Affordable Housing - Green and Beautiful

This article, from the 4/3/2008 NYTimes, shows an affordable development in NY city that was built to the highest "green" building design standards. Construction costs were essentially the same as conventional buildings. - DG


Here's an article from the American Planning Association journal about the developer, Jonathan Rose: Click Here

Escondido city council bans 4 bedroom condo's

The Escondido City Council recently voted to prohibit a developer from including some

4 bedroom units in his proposed condo complex, apparently concerned that some of

those beds might be occupied by (oh help us!) illegal immigrants.  Here's an editorial

from the San Diego Union Tribune about the council's concerns...  - dg

 

U-T EDITORIAL: NORTH EDITION
Big Brother in your (fourth) bedroom

April 19, 2008

Recently we opined on D.R. Horton wanting to offer four-bedroom townhouses at its Paramount project in downtown Escondido. The City Council was aghast, fearing apparently that illegal immigrants would start buying $400,000 condominiums or that families doubling up would result in the affluent buyers' BMWs taking up all the on-street parking spaces.

The city asked Horton to return with none of those sinful four-bedroom floor plans.

Horton, notorious for not speaking to either media or even city managers, cannot possibly make money on this project, some real estate observers believe. It bought the land at the height of the real estate boom, endured a catastrophic fire and more delays, and eventually will come to market when all prices have been pushed into the bargain basement. Horton, the observers say, simply wants to fulfill its civic obligation in Escondido, complete the project and move on.

Horton did return to the council and acquiesced. The condominiums offered will still have four bedrooms, though one may be opened somewhat instead of having floor-to-ceiling walls.

Buyers, to satisfy Big Brother Escondido, will have to sign that they will use the fourth room as a den, an office, anything but a bedroom. What's more, that provision will be written into the covenants, codes and restrictions for the complex.

Presumably, any buyer of a four-bedroom townhouse would choose to use one as a den or office, anyway. So, no harm, no foul?

Not so fast. Big Brother Escondido has now passed a law telling you what you can or cannot do in your own bedroom. It is no longer your choice. The vote was 5-0, with even Sam "I believe in the least government regulations on our citizens" Abed voting to interfere in a decision that really should be between willing builder and willing buyer.

There was no mention of what the penalty for violators will be, which sends our imagination soaring.

Perhaps, offenders will be deported just outside the Escondido city limits. Or, maybe they will be forced to register with other cities as "serial bedroom occupants."

Escondido's council majority clearly is caught up in an anti-immigration backlash and is swinging at even imaginary targets. This ordinance outlaws a market product quite popular in a number of California cities. In its paranoia, the Escondido City Council is actually taking away freedoms from American citizens.

This ordinance is both silly and sad. Sad in that this passes for "less government" in Escondido. Sad in that this restriction inevitably will pit some homeowner against a relentlessly rigid homeowner association. So much for harmonious quality of life in Escondido.

Next Saturday: Big Brother Escondido in your overnight parking space.

---

Need a new ride? Check out the largest site for U.S. used car listings at AOL Autos.

HAG Teach-In May 13, 2008

A New Home for Less Than $13,000?

CALIFORNIA RENTAL MARKET FAILING TO MEET NEEDS OF WORKING FAMILIES

$24.01/Hour Needed to Afford
Average Two-bedroom Apartment

Washington, D.C. -- According to a report released yesterday, a family in California needs to earn at least $24.01/hour -- working 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year -- to be able to afford rent and utilities in California's housing market. This represents an increase of 44.3% since 2000.

This year, California is the second-most-expensive state in the nation for renters. The typical renter in California earns $16.67, which is $7.34 short of what's needed to afford even a modest apartment.

Working at the minimum wage, a California family would need 3 wage earners working full-time -- or one full-time earner working 120 hours per week -- to afford a modest, two-bedroom apartment.

"Throughout the state, we are hearing stories of families who are becoming homeless because their paychecks aren't keeping pace with rental costs. The foreclosure crisis is further increasing pressure on the rental market, because families that were once homeowners are now competing alongside other renters to find an affordable place to live," said Julie Spezia, Executive Director of Housing California. "This report clearly illustrates why we need to build more apartment homes that working families can afford."

About 57% of California renters do not earn enough to afford a two-bedroom apartment in today's housing market.

