Work

The workmen over and above the fence
fit bricks, lift mortar, slap it accurately
in place. Guilty by sitting idle, I
imagine they envy my luxury
of doing nothing until I remember
the days I had my hands full of shovel,
the dragline plowing the ditch of a sewer
through a future subdivision and how
I pitied those who walked by our work
with no apparent occupation,
denied the pleasure of making something,
piece by piece—even if it would soon
be buried—they would depend upon.

- Robert King (from www.rattle.com)

NY Times Urges Affordable Housing Funding in Stimulus Package

A Stimulus for the Poor

   February 7, 2009

   NY Times Editorial

The stimulus package taking shape in Congress does little to provide affordable housing for the country's poorest families. That is grim news. Affordable housing has been hard to find in recent years. It's even harder now that many Americans have lost their jobs and homes.

Congress could help low-income Americans find homes — and create jobs doing it — by providing money for the National Housing Trust Fund, a worthy program it created last summer but has so far failed to finance. The Senate and House versions of the stimulus bills do not now contain such money, but funds could and should be added in the conference committee that must reconcile the bills.

The trust fund was originally envisioned as a project that would encourage developers to build 1.5 million affordable housing units in mixed-income developments. The government-backed mortgage companies, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, were to provide the money. Both, however, ran into financial trouble.

Congress can take up the slack. The need for affordable housing has increased dramatically in the last six months, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development has already done a lot of advance planning.

Estimates by the National Low Income Housing Coalition suggest that a Congressional down payment of $10 billion for the fund, plus $3.5 billion in housing vouchers under the Section 8 program, could produce affordable housing for up to 400,000 people. New construction would, of course, spawn new jobs right away.

The Senate's stimulus bill would give home buyers a tax credit of 10 percent of the price of a primary residence, up to $15,000. This would help middle- and upper-income buyers, but not the elderly, poor and disabled who don't earn enough to qualify for this break. Congress can help them by reviving the National Housing Trust Fund.

ADA Case vs Shelter Providers Settled in DC

(A settlement agreement in an ADA case brought in Washington DC by lawyers for the US Department of Justice [yes, the same DOJ that says it's OK to torture prisoners] has nationwide significance for shelters and homeless services providers.  Here's some details.)

On December 10, 2008, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) entered into a settlement agreement with the District of Columbia to improve the accessibility of D.C. homeless shelters for people with disabilities after numerous complaints about the District's widespread violations of Title II of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA).  The agreement covers all severe weather, low barrier, and temporary shelters run directly or through contractual arrangement by D.C.  The settlement will remain in effect for three years for all terms except the physical accessibility provisions, which will remain in effect for five years.  The full settlement can be found at http://www.ada.gov/dc_shelter.htm#settlement.

The press releases from the Department of Justice and the D.C. Attorney General summarize the settlement as follows:

"The terms of the settlement require the District to increase the accessibility of its shelter program by:

• Developing a comprehensive plan to ensure that persons with disabilities have equal access to the District's homeless shelter facilities;
• Implementing specific policies, practices and training to ensure that individuals with disabilities have equivalent access to all services and activities of the shelter program;
• Improving notice and procedures to ensure that shelter applicants and residents are aware of their rights under the ADA;
• Enhancing effective communication with shelter applicants and residents who have disabilities related to speech, vision or hearing; and
• Enhancing oversight of private contractors and subcontractors that provide homeless shelter services in the District."

http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2008/December/08-crt-1096.html; http://dc.gov/mayor/news/release.asp?id=1438&mon=200812. 

Major findings and requirements contained within the settlement:

1. D.C. must make changes to its policies and procedures to allow for greater programmatic accessibility, including the following:
• Notifying shelter applicants of their rights to request reasonable modifications to rules, policies, practices, or procedures because of a disability.
• Individuals are not required to use specific forms or procedures to make requests, and requests cannot be denied for failing to follow a preferred procedure.
• Shelter providers shall only request verification regarding the reasonable modification request if it is necessary and tailored to verifying the disability or the need for the request.  Such verification can usually come from the requester or another person in the know.
• Shelter providers must respond promptly to requests for reasonable modifications.  In addition: "Reasonable modification requests shall be granted immediately where the denial of the request is reasonably likely to cause serious harm to an individual with a disability." (Paragraph 21(a)(iii)).

