Tag: affordable housing
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Extensions & Expansions
As local lore has it, when a relative asked Charles Tufts what he would do with his land, and more specifically with “that bleak hill over in Medford,” Tufts replied, “I will put a light on it.” The Universalist Church founded Tufts University in the 1840s with a gift of 20 acres of land from Boston…
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Mr. TOD
The Tale of Mr. TOD Once upon a time, Mr. Tod arrived in New York. And the rest was not yet history. The tale is still, obviously, unfolding. Will Mr. Tod be able to create mobile, accessible, and affordable neighborhoods? Or will Mr. Tod only support luxury? Mr. Tod, of course, is Mr. Transit-Oriented Development. He’s more and more popular these…
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(In)formality (In)justice
As many New Yorkers know, the rent is too damn high. The neighborhoods of New York have always been dynamic and ever-changing, and today, this continues to be true, but perhaps, on a level unforeseen in recent memory. Many are being priced out of our neighborhoods that they’ve lived in, sometimes for generations. So I asked Jimmy…
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Planning Dogmata: Affordable Housing
It occurred to me recently that “affordable housing” qualifies as dogma, since I have yet to meet a planner who does not accept it unquestioningly. I am assuming this has a lot to do with how well we are paid, and possibly living conditions in grad school when we are being indoctrinated. This came…
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Homes for Artists
In New York, gentrification has often occurred due to creative professionals and artists moving into neighborhoods that have been neglected by real estate interests and making them attractive due to their sweat investments and cultural programming of the area. Usually this results in more affluent populations moving in and displacing the long-time residents. This…
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Economics and Affordable Housing
Do urban planners know enough about urban economics? Just mentioning economics is often enough to cause most eyes to glaze over. Why should planners’ eyes be any different? One reason that urban planners don’t tend to study economics too much may be that economics is currently depicted as a conservative mode of thinking, while…