Archinect - News

White House ACHP debuts draft alternatives for National Historic Preservation Act compliance

2024-08-27T18:52:00-04:00

The White House’s Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) has proposed its first Draft Program Comment aimed at providing federal agencies with alternatives to complying with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.

If fully approved and adopted, the recommendations will take precedence over a number of key areas that impact the architecture industry, namely housing, transportation, and the acceleration of decarbonization efforts in the building sector.

Architect and ACHP Chair Sara C. Bronin, who spoke to Archinect on the topic of housing desegregation in 2021, said: "Today’s action aims to position our historic places at the center of affordable, accessible, climate-resilient, equitable, and interconnected communities and to ensure new investment reaches people who live in, use, and enjoy our historic places. I am looking forward to engaging Indian Tribes, Native Hawaiian organizations, and the public on the best ways to ensure historic preservation strateg...

This 3D printed social housing apartment building aims to become Europe's first of its kind

2023-11-21T12:01:00-05:00

German company PERI 3D Construction is collaborating with construction printer manufacturer COBOD on what the team describes as the “first 3D printed social housing apartment building in Germany and Europe.” The three-floor building will contain six apartment units ranging from 670 to 890 square feet.

Image credit: COBOD / PERI 3D

Located in the Ruhr city of Lünen, the project will see the first two floors of the apartment building 3D printed using concrete, while the top floor will be built using a timber hybrid construction method. The foundation, base, and horizontal slabs will be built from conventional methods, while the facade finish will comprise the 3D printed surface on the bottom two floors and facade panels to the top floor.

“We are pleased to be able to demonstrate once again how quickly, efficiently, and in a resource-saving manner the 3D printer can create living space and what potential is also opening up in the multi-family house segment,” PERI’s managing director Fab...

NBBJ and ESI Design's newly renovated Nickerson Gardens Playground in Watts opens

2023-08-21T17:31:00-04:00

NBBJ shares details of its Nickerson Gardens Playground renovation project in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles as part of a grand opening held on August 16th at the site, which forms the center of what is the largest American public housing development west of the Mississippi River.

The project is part of a larger $1 billion redevelopment of the Nickerson Gardens public housing tract that was first designed by Paul Revere Williams in 1955. Along with the 17,656-square-foot renovation, the new life breathed into the site will also include a fitness center, new slides, a carousel, and other brightly-colored children’s play equipment from Kompan.

Project image render courtesy NBBJ.

Completed project build. Image courtesy NBBJ and photography by Ty Cole.

NBBJ designed the project pro bono alongside its East Coast experience design studio ESI Design and with the incorporation of a community feedback process that was led by the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA). Red...

FEMA is getting tough on property managers with the hopes of preventing another Bronx fire tragedy

2023-01-12T17:05:00-05:00

On the first anniversary of the Twin Parks fire in the Bronx that killed 17 people, the Federal Emergency Management Agency will announce a new national plan to combat “America’s fire problem” using investigatory muscle granted by federal legislation that President Biden signed last month. The legislation will give the United States Fire Administration the power to identify the causes of fires like the one at the Twin Parks North West housing complex.

A year removed from the tragic blaze that took the lives of 17 people in the Bronx apartment complex once lauded by Paul Goldberger for its trend-bucking design, lawmakers in Washington have finally heeded the desperate pleas of public housing advocates who appealed for stricter safety measures in response to the Twin Parks fire and another incident in Philadelphia just days prior.

Biden appointee Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell, the head of the U.S. Fire Administration, said the lack of adequate fire data will also be addressed for the first time. The results will hopefully benefit the estimated 1.3 million Americans who live in public housing. Last year alone, there were more than 1.2 million reported structure fires (of all types), resulting in the deaths of some 2,500 people nationwide.

Related Feature on Archinect: America’s Public Housing is Burning, Fueled by Cold Indifference

“It’s always in our neighborhood,” one former Twin Parks resident told the Times, referring to the deadly di...

New York State passes bill allowing NYCHA to acquire funding from private investors

2022-06-06T14:47:00-04:00

City leaders and lawmakers say thousands of public housing residents in New York City who have been forced to live with leaks, mold, broken elevators, and busted boilers may finally see better living conditions in what could amount to a fundamental shift in how public housing is funded in the city.