2. DOJ surveyed 15 shelters for physical accessibility, 10 of which D.C. claimed met ADA standards. DOJ found that none of the shelters complied with the ADA, thus D.C. does not operate a single homeless shelter that is accessible to persons with physical disabilities.  There is a detailed appendix to the settlement listing the violations. 

3. D.C. must draft and implement an interim and comprehensive physical accessibility plan to bring the shelter system into compliance with the ADA.  The first drafts of the plans are due no later than ninety (90) days from December 10^th.  The shelters must be brought into compliance within two (2) years of the completion of the comprehensive plan.  The public will have an opportunity to comment on these plans in writing and at a public hearing.

4. If the comprehensive physical accessibility plan does not require that every shelter be accessible, "it must ensure that:
1. the locations of the accessible Shelters are at least equivalent to the locations of the inaccessible Shelters with regard to the Shelters' proximity to various forms of public transportation and non-Shelter services that are frequently used by individuals residing at Shelters including, but not limited to, meal programs, employment assistance programs, health clinics, legal clinics, and government offices that administer or distribute benefits to low-income residents of the District;
2. individuals with physical disabilities are not subjected to Shelter rules or requirements more burdensome than those used at inaccessible Shelters;
3. individuals with physical disabilities have access to the Shelter Program in the most integrated setting appropriate to the needs of such individuals; and
4. individuals with physical disabilities otherwise have equivalent access to the services, programs, and activities of the Shelter Program." (Paragraph 20(c)).

5. D.C. must develop the means to effectively communicate with shelter applicants and residents with speech, vision, or hearing-related disabilities, including acquiring necessary equipment, alternative formats, and oral and sign language interpretation services.

6. D.C. must draft and implement a plan for accessible transportation among shelters and services.

7. D.C. must have at least one ADA Coordinator to oversee ADA compliance in the shelter system, resolve complaints, and monitor the adherence to the terms of the settlement.  Currently, Rhonda Stewart at DHS is the ADA Coordinator (671-4422).

8. D.C. has to post notifications of ADA rights and complaint procedures in all shelters and places where shelter residents might use services.

9. D.C. must develop and implement procedures to improve monitoring and oversight of the ADA compliance of its contractors and subcontractors to "include, but not necessarily be limited to:
1. review of contractors' or subcontractors' written rules and procedures;
2. scheduled and unscheduled visits to intake sites and Shelters. Such visits shall include inspection of clients' files and interviews with Shelter clients and applicants;
3. review of Shelter denials;
4. strict time limits for corrective action for any deficiencies discovered during monitoring; and
5. sanctions for contractors or subcontractors." (Paragraph 24).

10. D.C. must develop, through the D.C. Office of Disability Rights, a comprehensive training program for shelter staff on the ADA, reasonable modification policies and procedures and the requirements of the settlement.

No Furnaces but Heat Aplenty in ‘Passive Houses’(Germany)

By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL - NY Times 12/27/08

DARMSTADT, Germany — From the outside, there is nothing unusual about the stylish new gray and orange row houses in the Kranichstein District, with wreaths on the doors and Christmas lights twinkling through a freezing drizzle. But these houses are part of a revolution in building design: There are no drafts, no cold tile floors, no snuggling under blankets until the furnace kicks in. There is, in fact, no furnace.

In Berthold Kaufmann's home, there is, to be fair, one radiator for emergency backup in the living room — but it is not in use. Even on the coldest nights in central Germany, Mr. Kaufmann's new "passive house" and others of this design get all the heat and hot water they need from the amount of energy that would be needed to run a hair dryer.

"You don't think about temperature — the house just adjusts," said Mr. Kaufmann, watching his 2-year-old daughter, dressed in a T-shirt, tuck into her sausage in the spacious living room, whose glass doors open to a patio. His new home uses about one-twentieth the heating energy of his parents' home of roughly the same size, he said.

Architects in many countries, in attempts to meet new energy efficiency standards like the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standard in the United States, are designing homes with better insulation and high-efficiency appliances, as well as tapping into alternative sources of power, like solar panels and wind turbines.

The concept of the passive house, pioneered in this city of 140,000 outside Frankfurt, approaches the challenge from a different angle. Using ultrathick insulation and complex doors and windows, the architect engineers a home encased in an airtight shell, so that barely any heat escapes and barely any cold seeps in. That means a passive house can be warmed not only by the sun, but also by the heat from appliances and even from occupants' bodies.