The report, Out of Reach 2007-2008, was jointly released by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) -- a Washington, D.C.-based housing advocacy group -- and Housing California. The report provides housing expense and wage data for every state, metropolitan area, and county in the country. Nationally, a household needs to earn $17.32 to meet their basic needs for housing.

About Housing California
Housing California is the leading advocate in the state Capitol on affordable-home and budget policy for homeless and low-income people. We are a statewide coalition of more than 1,000 nonprofit developers, homeless-service organizations, and regional and local housing and homeless advocates. Our mission is to prevent homelessness and to increase the supply of decent, safe, accessible and permanently affordable homes for homeless and low-income Californians. For more information, visit www.housingca.org.

For additional information about the National Low Income Housing Coalition's Out of Reach 2007-2008 report, visit www.nlihc.org/oor/oor2008/.

---

Planning your summer road trip? Check out AOL Travel Guides.

Infill development in San Rafael approved over NIMBY opposition

82-unit condo plan in San Rafael approved

Jennifer Upshaw - Marin Independent Journal 03/12/2008 01:00:14 AM PDT

A controversial plan to tear down an old office building and construct an 82-unit condominium complex near the Marin County Civic Center was approved in the wee hours after a long meeting of the San Rafael Planning Commission Tuesday.

Commissioners voted 4-2-1 to approve the project, with conditions related to frontage improvements, construction hours and pedestrian access, city officials said. Demolition of the existing office building is expected to begin next spring.

Commissioners Daniel Sonnet and Gayle Wittenmeier-Mills voted against the project, citing concerns about transitions with adjacent structures and the narrowness of the existing street. Commissioner Larry Paul was absent.

Tuesday's meeting drew dozens who spoke passionately both for and against the proposal at 33 San Pablo Ave.

Jenette Erven, a 23-year resident of San Pablo Avenue, said the building just doesn't fit the neighborhood.

"I feel this project has been put on a fast-track from the beginning," she said. "None of us are against affordable housing. What we are concerned about is the scope and the size of this project and the height and the density - it's huge."

Housing advocates, and community groups such as the League of Women Voters and the San Rafael Chamber of Commerce, lauded the endeavor as a prime example of responsible growth.

"Everyone says that infill is what we want," said Elissa Giambastiani, a 20-year housing advocate. "No one wants to build on open space.  If we want infill, we're going to have to accommodate that in all sections of the city."

Concerns about height, mass and the number of units have delayed approval for some time. The project has been before the Design Review Board several times, and made a previous appearance before the Planning Commission.

City planners at one point recommended the proposal be rejected for aesthetic reasons. The plan was reworked, and the number of units reduced from 93 to 82.

Plans now call for a four-story complex with a stepped design. Sixteen units would be set aside as below-market-rate affordable housing. State law allows for a denser development if a certain amount of affordable housing is included in the project.

Jeff Hutchinson, project manager with San Rafael-based developer Monahan Pacific, said he believes his group has bent over backward to please the neighbors.

"What we've done is shoved the building up the hill and away from the neighbors as much as we can," he said. "We feel we've gone a long way to accommodate people's concerns here."

But neighbors disagreed, saying they felt they were being taken advantage of.

"I feel our neighborhood has been called upon over the years to carry a big burden for San Rafael and we've done our fair share," said Charles Cacciatore, a 14-year resident of Laurel Glen Terrace. "There's this arrogance that they (the developer) know what's better for our neighborhood than we do."

Affordable Housing Doubled at Old UC Site in SF

San Francisco Chronicle 1/18/08 - by Heather Knight

City and state officials announced an agreement Thursday with developers of the former UC Berkeley Extension site in San Francisco to include more affordable housing - more than doubling the number of such dwellings for the 413-unit project at 55 Laguna St.

While 66 of the 328 rental apartments for families had been designated as affordable, the new agreement makes an 85-unit complex for seniors - most of whom are expected to be gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender - affordable as well. The units for seniors previously were to be rented at the market rate.

Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, Assemblyman Mark Leno, state Sen. Carole Migden, the mayor's Office of Housing and gay rights and housing activists pushed to increase the percentage of affordable dwellings in the project from 16 percent to 37 percent. On Thursday, they celebrated the agreement with the University of California and A.F. Evans, the development company hired for the project.

Mirkarimi said Thursday at a news conference on the steps of City Hall that he had previously viewed the UC system as "an inflexible juggernaut" but was pleased that "patience and smartness prevailed."

"This is a major milestone," he said. "We have made critical progress."

