Free Republic

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office repeated the Los Angeles Times’ description of the RRA as “a new local authority” that would “buy burned lots, rebuild homes and offer them back at discounted rates to the original owners.”.. A controversial California bill that would have created a powerful “Resilient Rebuilding Authority” for the Los Angeles fires was put on temporary hold by state Sen. Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica, in response to widespread community concerns. “I appreciate the input of the folks who have weighed in about the bill, and along with legislative colleagues have decided that it would be best for...

California Democrats have long advocated for the construction of multi-family housing under the guise of "affordable housing" and increasing the state's housing supply—often at the expense of single-family residences. Now, leveraging the recent Eaton and Palisades fires, they appear to be using these disasters as justification to displace families from their single-family homes in order to further their agenda for dense housing development. Gov. Newsom (D-CA) said: “Los Angeles has taken significant steps to rebuild after January’s fires, but the devastation is significant and there remains a long road ahead. Thousands of families – from Pacific Palisades to Altadena to...

As the cost of living continues to soar in major cities across the United States, innovative housing solutions are emerging to address the growing crisis of affordability and homelessness. One such solution is the introduction of sleeping pods in San Francisco, a city notorious for its exorbitant rental prices. The sleeping pod initiative Brownstone Shared Housing, led by CEO James Stallworth, has recently made headlines by revealing that a staggering 300 individuals have applied for just 17 available sleeping pods in downtown San Francisco. Each pod is priced at $700 per month, a fraction of the average rent in the...

Costco, the international bulk grocery chain known for its warehouse looks and difficult-to-beat deals, is hard at work on what could be considered its biggest new product launch in years: affordable housing....but a whopping 800 residential units, including 184 set aside specifically for low-income tenants.The redone site will not only encompass the store and 800 individual apartments, it will also include a fitness area, multi-use community space, multiple courtyards and landscaped paths, a rooftop pool, and other amenities like gardens. Oh, and lots of parking too, of course. CONTINUED AT THE LINK - Diagrams,etc

Gov. Maura Healey’s administration is in the process of inking contracts with all eight resettlement agencies in Massachusetts to launch a one-year pilot program that could help up to 400 migrant families already in shelter find long-term housing and employment. Resettlement agency leaders who spoke to the Boston Herald said the pilot program would be the one of the first of its kind and place Massachusetts at the forefront of responding to a surge of arriving families who have fled oftentimes unstable or dangerous conditions in their home countries.

President Joe Biden greenlit the release of Colombian businessman Alex Saab, accused of acting as Venezuelan socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro’s top money launderer, on Wednesday. Saab’s release is allegedly the result of a prisoner swap with the rogue socialist regime that will also allow for the release of unjustly detained Americans in Venezuela, the Associated Press reported. Saab, 51, is a close personal ally of Maduro and is widely considered the socialist dictator’s financial brain. American law enforcement authorities arrested Saab in Cape Verde in 2020 after the Department of Justice indicted him in 2019 on charges of laundering $350...

***FEDERAL*** EMTALA EMTALA care provision responsibility would be limited to one episode per patient in any 365 day period excluding paid-up previous visits, with a limit waiver to be at least $200 in cash or its equivalent. EMTALA care uniformly billed at no more than 300% of Medicare amounts, including interest and late and other charges, could be collected in the manner of federal student loan debt. PPACA SUBSIDY CAPS PPACA subsidies would be limited to no more than 90% of policy cost instead of the 98% now. It is absurd that Mr. Recipient Democrat might pay $14/month for the...

California cities are losing local control as state-mandated housing to battle what officials call the state’s “housing crisis” sweeps the Golden State, experts say, with some afraid of losing their small-town feel. The state’s housing department requires local jurisdictions every eight years to plan for housing, including that which is deemed “affordable” sold at or below market rate, as part of what’s known as a Housing Element. Of concern to some is that squeezing in high-density affordable housing may not suit every city the same. Sebastopol—an apple farming town of 7,500 people in Northern California east of Santa Rosa—is just...

The US housing market continues to struggle as The Federal Reserve continues to fight inflation. Today’s pending home sales are another nail in housing casket. Pending home sales declined -34.4% year-over-year (YoY) as M2 Money growth went negative (-1.3% YoY). At least UMich buying conditions for housing increased … to 44, well below 100.

PHOENIX — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed a bill last week that will remove the cap of the size of affordable housing apartment communities built by developers wanting to qualify for a property tax exemption. The bill — HB2610 — allows for more construction of larger apartment communities across the state that will income-eligible tenants can rent, according to a press release. Tom Simplot, the Arizona Department of Housing Director, said in the release that the new law will aid with increasing affordable housing by ridding of any unnecessary barriers to development. By removing this burdensome regulation, non-profits can build...

