| The
Center for Innovation
in Affordable Housing Design, is a partnership between Penn
Design and the Peoples Emergency Center Community Development
Corporation (PECCDC). Dedicated
to developing new models of affordable housing, the Center combines
an innovative real-world development approach with housing designs
produced in the academic studio. Together, the partnership will offer
tomorrow's planners and architects the opportunity for first hand
experience in design and community development process while helping
the West Powelton community served by PECCDC accomplish sustained
and equitable development. The Center for Innovation in Affordable Housing is funded by a Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC) futures grant from the Office of University Partnerships of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. You can find out more about the OUP here, and more about the current COPC grants here. This newsletter is directed toward students, educators, affordable housing developers, designers and anyone with an interest in affordable housing. There are two components to the newsletter. We will have news from the ongoing COPC Future’s programs, including our own work in West Philadelphia. Secondly, the newsletter will include articles that we feel are pertinent to our audience. These articles are pulled from several sources, and the sources are listed with each article. We encourage you to look at these other newsletters and the additional information hosted on their home sites. This month’s newsletter is largely pulled from the newsletters of ArchNewsNow, KnowledgePlex, and Planetizen. If you know of other sources to add to the digest, have comments on the format, or have comments on the project please feel free to contact us at copc@design.upenn.edu . Also feel free to pass this newsletter along to anyone who might find it interesting. We look forward to any comments you have. The Editors Summary Articiles Studies Released Calls For Entries ARTICLES THE PREFAB HOME IS SUDDENLY FAB: Many are made in British Columbia. Are they a real housing solution? Let’s hope that the mod prefab architects think long and hard about whether it’s possible to “mass-customize” ethically and with as much environmental and social consciousness as possible. ArchNewsNow June 1 $50 MILLION PLEDGED FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN LOWER MANHATTAN New York City officials unveiled the spending plan for the $800 million earmarked for rebuilding Lower Manhattan in the wake of Sept. 11, reported Multi-housingnews.com. KnowledgePlex June 1 REHABS HELP SCHOOLHOUSES ROCK Developers in Indiana have turned shuttered schools into low-income and senior housing, reported the Indianapolis Business Journal. KnowledgePlex June 1 CHICAGO COMMUNITIES UNVEIL PLANS FOR REVITALIZATION Sixteen Chicago communities that are engaged in "one of the country's most ambitious private urban development efforts" presented Mayor Richard Daley with 10-year plans for improving their neighborhoods, reported the Chicago Sun-Times KnowledgePlex June 1 PHILADELPHIA'S SUCCESS SHAPES DENVER HOMELESS PLAN The Denver Commission to End Homelessness presented Mayor John Hickenlooper with a 10-year, $122 million plan to get the homeless off the streets, reported The Denver Post KnowledgePlex June 1 "IT WAS JUST LIKE BEVERLY HILLS": Memories stir to life each year when residents of the infamous Pruitt-Igoe housing project reunite...the stark Modernist edifices live on as an icon of failure, one of the great public-policy blunders of the 20th century. -- Minoru Yamasaki (1956) [images]- Riverfront Times (St. Louis) ArchNewsNow June 2 GENTRIFICATION THAT LEAVES A NEIGHBORHOOD INTACT South Boston has gentrified and yuppified, but its unique social customs have remained. Jun 01 -- Boston Globe Planetizen June 2 WINDOWS INSIDE AND OUT: THE DIFFERENCE DESIGN CAN MAKE Imagine any building you know well - without the windows. Windows are more than just the places we look out from, they are also, along with the front door, the visual elements on the outside of the building BILL INTRODUCED TO DOUBLE HOUSING TAX CREDITS A bill that would double the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit from $1.85 per capita to $3.70 per capita in 