Last Thursday, the state Legislature passed a bill that would allow the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) to establish a public-benefit corporation that could raise billions for much-needed renovations across 25,000 apartments. Called the Public Housing Preservation Trust, the entity would allow NYCHA to issue bonds and borrow money from private investors to pay for repairs. Under the program, the Authority would move away from direct federal subsidies, converting housing units from public housing under Section 9 of the U.S. Housing Act to the voucher-based system known as Section 8 that allows access to additional federal funding. Through Section 8, eligible low- and moderate-income families are provided assistance to rent housing in the private market.

Previously on Archinect: Private developers to renovate 1,673 NYCHA public housing units in East New York

Many tenants and some legislators oppose the plan, however, citing concerns that the legislation could threaten certain ...

NYC plan to allow cannabis cultivation on public housing rooftops runs into federal hurdles

2022-04-19T17:34:00-04:00

At an April 9 panel discussion in Albany, Adams said his team was exploring whether the city could allow cannabis cultivation on the rooftops of New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) facilities. The idea, he said, would be to employ NYCHA residents to staff and oversee the greenhouses as the state continues to roll out its recreational marijuana program for adults. “The jobs can come from NYCHA residents. The proceeds and education can go right into employing people right in the area.”

As part of its economic development agenda, the Adams administration has been pushing an ambitious pilot program for rooftop cultivation on federally-funded NYCHA public housing properties. The current laws, however, still classify marijuana as a controlled substance, leading to an inevitable impasse. An inbound decriminalization bill written by New York Democratic congressman Jerry Nadler could clear the way for legal grow operations on such property via an update to the federal guidelines, which a spokesperson for the mayor told Gothamist are held over from a pernicious era of public policymaking.

“[Federal] laws still on the books continue to harm the same communities that have been targeted for decades,” City Hall spokesperson Charles Lutvak explained. “The House passed legislation to this effect earlier this month, and we need those who are obstructing progress at the federal level to follow New York’s lead.”

Related on Archinect: Michael Kimmelman on some newer rays of light ...

Lawmakers are pushing for change in the wake of last month's deadly Twin Parks Fire as residents look to rebuild

2022-02-10T16:30:00-05:00

It has been a month since the deadly space heater-induced apartment fire at the Twins Parks housing complex claimed the lives of 17 people and displaced more than 200 families from a largely Gambian immigrant community in the South Bronx. The incident has turned into a bellwether for the state of public housing and building safety in the United States and elsewhere. Here is an update on the events that have transpired in the four weeks following the deadly blaze.

At least 59 families have been staying in hotels spread out across the Bronx with several different local agencies working to secure long-term solutions. Many of the displaced are reporting challenges and limited options and a lack of genuine concern.

“No one is helping us working class. We don't know where to go, what to do – they keep holding that we have income over our heads,” Vercie Pope told a local news outlet. “One case worker told me pay for it yourself, pay out of pocket for everything. I don't think I have to pay...

Michael Kimmelman on some newer rays of light in NYC’s public housing stock

2022-02-07T11:59:00-05:00

Writing about Twin Parks in 1973, The Times’s former architecture critic, Paul Goldberger, speculated that the project might “turn out to be important in the history of housing design.” [...] design, however compassionate, can mean only so much against the obstacles that make up the housing problem today.” The calculus is the same half a century later. But the South Bronx isn’t. Gradually, it has been remade. Progress isn’t impossible, it’s a process.

Both observed South Bronx developments, 1490 Southern Boulevard and a transformation of the Lambert Houses, are seen as examples of high-quality and effective public housing that offers residents more than just desultory amenities. The Times critic broke down the new-ish developments by Dattner and Bernheimer Architects by first cautioning us with a history lesson about nearby Twin Parks (which Paul Goldberger predicted might “turn out to be important in the history of housing design” at its opening in 1973), adding that, in his view, the pair offer “templates for redoing” many of NYCHA’s 302 other campuses.

“It’s an 18-story building with 163 permanently affordable units and a doorman. The boxy, drab exterior, set a few steps up and back from the street wall, looks almost belligerently banal. But inside the building is comfortable, luxurious even, compared with the deteriorating apartments and hallways I saw in the old buildings. Crucial to the conversion, no tenants are being dis...

