Free Republic

The Trump administration today charged Facebook Inc. with violating housing discrimination laws. The social media company allows advertisers to divert housing listings away users who mention terms such as “assistance dog” and “mobility scooter,” or who live in certain zip codes, in violation of the Fair Housing Act, HUD alleged. In addition, the Justice Department today joined a lawsuit against Facebook, saying in a “statement of interest” that the company discriminates by helping advertisers pick preferred users. The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing transactions including print and online advertisement on the basis of race, religion or sex, among...

From its bamboo floors to its rooftop deck, Clayton Homes' new industrial-chic "i-house" is about as far removed from a mobile home as an iPod from a record player. Architects at the country's largest manufactured home company embraced the basic rectangular form of what began as housing on wheels and gave it a postmodern turn with a distinctive v-shaped roofline, energy efficiency and luxury appointments. Stylistically, the "i-house" might be more at home in the pages of a cutting-edge architectural magazine like Dwell— an inspirational source — than among the Cape Cods and ranchers in the suburbs. The layout of...

California’s energy regulators effectively cooked the books to justify their recent command that all homes built in the Golden State after 2020 be equipped with solar panels. Far from a boon to homeowners, the costs to builders and home buyers will likely far exceed the benefits to the state. The California Energy Commission, which approved the rule as part of new energy-efficiency regulations, didn’t conduct an objective, independent investigation of the policy’s effects. Instead it relied on economic analysis from the consultancy that proposed the policy, Energy and Environmental Economics Inc. Its study concluded that home buyers get a 100%...

From crime rates to life expectancy to income levels, statistics at the national level are next to useless when it comes to measuring the daily lives of ordinary people in the United States. This is because the United States — which is a huge and geographically diverse country — is simply too large to be summed up in a single number. This sort of generalizing is inappropriate for pretty much any place that's larger than a single metro area, but it's especially bad when applied to a place like the United States. Even the larger European countries are much...

Since time immemorial, mankind has always been in a constant state of evolution, through various innovative ideas, ground-breaking discoveries, and technologies. While technologies like war machines and drones play havoc in human civilization, there are certain technologies that aid in the betterment of our kind. One such technology is 3D Printing. What started as an experiment by Charles Hull in the early 80's, as a means for hardening tabletop coatings, 3D Printing has become a thriving multi-million dollar industry, with a potential for impacting innovations through all walks of our lives. On March 2017, in the backdrops of a quaint...

I'm seeing a significant increase of late in stories which suggest that the housing market has peaked and could be in trouble. Not everything is rosy, to be sure, but from what I can see, the worst that can be said about the housing market is that it is cooling off. The following charts tell the story: Chart #1 As Chart #1 shows, an index of the prices of homebuilders' stocks is down about 25% since last January. That's a big correction that could easily be the start of a major decline, much as we saw happen in 2006-2009....

Smokers can no longer light up in or near public housing facilities in the U.S. due to a new rule that went into effect July 31. The nationwide ban on smoking in public housing was implemented nearly two years after the rule was passed by the Obama administration in 2016. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) now prohibits the use of cigarettes, cigars and pipes in all public housing units and common areas, as well as any outdoor areas up to 25 feet from public housing and administrative office buildings. The ban does not apply to e-cigarettes, snuff...

The southern Dutch city of Eindhoven plans to unveil the world's first 3D-printed housing complex next year, which its inventors believe could revolutionise the building industry by speeding up and customising construction. Printed in concrete by a robotic arm, the project backed by the city council, Eindhoven Technical University and several construction companies aims to see its first three-bedroomed home go up by June 2019. Known as Project Milestone, a housing complex of five homes of various shapes and sizes will be built over the next three to five years, financed by private investors, said Rudy van Gurp, one of...

A French family of five has just become the first to ever move into a fully 3D printed house. Constructed in just 54 hours, the inhabitable structure is 1,022 square feet large, and includes four bedrooms and a central living area. A French family recently became the first in the world to move into a fully 3D printed house. The spectacularly sized family home was built as a part of a project that aims to use additive manufacturing to construct buildings in a quick and affordable manner. This 3D printed home was constructed in a collaborative effort involving the University...

SAN FRANCISCO -- A report out this week from the Department of Housing and Urban Development finds the median price for a single-family home in the Bay Area is now $935,000. A family earning $117,000 now qualifies as "low income" in the region. CBS News went to see California's red-hot housing market with realtor Larry Gallegos. He showed us a house you would think he couldn't give away. But Gallegos says the home, complete with leaks in the roof, sold for $1.23 million. The buyer beat out six competing offers, all above the asking price. "It's a little mind-blowing, but...