2006 has been introduced in the U.S. House, reported Multi-housingnews.com. In an effort to counter frequent community opposition to low-income housing, the measure would also rename the credit the "Affordable Housing Tax Credit," the article said. KnowledgePlex June 8 AFFORDABLE HOMES READY NEAR TOYOTA PLANT A San Antonio nonprofit has completed 10 of 133 homes for low-income workers near a new Toyota factory, reported the San Antonio Express-News. KnowledgePlex June 8 EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS RAISE FUNDS TO HOUSE WORKERS IN CITY An employer-assisted housing program for higher-education workers in Albany, N.Y., could be launched by August, reported the Times Union. KnowledgPlex June 8 AFFORDABILITY CONCERNS CHALLENGE RESIDENCY RULES Last year, escalating home prices persuaded Washington, D.C., officials to eliminate a 49-year-old requirement that police officers and firefighters live within 25 miles of the U.S. Capitol, reported The Washington Times. KnowledgePlex June 8 YWCA INCORPORATION STRATEGY PAYS OFF IN NEW DIGS YWCA Boston has redeveloped its 160,000-square-foot Y to provide more housing for low- and moderate-income people, reported The Boston Globe. KnowledgePlex June 8 GREEN AFFORDABLE HOUSING UNDER CONSTRUCTION IN NORTH CAMBRIDGE The first New England project to receive funds from The Enterprise Foundation's green affordable housing initiative is under construction on a North Cambridge site that was once a bus warehouse, reported The Boston Globe. KnowledgePlex June 8 IS GENTRIFICATION REALLY A THREAT? Should the social virtues of urbanism and new investment in cities get washed out in the hue and cry over gentrification? Jun 06 -- Planetizen GENTRIFICATION REALITY TOUR: NEITHER BENIGN NOR BENEVOLENT: Claims that the threat of gentrification are grossly exaggerated belie a fundamental misunderstanding of the real threat, the real victims, and the real consequences of inner-city redevelopment. Planetizen June 13 THE NEXT GENERATION OF FACTORY BUILT HOMES Factory-built houses are increasingly popular as an inexpensive solution to affordable housing. Jun 13 -- Los Angeles Times Planetizen June 16 CITY JOINS WITH LENDERS, FOUNDATION TO KEEP OWNERS IN HOMES The city of Dallas has teamed with mortgage lenders and the Minneapolis-based Homeownership Preservation Foundation to set up a free, round-the-clock phone hotline for residents worried about foreclosure, reported The Dallas Morning News. KnowledgePlex June 16 SHARED SWEAT EQUITY HELPS FIRST-TIME BUYERS INTO HOMES An initiative in Spokane, Wash., seeks to build community among home buyers who pay off their down payment and closing costs by helping to construct their homes, reported the Spokesman Review KnowledgePlex June 16 BOOST FOR SENIOR HOUSING, NO LONGER JUST LACKLUSTER OPTIONS With state and local government support, companies in the Chicago area are purchasing and redeveloping amenity-rich affordable housing for seniors, reported the Chicago Sun-Times. KnowledgePlex June 16 COUNCIL INSISTS ON AFFORDABLE HOMES FOR DISCOUNTED LOTS In Paterson, N.J., the City Council underscored its intention for affordable housing to be constructed on 41 city lots that were sold at a discount, "quashing the plans of some developers to build market-rate houses priced in excess of $300,000," reported The Record. KnowledgePlex June 1 STUDENTS ROLL OUT HOUSING MESSAGE ON TREK ACROSS CONTINENT This summer, college students are hitting the road -- on their bikes -- "to increase awareness about affordable housing and to bring an end to substandard housing," reported the Winston-Salem Journal. KnowledgePlex June 16 HOUSING BOOM: GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS The housing boom is likely to last. That's the good news...and the bad news. Jun 16 -- The New Republic Planetizen, June 20 CALIFORNIA'S HOME PRICES AT AN ALL-TIME HIGH The lack of affordable housing is reaching epic proportions all across the state. Jun 17 -- Los Angeles Times Planetizen June 20 AFFORDABLE HOUSING AT ALL TIME LOW IN SPITE OF RECORD MARKET 2004 saw record growth in the housing market, but a shift in the economy could be disasterous to owners. Jun 17 -- RISMedia Planetizen June 20 PHILADELPHIA HOUSING TRUST FUND PASSES COUNCIL The Philadelphia City