February 06, 2020

A new report from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies found a “shrinking share of lower-cost rentals” in the US since the economic recession. The researchers attribute this decrease to higher rental demand among households making more than $75,000, a low vacancy rate, increased costs of housing construction, and limited new rental housing. The report recognizes that local governments and organizations have intervened via mechanisms such as zoning and land-use reform, but asserts that “only the federal government has the scope and resources to provide housing assistance at a scale appropriate to need.”

Chicago-based nonprofit developer Full Circle Communities has teamed up with the Ruth Ellis Center to open a $10 million apartment complex intended for LGBTQ young adults experiencing homelessness in Detroit. The 43-unit, mixed-use development will offer primary care doctor and mental health counseling access in addition to housing. Jerry Peterson, executive director of the Ruth Ellis Center, said that the project has “a special emphasis on providing stable housing for transgender women of color.”

Sea level rise is expected to displace 13 million US coastal residents by 2100, according to a new study that analyzed migration data from 2005’s Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Lead author Bistra Dilkina emphasizes that this study is an “approximation” and that this model is designed to be malleable to future “understandings of different drivers and externalities.” Jesse Keenan, a climate adaptation expert at Harvard University, reflected that this study shows the long-term “displacement, housing pressure, and probably even… homelessness” that climate migration will cause.

The National Center for Homeless Education reports that 1.5 million public school students experienced homelessness at some point during the 2017–18 school year. Experts say it’s the highest rate of student homelessness in more than a dozen years and that the 2017–18 school year saw a 15 percent increase in homelessness rates from the previous school year. However, because public school districts regularly undercount the number of homeless students and because the dataset excluded private school students and children not yet in kindergarten, the report likely underestimates the population.

Baltimore’s Pennsylvania Station, the eighth-busiest Amtrak station in the US, is slated for a redevelopment project that will add shops, apartment buildings, and interior improvements. Many residents of the station’s surrounding neighborhoods, collectively known as the Station North Arts and Entertainment District, have expressed gentrification concerns. Open Works executive director Will Holman affirms their concerns but offers that this particular community’s “rare” level of income diversity and recent increase in housing density will help mitigate gentrification risks.