At its current level of housing construction, it would take the East Bay city of Concord until 2984 — almost the next millennia — to reach its 2040 housing goals, according to a new map from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC). Oakland residents would have to wait until 2295 before enough housing is built for its projected 2040 population. San Jose and San Francisco residents have it better off; residents’ grandchildren would see an adequate supply of housing for it’s 2040 population in 2066 and 2063, respectively. The map, released last month, highlights the continued challenges of building housing in...

The Trump administration may place up to 20,000 unaccompanied migrant children on military bases starting as early as next month, according to a new Pentagon memo. The notification, sent to lawmakers on Wednesday and first reported by The Washington Post, says the Defense Department received a request for assistance from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). “HHS has requested DOD determine its capabilities to provide up to 20,000 temporary beds for unaccompanied children at DOD installations,” the document states. If the Pentagon finds that it can provide such lodging, “the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) requests the...

The housing crisis is a multi-faceted issue, based on problems such as the lack of land space, rising housing costs, and the fact not enough houses are being built. Yet, there could be a solution to the last one in the form of 3D printed homes. A city in the Netherlands, Einhoven, will be the first place in the world to have houses made by a 3D printer. Developed by the Dutch construction company Van Wijnen, in collaboration with Eindhoven University of Technology, Project Milestone as it is called will see five homes built in total. These will be a...

EXPERTS say 3D-printed houses will be "mainstream by 2025", and could put an end to Britain's housing crisis. A new report details how Brits are less than a decade away from enjoying lower house prices thanks to a robot revolution in the construction of homes. 3D printing, or "additive manufacturing", is a process of layering up a material to build complicated structures. It works just like regular home printers – but instead of ink, a 3D printer will use materials like plastic or metal. Using giant 3D printers, it's been proven possible to quickly and cheaply build homes. Sadly the...

The agency, led by Ben Carson, announced Friday evening that it was withdrawing the assessment tool by which cities and counties are supposed to identify housing discrimination and other problems faced by minorities and other groups. Conservative critics, including Carson, have argued that it represents an unwarranted intrusion of federal government influence into local zoning matters. The Obama version of the rule would have required cities and counties to use the tool, and data provided by the federal government, to spell out exactly which kinds of disparities their citizens faced. For example, if minorities lived in areas that lack public...

Is Jeff Bezos having second thoughts about his political ideology and that of his newspaper? The founder of Amazon and owner of the Washington Post – and the richest man in the world at the current Amazon stock price – is being targeted by leftists because he has been so successful. Not for any alleged misbehavior, but simply because he and his company Amazon (not the WaPo) have so much money. Yesterday, Bernie Sanders attacked him by name, noting that the three richest men in America have as much wealth as the bottom half. Apparently, he believe that if they...

With all the controversy surrounding the proposed “head tax” in Seattle, KIRO 7 wanted to know how much support there is for the plan. We teamed up with Strategies 360 to conduct an exclusive scientific poll on the tax and whether you trust the city to properly spend the money it will raise. Below are the results, which were first shown on KIRO 7 Morning News. On behalf of KIRO-TV, Strategies 360 conducted a live telephone survey of 400 registered voters in the city of Seattle, WA. Interviews were conducted May 11-13, 2018. A combination of landline and mobile phones...

SEATTLE -- Amazon is flexing its muscles making its opposition known to a proposed Seattle tax by bringing a halt to all planning on a massive project scheduled for construction in Downtown Seattle, and may tweak its plans to occupy a new downtown skyscraper. “I can confirm that pending the outcome of the head tax vote by City Council, Amazon has paused all construction planning on our Block 18 project in downtown Seattle and is evaluating options to sub-lease all space in our recently leased Rainier Square building," says Amazon Vice President Drew Herdener. The proposed "head tax" would apply...

Seattle’s largest businesses such as Amazon and Starbucks will have to pay a new tax to help fund homeless services and affordable housing under a measure approved by city leaders. The City Council unanimously passed a compromise plan Monday that taxes businesses making at least $20 million in gross revenues about $275 per full-time worker each year — lower than the $500 per worker initially proposed. The so-called “head tax” would raise roughly $48 million a year to build new affordable housing units and provide emergency homeless services. Etc...

The Seattle city council just voted 9-0 on an expansive tax that would seek to tax the city’s businesses that make over 20 million dollars a year in gross revenues. An earlier proposal that passed last week would have taxed businesses around $500 per employee per year. That measure — which passed 5-4 — Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan threatened to veto if it reached her desk.