And in Germany, passive houses cost only about 5 to 7 percent more to build than conventional houses.

Decades ago, attempts at creating sealed solar-heated homes failed, because of stagnant air and mold. But new passive houses use an ingenious central ventilation system. The warm air going out passes side by side with clean, cold air coming in, exchanging heat with 90 percent efficiency.

"The myth before was that to be warm you had to have heating. Our goal is to create a warm house without energy demand," said Wolfgang Hasper, an engineer at the Passivhaus Institut in Darmstadt. "This is not about wearing thick pullovers, turning the thermostat down and putting up with drafts. It's about being comfortable with less energy input, and we do this by recycling heating."

There are now an estimated 15,000 passive houses around the world, the vast majority built in the past few years in German-speaking countries or Scandinavia.

The first passive home was built here in 1991 by Wolfgang Feist, a local physicist, but diffusion of the idea was slowed by language. The courses and literature were mostly in German, and even now the components are mass-produced only in this part of the world.

The industry is thriving in Germany, however — for example, schools in Frankfurt are built with the technique.

Moreover, its popularity is spreading. The European Commission is promoting passive-house building, and the European Parliament has proposed that new buildings meet passive-house standards by 2011.

The United States Army, long a presence in this part of Germany, is considering passive-house barracks.

"Awareness is skyrocketing; it's hard for us to keep up with requests," Mr. Hasper said.

Nabih Tahan, a California architect who worked in Austria for 11 years, is completing one of the first passive houses in the United States for his family in Berkeley. He heads a group of 70 Bay Area architects and engineers working to encourage wider acceptance of the standards. "This is a recipe for energy that makes sense to people," Mr. Tahan said. "Why not reuse this heat you get for free?"

Ironically, however, when California inspectors were examining the Berkeley home to determine whether it met "green" building codes (it did), he could not get credit for the heat exchanger, a device that is still uncommon in the United States. "When you think about passive-house standards, you start looking at buildings in a different way," he said.

Buildings that are certified hermetically sealed may sound suffocating. (To meet the standard, a building must pass a "blow test" showing that it loses minimal air under pressure.) In fact, passive houses have plenty of windows — though far more face south than north — and all can be opened.

Inside, a passive home does have a slightly different gestalt from conventional houses, just as an electric car drives differently from its gas-using cousin. There is a kind of spaceship-like uniformity of air and temperature. The air from outside all goes through HEPA filters before entering the rooms. The cement floor of the basement isn't cold. The walls and the air are basically the same temperature.

Look closer and there are technical differences: When the windows are swung open, you see their layers of glass and gas, as well as the elaborate seals around the edges. A small, grated duct near the ceiling in the living room brings in clean air. In the basement there is no furnace, but instead what looks like a giant Styrofoam cooler, containing the heat exchanger.

Passive houses need no human tinkering, but most architects put in a switch with three settings, which can be turned down for vacations, or up to circulate air for a party (though you can also just open the windows). "We've found it's very important to people that they feel they can influence the system," Mr. Hasper said.

The houses may be too radical for those who treasure an experience like drinking hot chocolate in a cold kitchen. But not for others. "I grew up in a great old house that was always 10 degrees too cold, so I knew I wanted to make something different," said Georg W. Zielke, who built his first passive house here, for his family, in 2003 and now designs no other kinds of buildings.

In Germany the added construction costs of passive houses are modest and, because of their growing popularity and an ever larger array of attractive off-the-shelf components, are shrinking.

But the sophisticated windows and heat-exchange ventilation systems needed to make passive houses work properly are not readily available in the United States. So the construction of passive houses in the United States, at least initially, is likely to entail a higher price differential.

Moreover, the kinds of home construction popular in the United States are more difficult to adapt to the standard: residential buildings tend not to have built-in ventilation systems of any kind, and sliding windows are hard to seal.

Dr. Feist's original passive house — a boxy white building with four apartments — looks like the science project that it was intended to be. But new passive houses come in many shapes and styles. The Passivhaus Institut, which he founded a decade ago, continues to conduct research, teaches architects, and tests homes to make sure they meet standards. It now has affiliates in Britain and the United States.

