Now, just when news breaks that poverty is at the highest rate as long as records have been kept in America, Governor Christie has announced permissive rules for communities seeking waivers from affordable housing obligations. According to today’s Inquirer story, the Christie administration’s Office of Community affairs can clear development after a ten-day waiting period. … Continue reading Affordable Housing at Risk in New Jersey?…
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In Mount Holly, NJ, Use of Eminent Domain is Challenged
In Mount Holly, New Jersey, a federal appeals court has sided with homeowners in their suit to block their displacement from an affordable 1950s housing project to make way for new development. The decision is unusual but timely: unusual in that courts have recently favored the use of eminent domain when planners make the case … Continue reading In Mount Holly, NJ, Use of Eminent Domain is Challenged…
Looking Beyond Urban Ruins
The New York Times has joined the gaggle of news outlets featuring the ruins of Detroit. The accompanying essay from the August 21, 2011 Arts section discusses the tension between art for its own sake and its possible exploitation of a bad situation. To charges that such work can be considered “ruin porn,” Andrew Moore … Continue reading Looking Beyond Urban Ruins…
In Post-industrial Camden, the numbers don’t add up
Over the past year, Governor Christie has made it clear he intends to make Camden economically self-sufficient, so the message he has sent in slashing transitional aid that traditionally has been used to meet the structural budget gaps of the state’s most distressed cities is unmistakable. The $69 million he authorized for the past fiscal … Continue reading In Post-industrial Camden, the numbers don’t add up…
More Grousing About Publicly Assisted Housing
The Clarion Ledger has provided another positive report on the work of the Wishcamper Companies, another housing renovation in Jackson, Mississippi, Lincoln Garden Apartments. Once again, complainers have swooped in to comment, predicting the complex’s demise in a matter of months, not even years.We have lots of examples of well-managed publicly-assisted housing throughout the United … Continue reading More Grousing About Publicly Assisted Housing…
Doing Good: Does the Public Care?
Christale Thomas, of Jackson, Mississippi, the single mother of three young children, had a hard time finding a place to rent that she could afford as a cashier making just over minimum wage. Fortunately, she secured a spot at Commonwealth Village, a housing complex Yale 1964’s Joe Wishcamper redeveloped, taking advantage of the generous allowance … Continue reading Doing Good: Does the Public Care?…