Planning for the development has been going on since UC Extension moved out in late 2003, citing budgetary concerns.

In addition to the apartments, the development is also due to include a 25,000-square-foot park where the asphalt parking lot now sits and a 10,600-square-foot community garden. Both are intended to be accessible to the public, as is a planned 12,000-square-foot community center.

The city's Planning Commission was expected late Thursday to approve the environmental impact report for the development, another important step before the entire plan goes to the Board of Supervisors for approval.

Foreclosures harm renters - SF Chronicle

Foreclosures leave renters in the lurch

Carolyn Said, Chronicle Staff Writer Thursday, February 7, 2008 (SF
Chronicle (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2008/02/07/MN4NUOE27.DTL)

At first, Adriana Diharce ignored the envelope taped to her front door because it wasn't addressed to her. Then she saw the words "trustee sale," so she opened it. The letter said the modest, ranch-style Hayward house rented by Diharce and her husband would be sold at a foreclosure auction. When Diharce called the phone number on the letter last month, a representative told her the house was slated for auction on Feb. 8 - Friday - and said the couple and their two young children would have to vacate almost immediately after that. Diharce called her landlady, but her phone had been disconnected.
"The landlady owes us our deposit, and we cannot locate her," said Diharce, 29, who is expecting a third child in March. "I am so upset. As a tenant, we have no rights, no deposit and nowhere to go."
Her situation is not unusual. As the mortgage crisis claims more homes - more than 11,000 Bay Area residences were repossessed by lenders last year - an increasing number of tenants are facing rapid evictions by banks eager to partially recoup their losses by selling the properties. In November, a Chronicle analysis of Bay Area foreclosures showed that about one-fifth had nonresident owners. Presumably many of those investor-owners rented out their properties to produce income.

Foreclosure-related evictions of renters show how fallout from the mortgage meltdown can spread even to people who don't own houses. "We pay our rent on time every month; we figured everything would be all right," said Jesse
Vasquez, Diharce's husband.

Tenants' rights in such situations are minimal. If they live in a city with rent control, they are covered by its eviction regulations. Hayward, where Diharce and Vasquez live, does not have rent control for single-family residences. Otherwise, renters are subject to state law, which generally requires 30 days notice. A foreclosure usually invalidates an existing lease, legal experts said.

Late last month, the state Senate narrowly defeated a bill sponsored by Sen. Don Perata, D-Oakland, that would have required banks to give 60 days notice to tenants in foreclosed properties. It also would have required lenders to provide homeowners with four months notice before mortgage payments increase by 10 percent or more.
Legislation pending at the federal level also would require lenders to give more notice to tenants in foreclosed properties.

"For folks who have been paying their rent on a regular basis, to simply be evicted without cause because the owner has been unable to maintain their mortgage payment is a real problem," said Paul Leonard, director of the California office in Oakland for the Center for Responsible Lending. "In an already flagging market, the idea that foreclosures displace renters without adequate notice creates a level of upheaval and distress that could be mitigated with more reasonable notice provisions."

Nobody tracks how many tenants have faced foreclosure evictions, but anecdotal evidence suggests the number is high. "We see it all the time," said Elaine Brooks-Cox, housing counselor supervisor at Pacific Community Services, a Pittsburg nonprofit that helps consumers with housing issues. "It's becoming a very common problem now. Most of the time, the renters are not aware the property is in foreclosure until after the trustee sale or right before the trustee sale when the notice is actually placed on the property that the auction is going to happen."

In Oakland, the city attorney's office "hears a ton of anecdotes" about foreclosure-related renter evictions, said Alex Nguyen, director of the Neighborhood Law Corps. "We hear (lenders) send out brokers first being nice and saying we'll give you some cash if you're out in 10 days. When people don't go for it, then they threaten them and tell them they will get evicted."

Nguyen said the city attorney's office is currently writing up protocols for banks to govern how they must treat renters in foreclosed Oakland properties. It will send the provisions to banks and make them available to renters. "We're trying to protect people from having their lives just blatantly disrupted," he said. "They have a right not to be harassed and bullied by so-called agents of these banks."

Because Oakland has rent control, "generally speaking (tenants) have a right not to be evicted for no cause," he said.