Still, there are challenges to broader adoption even in Europe.

Because a successful passive house requires the interplay of the building, the sun and the climate, architects need to be careful about site selection. Passive-house heating might not work in a shady valley in Switzerland, or on an urban street with no south-facing wall. Researchers are looking into whether the concept will work in warmer climates — where a heat exchanger could be used in reverse, to keep cool air in and warm air out.

And those who want passive-house mansions may be disappointed. Compact shapes are simpler to seal, while sprawling homes are difficult to insulate and heat.

Most passive houses allow about 500 square feet per person, a comfortable though not expansive living space. Mr. Hasper said people who wanted thousands of square feet per person should look for another design.

More on Shaun Donovan

From the 12/15/08 Progress Report ( http://pr.thinkprogress.org/ )

In his weekly address on Saturday, President-elect Obama named New York City housing commissioner Shaun Donovan as his pick to run the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), saying that few departments would be "more essential" in his effort "to stem the rising tide of foreclosures and strengthen our economy." "With experience that stretches from the public sector to the private sector to academia, Shaun will bring to this important post fresh thinking, unencumbered by old ideology and outdated ideas," said Obama. Before New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg tapped him to run "what has been called the nation's largest affordable-housing plan," Donovan served at HUD in the Clinton administration, as both acting federal housing commissioner and deputy assistant secretary for multifamily housing. Politicians and housing advocates widely hailed Donovan's nomination. "Shaun Donovan is a brilliant choice for HUD. He is an expert on the full range of housing issues and has a proven track record of getting things done," said Sheila Crowley, president of the National Low Income Housing Coalition. "Thankfully, President-elect Obama has chosen a HUD secretary that is uniquely qualified to take on this task," said Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), who chairs the subcommittee that controls HUD appropriations. If he is confirmed, Donovan will be a lead player in addressing "the worst economic climate in decades" as "American homeowners are reeling from plummeting home values and rising unemployment."

Full Article: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=df7q7cfm_91hhm2bqvk

Obama: HUD Pick Central Part of Economic Blueprint

by: Philip Elliott and Jim Kuhnhenn, The Associated Press  Saturday 13 December 2008

President-elect Barack Obama selects New York City Housing Commissioner, Shaun Donovan, to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development. (Photo: James Hamilton / The New York Observer)

    In naming his choice for housing secretary, President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday rounded out his economic team and gave new prominence to the mortgage crisis that has dragged the country into a recession.

    The selection of Shaun Donovan as secretary of Housing and Urban Development puts the current New York City housing commissioner at the forefront of one of the more nettlesome economic challenges confronting the new administration - the soaring foreclosures that are threatening homeownership nationwide.

    The Federal Reserve estimates that lenders are on track to initiate 2.25 million foreclosures this year, more than doubling the annual pace before the crisis set in. What's more, falling housing values and a plunging stock market have contributed to $2.8 trillion in lost household wealth in the third quarter.

    Donovan joins a team led by Tim Geithner, Obama's nominee for Treasury secretary, and Larry Summers, who will chair Obama's National Economic Council. Obama has his team working on an ambitious economic recovery plan that includes saving or creating 2.5 million jobs over the next two years.

    Stemming foreclosures and stabilizing the battered housing market will be daunting tasks that have already bedeviled Congress and the Bush administration.

    "We need to approach the old challenge of affordable housing with new energy, new ideas, and a new, efficient style of leadership," Obama said upon naming Donovan during his Saturday radio address. "We need to understand that the old ways of looking at our cities just won't do."

    Donovan will inherit various tools to confront the problem. Obama wants to use the second half of a $700 billion financial industry rescue plan to help stem foreclosures. Congress this year also put in place a $300 billion program designed to let troubled homeowners swap risky loans for more affordable ones, though few have applied. Moreover, homeowners have continued to default on mortgages despite government efforts to lower interest rates and modify repayment terms.

    With one in 10 U.S. homeowners delinquent on mortgage payments or in foreclosure, Obama said Donovan will bring "fresh thinking, unencumbered by old ideology and outdated ideas" at the Housing and Urban Development Department to help resolve the housing and economic crisis.

    Donovan, head of New York's Housing Preservation and Development Department, is a former Clinton administration HUD official with a national reputation for curtailing low-income foreclosures, developing affordable housing and managing the nation's largest housing plan.