NYCHA is challenging designers to create an affordable heat pump for 24,000 apartment units

2022-01-27T17:23:00-05:00

A creative answer to one of the most pervasive issues in American public housing is being sought by one of the largest civic authorities in the country as the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) has issued a challenge to design an affordable new all-electric heat pump for the 21st century.

NYCHA has made design challenges a part of its program before. As Grist noted, the agency has previously issued similar challenges to older generations of industrial manufacturers, including a late-90s contest to design more energy-efficient refrigerators for its properties, which at the time, did not offer ample enough space for the appliances. A design from Maytag won the contest and was widely adopted by a number of other regional housing authorities in order to reduce energy costs.

Now, with the tragedy of this month’s devastating Bronx apartment fire in its recent purview, NYCHA is once again asking for help from the design community in solving a silent problem that has drawn increasing ...

Private developers to renovate 1,673 NYCHA public housing units in East New York

2022-01-11T15:00:00-05:00

A consortium of private developers recently closed on a $600 million loan to complete renovations and infrastructure upgrades across a 1,673-unit NYCHA public housing portfolio. Boulevard Together Developer LLC, a joint venture with The Hudson Companies, Property Resources Corporation, and Duvernay + Brooks, is undertaking the refurbishment of a total of 29 buildings in East New York.

The properties include the Boulevard Houses, Fiorentino Plaza, and the Belmont-Sutter Area Houses. This project is being facilitated through the NYCHA’s Permanent Affordability Commitment Together (PACT) initiative, in which selected developments receive needed renovations, along with expanded vocational and economic support services. It ensures that these homes remain permanently affordable. PACT depends on partnerships with private and non-profit development partners, who are selected based on resident input.

Previously on Archinect: NYCHA privatizes management of 5,900 units to fund needed repairs

Improvements to the housing developments will include new bathrooms, upgraded kitchens with Energy Star appliances, lighting systems, enhanced entryways and communal areas, both indoor and outside, and repairs to the façades and building envelopes. When complete, Boulevard Together Management LLC will serve as the new on-site property manager.

New York's deadliest fire in years was the product of a space heater and mechanical issues

2022-01-10T15:29:00-05:00

The fire was started by a malfunctioning space heater in the bedroom of a third-floor apartment on Sunday. Fire officials say the door of the apartment did not close as residents fled and that allowed smoke to spread throughout the building.

The deaths and injuries in Sunday’s tragically avoidable accident were exclusively the product of smoke inhalation as the fire itself was contained to the apartment and outside hallway.

The blaze came just days after another horrible incident in Philadelphia that claimed the lives of twelve people including eight children.

The mayor’s office officially revised the number of dead in the Bronx case to 17 early Monday. The department of buildings said it has no plans for the remaining structure following a preliminary inspection and that survivors will be offered relocation assistance from the Red Cross at this time.

In response, the FDNY said that it was investigating a “maintenance issue” stemming from a faulty door that allowed the smoke to spread throughout the building. The company that owns the building sent The New York Times an email statement in which it claimed all of the doors in the 19-story structure were self-closing as required by law as late as July.

According to Lt. ...

Berlin to vote on radical idea to fight housing crisis

2021-07-01T12:10:00-04:00

Berlin is to hold a referendum on a grassroots proposal that would force major property companies to sell thousands of their apartments to a public-owned body. A public petition for the idea, fueled by anger over surging housing prices, has gathered 183,711 valid signatures, which is more than the 172,000 required to put the question to a public vote in the city.

The idea, proposed by the “Expropriate Deutsche Wohnen & Co." initiative, would target companies with more than 3,000 apartments in their portfolio, and would likely see more than 240,000 homes placed under a public agency that would be required to administer the homes “democratically, transparently, and in the public interest.”

The campaign comes after rising anger in the German capital over the cost of housing. More than 80% of Berlin’s 3.7 million residents are renters, rather than homeowners. Property prices in the city have risen by nearly 85% between 2007 and 2019, driven by the capital’s attractiveness to investor...

