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Denver Is Testing Housing Vouchers For Middle-Income Workers. Austin Will Be Watching.

Audrey McGlinchy

November 14, 2018 |

KUT |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Denver, Colorado

Housing voucher programs provide assistance to those who make too much to qualify for Section 8 housing, but whose wages can’t keep up with rent in their cities. Denver, Colorado, is addressing the financial burden of skyrocketing rents by providing middle-income earners such as teachers and healthcare workers with housing assistance. Funded through a public-private partnership, the two-year pilot program allows applicants to search online for landlords that have agreed to accept the vouchers.

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Can Chicago's Gentrifying Neighborhoods Grow Without Leaving Longtime Residents Behind? Oakland's Fruitvale Village Offers Hope

Mina Bloom Mauricio Peña

November 12, 2018 |

Block Club Chicago |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Oakland, California

Turning land owned by transit agencies into transit-oriented housing developments creates opportunities for affordable housing. Instead of building another parking garage in Oakland, California, community leaders and The Unity Council nonprofit petitioned for the construction of a multi-use development that combines affordable housing units, retail spaces, and even social services. The Fruitvale Village serves as a model for future affording housing developments on BART land, or on land owned by public transit agencies in other cities.

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Austin's Fix for Homelessness: Tiny Houses, and Lots of Neighbors

Megan Kimble

November 12, 2018 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Austin

Just outside of Austin, Texas, Community First! Village lives up to its name, emphasizing personal connections and stable relationships while also providing people experiencing homelessness with affordable rents in tiny homes and RVs. The retention rate in the community is 86%, and the Village plans to expand and double its occupancy.

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Seattle Is Changing Who Gets A Say At City Hall. Could Austin Learn A Thing Or Two?

Audrey McGlinchy

November 12, 2018 |

KUT |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

Getting renters involved in the conversation increases the diversity of voices and opinions in City Hall. In 2016, Seattle created a Renters’ Commission to provide a platform similar to traditional Home Owners’ Associations, where members can have an input and act as advocates for their communities. By having residents involved with the Renters’ Commission, Seattle hopes to rebalance power and involvement in local politics, from a model traditionally dominated disproportionately by homeowners, to one more representative of the city’s actual diversity.

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With “people power,” Vancouver, B.C. activists stopped a condo in the heart of chinatown

Chetanya Robinson

November 10, 2018 |

International Examiner |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Canada, Vancouver, British Columbia

Residents in Vancouver, B.C.'s Chinatown have banded together to protect their neighborhood from gentrification. With collaboration and crowd-sourced activism ideas, young students and senior residents repeatedly knock down initiatives that would destroy the historic preservation and affordable housing in their community.

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To solve its housing affordability crisis, Boston has turned to residents

Lauren Greenawalt

November 09, 2018 |

Apolitical |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Boston, Massachusetts

When local policy initiatives fail, it is often because they are not meeting local needs in a way that residents want. The Boston Housing Innovation Lab, know as the iLab, seeks to combat this challenge. So far, it has used creative approaches to let residents “experience” a policy- such as walking through an example compact house to give feedback on its design. This process informed feedback that otherwise would have been difficult to glean. By constantly seeking to understand users, the iLab and local Boston housing groups will be better equipped to create policies that actually help community members.

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Landlords Are Powerful. Here's A Way Renters Are Regaining Some Control.

Oliver Balch

November 09, 2018 |

The Huffington Post |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

A growing number of tenant-focused websites are trying to level the power dynamic between shoddy landlords and tenants by giving tenants a voice. “There is a big power mismatch in today’s rental market, but it doesn’t have to be that way.” Amongst those is Rentlogic, which grades 1.1 million apartment buildings, but rather than relying on subjective comments the website provides a grade based on an algorithm.

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Artists Are Painting Trompe L'Oeil Murals to Soothe People with Dementia

Casey Lesser

November 01, 2018 |

Artsy |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Canada, Ottawa

Diversion murals—trompe l’oeil paintings on doorways—are being used in long-term care facilities to quell dementia patients’ exit seeking behavior. Rather than using stop signs or tape, the murals are a way to address this behavior in a way that also improves residents’ quality of life.

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Housing Designed for People on the Autism Spectrum

Sophie Haigney

October 31, 2018 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Phoenix

For the growing number of adults with autism or other neurodivergencies, the First Place apartment complex is purposely designed to provide services and independent living, and to combat long waits for other supportive housing. The complex is one of the first of its kind and has a variety of funding sources, but at a monthly rent of $3300, it's not affordable for all families.

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Tiny houses multiply amid big issues as communities tackle homelessness

Mike Plunkett

October 26, 2018 |

The Washington Post |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Kansas City, Missouri

Cities around the United States look to tiny homes as a solution to the national homeless crisis. From Kansas City, Mo. to Seattle, Wa., community members and city officials come together to build tiny homes and provide access to a stable community.

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