    "Mr. Donovan's background prepares him to address the extremely difficult challenges our country faces in helping Americans find affordable housing," said Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.

    If confirmed by the Senate, Donovan would become the nation's top housing official in the midst of the worst recession in decades. Falling home values and stricter lending standards have ensnared millions of U.S. households. More than 259,000 homes received a foreclosure-related notice in November, up 28 percent from a year earlier.

    Conrad Egan, president of the nonpartisan National Housing Conference, said Obama's selection of Donovan signals that he recognizes HUD can play a big role in the economic recovery.

    "It really needs to be a seat at the Cabinet table that is the principal point where housing and community development issues are brought together and resolved successfully," Egan said. "HUD has been perceived as a second-tier participant in meeting that challenge."

    Obama's housing plans, as spelled out during his campaign and the current transition, include:

    _Enacting a 90-day foreclosure moratorium for homeowners "who are acting in good faith."

    _Getting Treasury and HUD to coordinate with state housing agencies to restructure mortgages.

    _Reforming the bankruptcy code to help homeowners.

    _Enacting a 10 percent refundable tax credit on mortgage interest.

    "This plan will only work with a comprehensive, coordinated federal effort to make it a reality," Obama said. "We need every part of our government working together from the Treasury Department to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the agency that protects the money you've put in the bank."

    Right now, the Bush administration's Treasury Department is resisting an effort by FDIC chairwoman Sheila Bair to use $24 billion in financial bailout funds to help 1.5 million borrowers avoid foreclosure by guaranteeing modified mortgages.

    Donovan, a 42-year-old New York native, told the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee in May that HUD's programs have led to "a feast-famine cycle, in which our program grows to the allowed size and then contracts so we don't go above our authorized level."

    As New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's top aide for housing, Donovan kept foreclosures to a minimum in the city's low- and moderate-income homeownership plan, with just five of 17,000 participating homes falling. He oversaw the creation of the $200 million New York Acquisition Fund, a collaboration involving the city, foundations and financial institutions. It is intended to help small developers and nonprofit groups compete for land in the private market.

    "He has moved our focus beyond the old public sector driven solutions by giving the starring role to the private and nonprofit sectors," Bloomberg said Saturday. He said Donovan "has shown that we can do more with less - especially in these difficult times."

    Sheila Crowley, president of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, said Donovan "enjoys high regard across the spectrum of housing interests, from low income housing and homeless advocates, public officials, developers, and financiers alike

Housing Is Bad Enough, but Wait - It'll Get Worse

by: Kevin G. Hall, McClatchy Newspapers

Washington - If you think the housing slump can't get much worse, Martin Feldstein thinks that both home prices and the broader economy can - and very likely will - get a whole le lot worse.

The Harvard University professor and former chief economic adviser to Ronald Reagan isn't part of the crowd that continually forecasts doom. For two decades, he's headed the National Bureau of Economic Research, which officially determines when U.S. recessions begin and end.

So when he spoke on Monday night at the annual dinner of the National Economists Club, a gathering of like-minded wonks, Feldstein's grim calculations were noteworthy.

"There are now 12 million homes in the United States with a loan-to-value ratio greater than 100 percent. That's one mortgage in four. The aggregate amount of that is some $2 trillion," said Feldstein. "If you look at the median (midpoint) loan-to-value ratio in that 12 million group of underwater mortgages - mortgages with negative equity  " the median loan-to-value ratio is 120 percent."

That means about 25 percent of all U.S. mortgages are exceed the value of the homes the mortgages are financing. In the case of half the homes that are underwater, homeowners are paying a mortgage that's now 20 percent higher than the value of the home.

That's bad - but it's likely to get worse.

A recent rreport by First American Core Logic, a real-estate data firm in Santa Ana, Calif., estimated that as of Sept. 30, 7.5 million mortgages, or 18 percent of all properties with a mortgage, had negative equity. The group thinks there are another 2.1 million mortgages that are within 5 percent of going underwater.

Together, these two categories account for 23 percent of all properties with a mortgage. Nevada led all states with 48 percent of homes with negative equity. Florida and Arizona each had 29 percent of homes with underwater mortgages, while 27 percent of mortgages in California were upside-down, the group said.

If home prices fall another 10 to 15 percent, as measured by the Case/Shiller Home Price Index, then four out of every 10 mortgages in the U.S. could be underwater, Feldstein said.