Clinton-era federal public housing ban one step closer to repeal

2020-07-02T17:29:00-04:00

The United States House of Representatives has passed a substantial infrastructure bill that includes an addendum from New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez repealing the Faircloth Amendment, a 22-year-old regulation that caps the overall number of public housing units that can be built in the United States.

Previously on Archinect: "AOC and Bernie Sanders unveil "Green New Deal for Housing" plan."

The Moving Forward Act brings much needed funding to surface transportation initiatives, including public transit, provides for rural broadband infrastructure, and aims to spur the creation of green collar jobs.

Among these initiatives is Representative Ocasio-Cortez's amendment, which would begin to allow the federal government to expand the nation's public housing stock after a two decade hiatus.

Currently, federal authorities are limited in how many public housing units can be built and cannot add to the supply of public housing in the country above the number of public hous...

NYCHA privatizes management of 5,900 units to fund needed repairs

2020-02-18T13:02:00-05:00

The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) has struck a deal with five different private developers that will hand over the management and repair duties for seven public housing complexes to the selected companies in exchange for $1.5 billion in repairs.

The deal will impact 5,908 housing units spread across NYCHA's Linden Houses, Boulevard Houses, Williamsburg Houses, Bethune Gardens, Marshall Plaza, Audubon Houses, and Harlem River Houses 1 and 2 in Brooklyn and Manhattan.

In a statement highlighting the deal, NYCHA chairman and CEO Greg Russ said, “We are excited to announce the development teams that will partner with us in meeting the capital need of more than $1.5 billion associated with these NYCHA campuses ... [the developers] will be instrumental in completing the renovations our residents need and deserve.”

The Harlem River Houses, one of the complexes being handed over for private management. Image courtesy of Wikimedia user Beyond My Ken.

New York City Deputy Mayor Vick...

Berlin's progressive rent-freeze and building expropriation movement gains steam

2020-02-05T15:25:00-05:00

Beginning in early 2020, Berlin’s left-leaning government will freeze rents for five years. Landlords will be required to show new tenants the most recent rental contracts to prove they aren’t jacking up prices. They’ll also have to follow new rent-cap rules, which for many landlords could mean lowering rents by as much as 40%. Those who don’t comply will be hit with fines as high as €500,000 ($553,000) for each violation.

Writing in Bloomberg Businessweek, Caroline Winter and Andrew Blackman cover the fascinating political battle taking place in Berlin, Germany, where tenants' groups and landlords are navigating the impacts of recent rent-freeze regulations by the local government that aim to reign in unaffordable rents in the city.

The freeze is being complimented with an aggressive apartment building buy-back program that will remove housing units from private control, placing the homes under public ownership. Berlin is currently growing by over 40,000 new residents every year and faces a housing shortfall that, when coupled with rampant speculative investment, threatens to turn yet another affordable city into an expensive enclave for international finance.

Section 8 voucher discrimination will be illegal in California starting January 1

2019-12-31T19:36:00-05:00

“No Section 8.” You’ll find those words on rental listings across the country. Landlords use them to deter people who rely on the federal Housing Choice Voucher Program, formerly known as Section 8, from applying for their units. Starting in January, a new California law will make that discrimination illegal.

A new law is slated to take effect in California on January 1, 2020 that will prevent landlords in the state from discriminating against federal housing voucher recipients.

The measure caps off a better-than-average year for tenants rights activists across the country—at the local level, at least—in America’s major cities that includes the passage of significant new rent control ordinances in New York State. In addition, at the national level, a slate of rent control and pro-public hosing initiatives have also shined a light on several facets of the ongoing struggles to reign in housing costs across the country.

Paris is building—California is not

2019-12-27T12:20:00-05:00

Though the French capital and its suburbs house less than one-third the population of California, the region produced more new homes last year than the entire Golden State.

MIT Urban Planning doctoral candidate Yonah Freemark, writing in The San Francisco Chronicle, highlights the successes that have taken shape in Paris in recent years with regards to increasing housing production and affordability.

The recipe for success, according to Freemark’s research, includes a mix of well-known housing carrots, like imposing new inclusionary zoning initiatives, both locally and at the national level, funding the construction of public housing on excess government-owned land, and allowing for infill development consisting of smaller buildings on smaller parcels.

