housing rose more than 10% from the previous year.” [Quartz – 08/19/13]
7. Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force identifies 69 recommended policy initiatives. “A presidential task force charged with developing a strategy for rebuilding areas damaged by Superstorm Sandy has issued a report recommending 69 policy initiatives, most focused on a simple warning: Plan for future storms in an age of climate change and rising sea levels.The report released Monday by the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force says coastal communities should assume floods are going to happen more frequently and realize that spending more now on protective measures could save money later.” [Huffington Post – 08/19/13]
8. Los Angeles neighborhood tries to change, but avoid the pitfalls. “These days in Boyle Heights, LA, the crime rate has plummeted. And while many residents in the largely immigrant neighborhood on the eastern edge of Los Angeles are still struggling to get by, there are signs of rapid change. Primera Taza, a coffee shop Mr. Romero opened, is one of them, evidence of what some local residents call gentefication, as more well-to-do and younger Mexican-Americans return to the neighborhood their parents fled.” [New York Times – 08/18/13]
9. Rapid rehousing: A new way to head off homelessness “It’s been exactly one year and one week since Allen-Starks agreed to take part in the District’s new Rapid Re-Housing Program, which is aimed at getting people like her out of the overcrowded D.C. General family homeless shelter and on a path toward self-sufficiency.Officials in Washington and across the country are pushing rapid rehousing as the most promising way to help homeless families move out of shelters and motels and become self-sufficient.” [Washington Post – 08/18/13]
10. Housing starts in U.S. rise on multifamily properties “Builders started work on fewer single-family homes in July, marking a pause in the residential construction rebound that’s helping to propel the U.S. economy.Work began on 2.2 percent fewer individual homes last month, taking them to a 591,000 annualized rate, the least since November, Commerce Department data showed today in Washington. Total housing starts climbed to an 896,000 pace, propelled by a rebound in the multifamily category, which can be volatile.Work on multifamily homes, such as apartment buildings, jumped 26 percent to a 305,000 rate after falling 24.8 percent in June.” [Bloomberg – 08/16/13]