Council approved a bill that would create the city's first housing trust fund, reported the Philadelphia Inquirer KnowledgePlex June 22 NEW FEES FOR DOWNTOWN PROJECTS COULD FATTEN TRUST FUNDS City commissioners in Sarasota, Fla., voted to raise the fees that developers of downtown projects pay for density bonuses, reported the Sarasota Herald-Tribune KnowledgePlex June 22 COMMUNITY LAND TRUSTS CAN BE VALUED RESOURCE Community land trusts are increasingly popular in areas where rising home prices are pricing low-income workers out of the market, according to a column in the Ventura County Star. KnowledgePlex June 22 BEIJING'S AFFORDABLE HOUSING CRISIS Amid the flurry of other construction in the city, affordable housing gets lost in the shuffle. Jun 26 -- Xinhua News Agency Planetizen June 27 ILLINOIS EXTENDS TAX CREDIT THAT AIDS HOUSING WORK Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed legislation extending the state's housing tax credit, which was set to expire at the end of 2006, to the end of 2011, reported The News-Gazette. KnowledgePlex June 29 FOUNDATION APPROVES LAND PURCHASE FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING Florida's largest community foundation will develop "a first-of-its-kind housing development for middle-class workers" in Venice, Fla., reported the Sarasota Herald-Tribune KnowledgePlex June 29 NEW APARTMENTS HELP HOMELESS AND SAVE ENERGY The first apartment building in Durham, N.C., with solar water heating will provide permanent homes for homeless adults with mental illnesses or substance-abuse problems, reported The Herald-Sun. KnowledgePlex June 29 INNOVATIONS KEEP ENERGY BILLS LOW IN NEW SUBDIVISION A new energy-efficient subdivision in Ashe County, N.C., seeks to fill a need for affordable housing in the northwestern part of the state, where "average wages are lower than in more-urban areas, but land prices are rising as retirees, vacation homeowners, and developers flock to the mountains for their beauty," reported the Winston-Salem Journal. KnowledgePlex June 29 ANNOUNCEMENTS STUDIES RELEASED HAC MAGAZINE HIGHLIGHTS MARKETING OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING The spring issue of Rural Voices, a publication of the Housing Assistance Council, features 10 organizations that are using street theater, traditional advertising, and other strategies to make the case for affordable housing. KnowledePlex June 8 HOT HOUSING MARKET MASKS ERODING AFFORDABILITY AND MOUNTING RISKS Harvard Study Reports - RIS Media ArchNewsNow June 13 SURVEY ASSESSES SUPPORT FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING A survey from the National Association of Realtors® shows that Americans support affordable housing under certain conditions. According to the third annual National Housing Opportunity Pulse, people are more likely to support affordable housing in their community if they are certain that the homes won't reduce property values, lead to overcrowded schools, or increase traffic KnowledgePlex June 16 PAPER URGES AID FOR THE 'HARD TO HOUSE' IN PUBLIC HOUSING A new brief from the Urban Institute lays out a strategy "for effectively serving 'hard-to-house' residents who remain in distressed public housing or who are experiencing hardship as a result of HOPE VI-related relocation." KnowledgePlex June 22 CALLS FOR ENTRIES 2005 COMMUNITIES OF QUALITY AWARDS PROGRAM GUIDELINES ANNOUNCED The National Affordable Housing Management Association (NAHMA) has announced participation guidelines for its 2005 Communities of Quality Awards program, which recognizes outstanding property management companies providing the highest possible quality of safe, affordable multifamily rental housing in communities around the country. NAHMANewsrelease June 10 EVENTS WORK FORCE HOUSING SEMINAR, JULY 14-15 The Harvard Design School will present a seminar on developing workforce housing July 14-15 in Cambridge, Mass. nowledgePlex June 1 NAHRO CONFERENCE AND SYMPOSIUM, JULY 14-17 The National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials will hold its summer conference July 14-17 in San Francisco. The event, which is open to nonmembers, will focus on creating sustainable communities. KnowledePlex June 8 PRODUCTION
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