The recipe includes a couple of stick, too, including a dash of eminent domain and a dose of heavy fines for municipalities that do not meet housing goals. The approach, according to Freemark, is working.

Why is it illegal to expand public housing in the United States?

2019-12-03T14:00:00-05:00

Under the Faircloth Amendment [signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1999], the supply of public housing is capped at 1999 levels. In order to build a new public housing unit, the federal government is required to either abolish an existing unit or sell it to a private buyer. [...] Article 34 of the California state constitution requires majority voter approval at the ballot for government-funded construction of any low-income housing project including public housing.

Writing in The San Francisco Examiner, data scientist and fair housing advocate Sasha Perigo highlights the federal Faircloth Amendment as perhaps the most significant obstacle standing in the way of a trio of recently proposed public housing expansion programs that could vastly increase public housing construction nationwide.

As Perigo writes, political momentum is gaining speed to repeal both the federal and state laws in question. The plans unveiled by New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and by Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar would both repeal the Faircloth amendment, for example. Meanwhile, in California, State Senators Ben Allen and Scott Wiener are aiming to work locally to scrap the state's Article 34 provision, Perigo reports.

"Housing is Infrastructure Act" could bring $100 billion to affordable housing

2019-11-27T13:00:00-05:00

California Senator and presidential contender Kamala Harris and California Representative Maxine Waters have introduced the "Housing is Infrastructure Act," a $107 billion bill that aims to upgrade and expand affordable housing across the country. The bill is the latest in a series of efforts geared toward bringing new sources of funding for the retrofitting and expansion of America's affordable and public housing stocks.

Terrace 459 Parkside affordable housing project by Landon Bone Baker Architects in Chicago. Photo by David Schalliol.

Funding Breakdown

A breakdown of the funding package highlights the wide-ranging and targeted nature of the proposal. The package, for example, aims to bring $70 billion to a Public Housing Capital Fund that would be tapped to build new public housing units and renovate existing public housing complexes, CNBC reports. $10 billion would head to the Community Development Block Grant program to focus on eliminating zoning impediments and "other requir...

Rep. Ilhan Omar unveils 12 million unit "Homes for All" plan

2019-11-21T16:29:00-05:00

Homes For All

United States Representative Ilhan Omar has unveiled a new piece of legislation that seeks to reinvigorate public housing construction across the country by building 12 million new public and affordable housing units over the next decade.

The so-called “Homes for All Act” unveiled this week would bring a whopping $1 trillion in federal funding for the construction of these new units and would also establish a permanent federal funding steam to ensure housing affordability in the United States, according to The Star Tribune. As proposed, $800 million of the overall total would go toward the construction of 9.5 million new public housing units while the remainder will be used to finance a federal Housing Trust Fund used to fuel the construction of 2.5 million new affordable housing units by nonprofit and municipal entities, The Huffington Post reports.

Colorado Court Affordable Housing, designed by Brooks + Scarpa in Santa Monica, California. Image courtesy of Wikimedi...

AOC and Bernie Sanders unveil "Green New Deal for Housing" plan

2019-11-14T10:05:00-05:00

New York City Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders have unveiled a bold initiative aimed at rejuvenating and decarbonizing the nation’s public housing stock.

The visionary Green New Deal for Public Housing Act aims to bring sorely needed maintenance upgrades to America’s 500,000 public housing units through a series of repair, weatherization, and retrofitting efforts. The improvements will come via seven grant programs aimed at addressing specific design and material shortfalls currently plaguing public housing complexes across the country.

Triple bottom line plan

The plan is expected to cost somewhere between $119 billion and $172 billion over the next decade, according to a study conducted by progressive think tank Data for Progress and the University of Pennsylvania’s McHarg Center and Socio-Spatial Climate Collaborative research centers. The Data Progress study estimates that the plan could create up to 240,723 jobs per year. Those jobs, u...

NYCHA swaps air rights for $25 million, 21 affordable units in Brooklyn

2019-10-18T12:31:00-04:00

A first-of-its-kind deal to sell the air rights at a Fort Greene NYCHA development is nearing completion after months of negotiation. The deal would transfer nearly 100,000 square feet of building rights from the Ingersoll Houses to a yet-to-be-built private development next door. In exchange, developers would provide nearly $25 million for maintenance at Ingersoll as part of NYCHA’s new long-term strategy to leverage private funds for the repair of its beleaguered housing stock.