"At those levels, it's hard to see how many people are going to be willing to keep up with their mortgages," Feldstein said.

The implications for many homeowners are staggering. Before the recent housing boom of 2000 to 2006, homes increased in value at a historical annual rate of about 2.3 percent when adjusted for inflation.

That means that for homeowners who owe 35 percent more than their homes' value, it would take, at historical averages, about 15 years just to break even on their home investment. They won't build equity. It would be a huge incentive for millions to hand the keys back to the lender and seek cheaper housing.

Not all real estate experts buy Feldstein's stark numbers.

"That's the highest percentage I've heard from anybody, by quite a bit," said Rick Sharga, senior vice president for Realtytrac, an Irvine, Calif., company that publishes foreclosure data.

More conservative forecasts, though still dismal, point to a smaller drop in home prices of 5 percent to 7 percent, he said.

Added Jay Brinkmann, chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association in the nation's capital, "If you generalize the numbers too far, I think it leads to some incorrect conclusions."

The Case/Shiller Index is driven by home sales that have taken place. It doesn't reflect the stability in older, established neighborhoods, Brinkmann said. The vacant and for-sale rates nationwide for homes built before 2000 - that is, pre-boom - is js just 2 percent. The delinquency and foreclosure problems are concentrated mostly in a handful of states, such as California, Florida, Arizona and Nevada, which had overbuilding and weak lending standards.

"Those states have about 25 percent of the mortgages and 50 percent of the foreclosure starts" in the latest association survey, Brinkmann said. Nationwide, 6.4 percent of all mortgages were delinquent through June, but the number of delinquencies and foreclosure starts are breaking records every quarter, the most recent MBA survey said.

Brinkmann's own rough guess is that somewhere between 6 million and 8 million mortgages are underwater, still a very high number. He doesn't see the national outlook getting better any time soon, framing his estimate of when that happens in the form of a question: "When does the influence of these massive declines in California and Florida go away?"

Realtytrac's forecast isn't any brighter.

"The best-case scenario in terms of the real estate market is we probably bottom out between mid-year and the end of 2009. And that's the best case from where we're sitting," Sharga said. "The only reason it could happen that soon is because of how rapidly and how severe the downturn has been in the housing market."

A lot would have to go right to reach that best-case scenario. Government and industry efforts would have to step up efforts to forgive or make up the difference between the value of the mortgage and the value of the home.

The final batch of subprime mortgages scheduled to reset to a higher interest rate will have done so by the end of the first quarter of 2009.

In a rare bit of relief for one segment of the housing market, the interest rates that determine the monthly payments for some adjustable-rate mortgages are falling.

Sharga said, however, that the next problem is the $60 billion of adjustable-rate Alt-A mortgages, which fall between subprime and prime loans. Millions of these loans are scheduled to reset next year to higher interest rates. That could bring monthly mortgage payment increases of $1,000 or more if the loans aren't modified or refinanced.

All this is happening amid what now clearly is a deepening recession, with the highest job losses and deepest drops in consumer spending in decades. The Labor Department reported on Thursday that weekly jobless claims jumped to 542,000, a 16-year high, last week. That suggests a fast-deepening recession.

The White House Thursday acknowledged for the first time that it now supports efforts in Congress to extend unemployment benefits for longer periods to the millions of Americans who can't find work in the downturn.

Consumer spending drives about two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, and as unemployment mounts and consumers retrench, that leads to even more unemployment, mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures.

"The problem now is what will be happening with jobs," Brinkmann said.

Condo owners and the homeless co-exist in Bellingham

From THE BELLINGHAM HERALD November 12, 2008

BELLINGHAM -- With a fierce stare, Pastor Chuck Sargent describes how homeless people he's feeding have slashed his tires, only to come back later and apologize. He says one is threatening to kill him. The rules prevent sleeping on the property, but drunks still pass out on the front porch.

From the log-cabin-style building in Old Town, Sargent and his Church on the Street Bellingham practice tough love for the homeless. But he's first to admit it's not easy.

That's why he doubts the city's plan to transform the industrial area -- Bellingham's Skid Row, as one neighbor calls it -- into an urban village with commercial-residential buildings and a mix of people. He doesn't believe the homeless and condo owners will blend.

