2018
"What does economic evidence tell us about the effects of rent control?"
“…While rent control appears to help current tenants in the short run, in the long run it decreases affordability, fuels gentrification, and creates negative spillovers on the surrounding neighborhood…”
...More"The questions not being asked about San Francisco’s homelessness problem"
There is a persistent, agreed upon fiction that San Francisco can house its homeless by itself.
To address this delusion, an honest reckoning is needed. For years all our mayors and staff have competently and diligently addressed this as their top priority, yet we remain exactly where we were over 20 years ago when Mayor Willie Brown committed truth by saying that it was an intractable problem.
...More"Co-living startup Starcity plans over 1,000 tiny apartments in SF, San Jose"
Tiny apartments are going big.
The co-living startup Starcity, which builds small apartments with shared kitchens and living rooms, plans to start construction next year on over 1,000 new homes in San Francisco and San Jose.
...More"Tokyo may have found the solution to soaring housing costs"
From Aug 2016
San Francisco and other large American cities are facing a massive housing affordability problem, with rents spiraling beyond the reach of ordinary people. A fascinating article from the Financial Times argues that Japan may have found a solution to the problem.
...More"Why cities need to embrace change"
Could there be a more apt place to observe “The Transforming City” than Detroit?
On behalf of Rip Rapson and my colleagues at the Kresge Foundation, welcome to Detroit. If you travel to Detroit regularly, as I have over the past 15 years, you see that Detroit changes quickly.
...More"Thinking Inside the Big Box—Innovative Concepts to Combat the Homeless Crisis"
The severity of the nationwide homeless crisis in Southern California—with an estimated 53,000 people homeless on any given night in Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles Mission—is impossible to ignore.
...More"The Link Between Urban Sprawl and Life Expectancy"
Study suggests Americans who live in compact counties live longer, on average, than those who reside in more sprawling ones
...More"Can this new luxury Oakland apartment complex snag $8,000 for a townhouse?"
It used to be that $3,000 studios and $5,000 two-bedrooms were average among new apartments in San Francisco. Now those monthly rents are migrating to Oakland.
...More"How Zoning Laws Are Holding Back America’s Cities"
Early city planners dreamt up elaborate ideas for America’s cities. But in their dreaming, they had forgotten the people their plans were drawn for.
...More"Does new construction lead to displacement?"
A careful study of evictions in San Francisco says “No.”
There’s a widespread belief among some neighborhood activists that building new housing triggers displacement.
...More