The deal will help a 183-unit mixed use development located next door to Brooklyn's Ingersoll Houses grow to 400 units in size. In exchange, the number of affordable housing units designed into the project will increase from 79 to 100, New York YIMBY reports.

The proposed 202 Tillary Street development as designed before the acquisition of additional air rights. Image courtesy of New York YIMBY.

The landmark deal is a preview of NYCHA's long-rumored plans to monetize unused development rights in exchange for funds that could help address unmet capital needs like maintenance and repairs.

The $25 million garnered through the deal, however, falls far short from the projected $300 million in repairs the Ingersoll Houses will require over the next decade.

Minneapolis public housing chief picked to lead NYCHA

2019-06-27T12:44:00-04:00

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Tuesday that the city had tapped Gregory Russ as Nycha’s new chairman, following 14 months without a permanent leader and after an exhaustive nationwide search, which included a salary increase to entice reluctant candidates.

Gregory Russ, current head of Minneapolis Public Housing Authority, has been picked to lead the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA).

Russ told The New York Times, “Nycha’s issues actually are not just important for New York City, but they’re important nationally.”

Currently, Russ oversees housing for 11,000 people in Minneapolis. NYCHA, on the other hand, houses over 400,000 residents. The New York Times reports that Russ's annual salary, $402,000, will make him New York City's highest-earning public official.

The decision comes as New York's Regional Plan Association selects Peterson Rich Office to oversee research into finding ways for addressing NYCHA's unmet capital improvement needs, an effort that will require over $45 billion in repairs.

Peterson Rich Office to research NYCHA upgrades

2019-06-26T16:26:00-04:00

The Regional Plan Association of New York (RPA) has named Miriam Peterson and Nathan Rich of architecture firm Peterson Rich Office (PRO) as the organization’s inaugural Richard Kaplan Chairs for Urban Design.

The year-long research position, funded to “address a critical need for preservation and better design in the New York City region” will position PRO to continue their ongoing efforts to understand and articulate potential solutions for the New York City Housing Authority’s (NYCHA) current capital needs deficit.

View of PRO's Roof By Roof proposal that would add new housing units atop existing NYCHA housing towers. Image courtesy of Peterson Rich Office.

According to research already conducted by PRO, NYCHA is currently suffering from $45 billion in unmet capital needs, a byproduct, according to a 2018 RPA report, of “decades of neglect and underinvestment by all levels of government.” That total includes deferred general maintenance and lead abatement issues in individual un...

Activists turned planners: How citizens of Berlin helped tackle affordable housing and a massive redevelopment project

2019-06-13T15:33:00-04:00

The Berlin activists who staged a protest at a vacant government building didn’t imagine they’d end up leading a €140 million redevelopment project.

During the 1960s, the Haus der Statistik was built for the national statistics office for East Germany. The massive complex spreads over eight blocks at half a million square feet, comprising three connected mid-rises and some smaller buildings. As years passed, the Haus der Statistik's history and political involvement soon became a thing of the past after it closed down in 2008. Laying dormant and abandoned, local Berlin artists and activists decided to intervene once word of the building was said to be torn down and replaced with private apartments and offices.

Banner drop at the Haus der Statistik, 2015. The one-story building later converted to a planning workshop is seen at the right edge of the frame. Image © Allianz bedrohter Berliner Atelierhäuser

Upset with the lack of affordable housing, these artists worked together to save the building and use its massive size and structural potential to transform it into something the community needs...

San Francisco releases new proposed budget to tackle city housing and homelessness

2019-06-04T20:46:00-04:00

Mayor London Breed’s proposed budget for the coming fiscal year will soar by $1.2 billion — making it the largest in city history — and boost investment in tackling the city’s most urgent problems: housing and homelessness.