"If they can't co-exist with the people ministering to them, how are they going to co-exist with the people who give them nothing?" he asked. "You're asking for trouble if you develop this into high-rises."

The city's plan calls for redeveloping Old Town, which is between and includes parts of the Lettered Streets neighborhood and downtown.

Will the homeless and condo owners mix like peanut butter and jelly, or oil and water? Will their presence slow redevelopment? Or will redevelopment simply push them out?

Opinions vary. But city officials and a New York-based group specializing in public spaces say successful redevelopment has been done elsewhere and can work in Old Town.

"Design for your hopes, not your fears," said Ethan Kent, a vice president at New York-based Project for Public Spaces, which in 2006 advised leaders in Whatcom County. "Building a city out of fear of that population is not going to create a great city."

The City Council in March approved the Old Town plan, which calls for adding between 860 and 1,120 housing units and up to 400,000 square feet of commercial space by 2022.

The city already has invested about $8 million in local, state and federal money in Old Town, and it has committed to millions more. Money has been spent on environmental restoration of Whatcom Creek and improvements to Maritime Heritage Park and Holly and Central streets.

The city is now waiting for redevelopment to happen.

Stakeholders disagree on how a visible homeless population will affect those efforts.

Developer Fred Bovenkamp is optimistic that redevelopment can happen with the homeless there. He owns land and is planning projects in or near Old Town. "I would walk that area any time of the day or night and not feel unsafe," he said.

One of his projects includes 63 housing units and 5,000 square feet of retail/office space at the former site of Hempler's meat company at F and Astor streets. That's across from the Lighthouse Mission, which provided nearly 9,000 meals in August. But in the more than three years Bovenkamp has owned the site, he's never had vandalism.

Bovenkamp said the city erred in letting Lighthouse Mission Ministries take over three corners of F and Holly streets -- the gateway to Old Town. Lighthouse is now building that third part -- a $1.5 million, 25-bed shelter opposite its main facility.

Still, he said, the mission provides crucial services in the community, and redevelopment could co-exist with the homeless.

Lighthouse Executive Director Ron Buchinski hung up on a Bellingham Herald reporter and didn't respond to several follow-up messages. He did not comment to the city during creation of the Old Town plan, said Tara Sundin, who managed forming the plan.

Bovenkamp points to Seattle's Belltown as an example where condominiums successfully moved in next to homeless services. Belltown has more than 8,600 housing units, at a density of about 40 per acre, and the city of Seattle wants 4,700 more units there by 2024.

Bellingham officials hope redevelopment will attract more people to what some people have nicknamed "Maritime Homeless Park."

"That will, I think, really help the comfort of the park and will bring more people down there," Sundin said. A planned playground there will also draw families with children, she said.

Others aren't so confident.

Old Town property owner John Lemperes last year told city staff he was concerned about the impact to the homeless and that redevelopment might be limited by their presence.

Michael McAuley, vice chairman of the Lettered Streets Neighborhood Association, said the homeless create "a redevelopment challenge for that part of town."

The Lighthouse Mission has done a fantastic job of helping homeless, he said, but the more it expands the less businesses will want to locate in what he called "Bellingham's Skid Row." He suggested the city help the mission relocate.

"The city is optimistic, I think, in glossing over some of the problems," he said, "because they just don't know how to deal with it."

What will happen to the homeless amid redevelopment?

Developer Ken Imus remembers when Fairhaven was empty lots, stray animals, taverns and drugs. In the early 1970s, he bought his first building and spruced it up. He's also constructed new buildings. It took years, he said, but he eventually helped create a new atmosphere.

Redeveloping and cleaning up Old Town means the homeless have to go, he said. But he doesn't have a solution.

"You can't have it both ways. You can't have transients and homeless and expect grandma to bring the grandkids and come shopping," he said. "It's been proven around the country. It just doesn't work."

Chris Grabber, a homeless man who volunteers at Church on the Street Bellingham, fears the homeless will be pushed out.

"What the city will do is put the high-rises in, and that will be the reason to boot the homeless out of here," he said.

Others say a blending of demographics will benefit everyone.

In successful redevelopments, no one demographic dominates the public space, said Kent, of the Project for Public Spaces. The best way to handle areas with homeless is to bring in other people with new developments designed to create attractive, vibrant shared public spaces, he said.

