September 17, 2020

A new study from the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) finds that people living in formerly redlined neighborhoods have higher rates of COVID-19 comorbidities, including asthma and diabetes, which makes them more susceptible to COVID-19 complications. The NCRC reports that these neighborhoods are still segregated and have larger Black and Latinx populations, lower life expectancy, higher rates of poverty, and worse health outcomes. “My hope is that a report like ours... [is] going to help communities think about affordable housing as a health issue,” said Jason Richardson, director of research and evaluation at the NCRC. 

Cities across the United States are looking beyond using hotels as interim housing to prevent community spread of the coronavirus toward establishing them as permanent housing for those experiencing homelessness. Housing advocates and researchers state that, if retrofitted with supportive programs and tenant rights, the hotel arrangements could provide permanent housing accommodations for people expected to be affected by the economic crisis. “We need to invest in creative solutions for a problem that’s only getting worse by the month,” said Joseph Loonam, housing campaign coordinator for Vocal NY.

A new analysis from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law determined that an amendment to a 2015 Texas state bill failed to provide promised affordable housing for low-income residents. Instead, the amendment resulted in private developers receiving a 100 percent property tax break while creating market-rate apartments. “You can’t go back and change the earlier contracts, but we can improve going forward,” stated Pedro Alanis, executive director of the San Antonio Housing Trust, an agency that has supported many of the development projects.

In Los Angeles, the idea of converting urban golf courses into affordable housing is gaining steam. According to architect Daniel Durham, more than 10,000 acres in the city are devoted to public, private, or municipal golf courses, a “huge use of land that [he] find[s] pretty inexcusable in dense urban areas.” Specifically, Durham proposes that the 200-acre public Rancho Park Golf Course, located in affluent West Los Angeles, could be converted to fit 15,000 units of affordable housing and house nearly 50,000 people.