Comedian Dave Chappelle found himself in hot water once again Monday night after he was seen opposing an affordable housing project in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Chappelle, 48, addressed the town council and threatened to pull his money from the community if they approved plans to develop 53 acres of residential housing. The town voted on the plan Wednesday after the council meeting, where the public was invited to comment on the proposal. Now, Chappelle is clearing things up. His reps didn’t respond to The Post’s request for comment, but in a statement to Fox News, his spokeswoman Carla Sims said...

But local zoning laws often don’t allow housing at these locations. [S]tate lawmakers are moving to pass new laws to get around those barriers. A bill that cleared the state Senate last week would let developers build houses on most commercial sites without changing the zoning. Another proposal would pay local governments to change the zoning to let developers build affordable housing. Last year, a bill that would have overridden local zoning laws to let developers build small apartment buildings in neighborhoods reserved for single-family homes died in the state Senate. Local governments and developers in California are already trying...

After years of not being able to find a buyer for her Saddle River mansion, Rosie O’Donnell finally caved and sold her home at a loss, The Post has learned. But the home’s next residents are already causing a stir in the tony neighborhood, home to the rich and famous, from rapper Ja Rule to singer Mary J. Blige. The six-bedroom, nine-bathroom abode is expected to be demolished and turned into a series of affordable housing units per a landmark public court settlement with Fair Share Housing Center. But the agreement has left its upscale residents outraged. According to an...

St. Paul-based developer Wellington Management Inc. woke up on Thursday morning to find its under-construction, 190-unit apartment project in its Minnehaha Commons redevelopment near the intersection of Lake Street and Minnehaha Avenue in south Minneapolis had been torched and burned to the ground. The six-story, 190-unit affordable housing project had been slated to open in the spring of 2021. A city of Minneapolis worksheet on the project listed the total development cost at approximately $37 million, including contingency and reserve funds; land and construction costs were about $30 million. The apartment project has been known as Midtown Corner.

Common life events that can cause homelessness You’ve heard it before: the root cause of homelessness is the lack of affordable housing. That’s still true. However, anyone can become homeless. Setting aside the structural factors and systemic failures, here are the most common individual causes of homelessness. Because this is a more personal look at the subject, I’ve included examples of someone who became homeless in these various ways. Eviction or Foreclosure Unsurprisingly, losing your home can result in homelessness. It did for William when he lost his Detroit home to foreclosure in 2007 while undergoing treatment for colon cancer....

Many retail employees are having a hard time making ends meet. Leftists have proposed raising wages to $15/hour, and sometimes have done so, but such wages are unrealistically expensive for most retail employers. If retail stores had restricted occupancy apartments above their selling floor, retail employees could live in these and not need to pay for a car and liability insurance. Residential restricted occupancy is sometimes found in English agricultural regions to keep housing affordable for people working in agriculture. Retail store residency would have additional benefits of reducing road congestion and CO2 emissions, increasing employee reliability, the amount of...

Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany “urgently needed” extra affordable housing and used her weekly video podcast Saturday to reel off a series of steps — outlined last February as her coalition took shape — to get them built before the next federal elections in 2021. Simultaneously Saturday, the board chairman of Germany’s BA Labor Agency, Detlef Scheele, told Stuttgart-based SWR public broadcasting that affordable housing had become the “burning topic of our times.” More and more people were seeking second jobs to supplement their incomes, especially in Germany’s urban hubs, said Scheele Last year alone, Berlin property prices soared 20.5...

As any New Yorker knows, finding an apartment is not easy. The city’s affordable housing lottery was set up to assist residents, but applying for the lottery takes time and patience. Brooklyn resident Maria Martinez told PIX11 she’s been applying faithfully for 20 years, since the inception of the lottery program. Speaking through a translator, she said the process is frustrating. “You keep applying. You hope you end up with a home, but it hasn’t happened for me yet,” Martinez said. Martinez currently rents a one-bedroom apartment in Williamsburg. She lives with her husband and two teenage children. “Sometimes I...

Last year we noted, via the Liberty Blitzkrieg blog, that rents in San Francisco and surrounding areas had grown so out of control that even Ivy Leaguers, like 31 year old Luke Iseman of The Wharton School, were having a hard time making ends meet. After growing tired of renting a run down, tiny apartment for $4,200 per month, Iseman decided to take a novel approach to housing. So he rented out a warehouse space and filled it with 11 steel shipping containers that he now rents out as makeshift apartments for $1,000 per month. We learn more from Bloomberg:...

The fact that the warehouse was not on the fire inspection system is puzzling because the city Fire Prevention Bureau is required to conduct annual inspections of all commercial buildings and multifamily residences, according to city ordinance. Some former residents described the warehouse as a cluttered “death trap” lacking fire sprinklers and filled with debris and exposed wires. Some said they made complaints to the city. People rented space in the building even though it was zoned only for warehouse use. The death toll from the fire was so high because the warehouse was hosting an unpermitted concert that night....