Using those spaces actively -- with outdoor concerts, vendors and outdoor cafe seating -- also helps make the area feel safer, he added.

NY Times: Affordable Housing Deals Are Stalling

By TERRY PRISTIN November 12, 2008

At a time when projects all over New York are being canceled or postponed, a development team that plans to transform a weedy site in East Harlem into a 12-story rental apartment building had cause to celebrate last week. Despite the economic downturn, the partners were able to complete the financing for the $65 million building and schedule a groundbreaking for next Tuesday.

The building, which is to rise on a site at 124th Street and Second Avenue that is a patchwork of 10 city-owned and private lots, will be known as the Tapestry. Half of its 184 apartments will rent at the market rate, while 30 percent will be set aside for people whose household income is less than 130 percent of the New York area median income, which is currently $74,600, and 20 percent for people who earn only 50 percent of the median income.

Getting a project like this under way is usually a time-consuming exercise. The developers — Jonathan F. P. Rose and Nicholas and Gerard Lettire — had to stitch together a daunting array of tax credits, tax-exempt bonds, loans and grants.

But even these days, money is available for well-structured projects, said Mr. Rose, who has been developing affordable housing around the country for 19 years. “The developer has to have a good track record, and financial strength, and the project has to be well thought-out,” he said in an interview in his Fifth Avenue office.

He said he hoped to close the financing next month for two more income-restricted projects — one in Albuquerque and another in Harlem, on 140th Street and Riverside Drive, to be developed in partnership with the Fortune Society, a nonprofit organization that provides services to ex-convicts.

Affordable housing is said to do better than other real estate sectors in a bad economy because government subsidies are available, land and construction costs fall and demand for the apartments rises.

But because of the toll that the credit squeeze has taken on financial institutions, busy developers like Mr. Rose may be more the exception than the rule. Though the need for affordable housing is likely to grow as unemployment worsens, specialists in mixed-income rental housing say that many developers — especially outside of New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago — are finding it difficult or even impossible to put their deals together.

“We think there is an enormous slowdown in the production of affordable housing that’s happening right now,” said Richard Paul Richman, the chairman of the Richman Group, a company based in Greenwich, Conn., that develops affordable housing nationwide. “We believe that the shortage of equity is so severe that even qualified developers won’t get funded.”

To read full article, CLICK HERE

Cut the Sprawl, Cut the Warming

NY Times Editorial - October 6, 2008

For years, while Washington slept, most of the serious work on climate change has occurred in the states, and no state has worked harder than California. The latest example of California's originality is a new law — the nation's first — intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by curbing urban sprawl and cutting back the time people have to spend in their automobiles.

Passenger vehicles are the biggest single source of carbon dioxide in California, producing nearly one-third of the total. Meanwhile, the number of miles driven in California has increased 50 percent faster than the rate of population growth, largely because people have to drive greater distances in their daily lives.

The new law has many moving parts, but the basic sequence is straightforward. The state's Air Resources Board will determine the level of emissions produced by cars and light trucks, including S.U.V.'s, in each of California's 17 metropolitan planning areas. Emissions-reduction goals for 2020 and 2035 would be assigned to each area. Local governments would then devise strategies for housing development, road-building and other land uses to shorten travel distances, reduce driving and meet the new targets.

One obvious solution would be to change zoning laws so developers can build new housing closer to where people work. Another is to improve mass transit — in woefully short supply in California — so commuters don't have to rely so much on cars.

The bill contains significant incentives, including the promise of substantial federal and state money to regions whose plans pass muster. In addition, and with the consent of the environmental community, the state will relax various environmental rules to allow "infill" — higher-density land use in or near cities and towns.

The bill's architect, State Senator Darrell Steinberg, worked closely with developers and environmental groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council. The measure is the latest in a string of initiatives from the California Legislature, including a 2002 law that would greatly reduce carbon emissions from automobiles, and a 2006 law requiring that one-fifth of California's energy come from wind and other renewable sources.

Given California's size, these and other initiatives will help reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. Even more progress would be made if others follow. New York and 15 other states have already said they will adopt California's automobile emissions standards when the federal government gives them the green light — which the Bush administration has stubbornly refused to do.

There is, of course, no substitute for federal action or for American global leadership on climate change, both of which the next president will have to deliver.