The housing and homelessness crisis in major cities, especially in San Francisco, has been an ongoing issue. Mayor London Breed met with city officials and San Francisco residents to address new plans to address solutions towards the increased initiative towards housing and homelessness. With an increase in this coming fiscal budget, the Mayor and Board of Supervisors have decided to spend it on replacing the older dilapidated public housing units in the city as well as add 1,000 affordable and market-rate homes to the area. During her public proposal Breed stressed the new spending plan would focus on "equity and accountability for all" especially those in overlooked communities like Sunnydale.

"It's all about housing," Breed said at the Sunnydale event. "We all know the cost of housing is too high. We all know the problem did not happen overnight and will not be solved overnight." With this increased budget, there will be challenges. However, this has not slowed Breed's focus on i...

NYCHA in danger of a federal takeover

2019-01-02T14:50:00-05:00

According to the United States’ General Accounting Office, receiverships in housing authorities generally result from “longstanding, severe, and persistent management problems that led to deterioration of housing stock.” NYCHA, who took the public advocate’s top spot for the city’s worst landlord in 2018, faces mounting repair costs in excess of $25 billion and has exhibited failures eliminating mold and lead paint, among a laundry list of other nightmarish woes for its tenants.

Mayor Bill De Blasio and the Department of Housing and Urban Development have until the 31st of January to agree on how to run the agency. If that does not happen and Ben Carson declares New York City Housing Authority in substantial default, NYCHA which oversees housing for over 400,000 New Yorkers might be taken over by the federal government.

In the case of an administrative receivership, NYCHA’s affairs would be taken over by HUD, which could potentially involve working together as partners. However, if placed into a judicial receivership, NYCHA would be appointed a receiver, ranging anywhere between HUD officials and private firms, that after personal assessment would have full authority to change the agency and manage its properties to their liking, backed by the court.

Hong Kong's public housing receives widespread photographic attention

2018-08-13T15:52:00-04:00

Across Hong Kong, where almost half the population lives in government-provided housing, public housing complexes have become wildly popular Instagram destinations. Locals and tourists have flocked to estates around the city, craning their necks to get that perfect social media shot and irritating residents in the process. The estates have drawn professional interest as well, featuring prominently in marketing campaigns and even a music video by the Korean boy band Seventeen.

Hong Kong's public housing, largely built in the 1960's and 70's, has attracted widespread public attention for its aesthetic appeal. These modernist style high-rises photograph beautifully with colorful displays of clean lined symmetry. While these buildings are visually engaging, they also play an important role providing affordable housing to millions in one of the most expensive cities to live. Hong Kong's immense public sector housing program creates space for nearly half of the city's residents.

Vienna leads globally in affordable housing and quality of life

2018-07-25T15:05:00-04:00

With its affordable and attractive places to live, the Austrian capital is fast becoming the international gold standard when it comes to public housing, or what Europeans call “social housing” ― in Vienna’s case, government-subsidized housing rented out by the municipality or nonprofit housing associations. Unlike America’s public housing projects, which remain unloved and underfunded...

In Vienna 62% of its citizens reside in public housing, standing in stark contrast with less than 1% living in US social housing. The Austrian capital boasts regulated rents and strongly protects tenant's rights, while US public housing functions as a last resort for low-income individuals. Earlier this year Vienna was listed at the top of Mercer's Quality of Living Ranking, beating every city in the world for the ninth year in a row. Needless to say US cities have much to learn from Vienna's urban housing model.

New Zealand photographer Cody Ellingham captures Japan's declining public housing blocks in new Danchi exhibition

2018-05-21T14:47:00-04:00

Danchi—which translates literally to "group land" but has come to refer to Japan's public housing blocks—emerged in the 1960s as the country was faced with rapid modernization and urbanization. A period of high-growth, the government built these apartment complexes in many suburban areas to offset the housing demand of a rapidly growing population.

Modeled after the apartment blocks built by the Soviet government, danchi were made from western materials and western designs; in their time, they were considered the height of modernity. Today, fewer and fewer Japanese live in the gradually aging housing, preferring other models such as single-family homes or condos. Though many of the buildings sit dilapidated and depopulated, they remain tranquil architectural giants of the cityscape.

Hirao Danchi. Photo Credit: Cody Ellingham.

Exploring over 40 of these large sites, New Zealand photographer Cody Ellingham has captured the Tokyo apartments for his new series, Danchi Dreams. While ori...