Frances Harris, a landlord-tenant counselor at Oakland nonprofit Sentinel Fair Housing, said she's seen lenders and their property managers do end runs around Oakland's just-cause eviction rule to force tenants in foreclosures to move. "An agent has gone out and said the tenants don't need to pay rent. Several months later, they get a 'three-day notice to pay or quit' for $6,000 and the tenant leaves at that point," she said.

Foreclosing banks often don't know about local rent-control laws, she said. "It seems like it's a paper mill of 30-day notices without finding out what the ordinance is, if there is one."

Lenders or their agents often offer home occupants "cash for keys" - an up-front payment to move out by a certain date. Nguyen said tenants should not necessarily take the first offer. "We tell tenants they need to be thoughtful about what is the true cost of moving. It isn't going to be $1,000. It's definitely (more than) one month's rent when you think of what the new rental will cost - moving costs,
a new security deposit ..."

Ken Carlson, an Idyllwild (Riverside County) attorney specializing in tenants' rights who maintains a Web site at www.CalTenantLaw.com, said there are several strategies tenants can pursue to extend their occupancy of a foreclosed house.
First, if there were any mistakes in serving the 30-day notice, they can
appeal it. Such notices must be in writing; must be served on the tenant either
in person or by mailing plus posting to the front door; and cannot be issued until the lender has recorded a trustee deed certifying that it has repossessed the house.

"Tenants are often told by the real estate agent or the bank that if they're not out after 30 days, the police will come and arrest them," he said. "That's not true at all." If the tenant does not move out after 30 days, the lender must file for
unlawful detainer (the formal name for eviction) and get a judge's permission to
proceed with an eviction, he said. "If the tenant has still not found a place to live, he can contest the (unlawful detainer action). It's possible by fighting unlawful detainer for a tenant to get another two or three months. For a tenant surprised by a foreclosure eviction, that additional time can often mean the difference between homelessness for the family and a smooth transition."

Carlson said tenants who agree to "cash for keys" should make sure to get that agreement in writing signed by an authorized bank representative, because he's aware of cases where the tenants moved out and got stiffed on the agreed-upon payment. The bank that forecloses is obligated to repay any security deposits, Carlson said, but doesn't always follow through.

As for Diharce's security deposit, because it is equivalent to one month's rent, she said an attorney advised her to withhold the February rent and let the deposit cover it. Diharce is wistful about the house her family has lived in since August, 2006. "We love it; it has just the right layout for the kids," she said. "My mom lives five minutes away and she does day care for our kids." Jesus is a year and a half old, Dalilah 4.

Diharce, a human resources coordinator for a medical office, and Vasquez, who does electric motor repairs, have been saving to buy a house and would love to stay in their current home until that happens. Moving to a rental and then to a purchased home would be disruptive, she said. "Especially with children and another one on the way, it makes it more of a big deal to move," she said. "If push comes to shove, we might have to rent" temporarily. Meanwhile, they are trying to speed up their home-buying process but have not yet begun to pack. Despite what the customer representative said on the phone, the couple know they are entitled to at least 30 days written notice - which they have not yet received.

"This is stress I don't need," Diharce said.

Where renters can seek help: Resources for people facing foreclosure-related eviction:
-- California tenants' rights: links.sfgate.com/ZCIU
-- A free foreclosure workshop in Oakland on Saturday includes information
on renters' rights. 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Faith Presbyterian Church, 430
49th St. (at Webster St.), (510) 653-9752 to register. Sponsor: Housing
and Economic Rights Advocates ( www.heraca.org)
-- Renters can consult a local housing counseling agency approved by HUD.
See list at links.sfgate.com/ZMW, (800) 569-4287
-- You can check your city's rent control ordinance. Information is
generally on city Web sites, listed under "housing," "city attorney" or "city
services."

HUD Demolition in New Orleans

The New Orleans, LA low income housing demolitions: ONE OF 'GREATEST CRIMES IN U.S. URBAN PLANNING'
HUD's arguments for the demolition of thousands of public housing units in New Orleans echoes the worst of the "tabula rasa" approach to urban renewal of the 1960s, writes Nicolai Ouroussoff in the Dec 21 2007 New York Times. To view the full article, CLICK HERE.

New Tent City in LA

    Tent City in Suburbs Is Cost of Home Crisis
    By Dana Ford  Reuters  Thursday 20 December 2007

    Between railroad tracks and beneath the roar of departing planes sits "tent city," a terminus for homeless people. It is not, as might be expected, in a blighted city center, but in the once-booming suburbia of Southern California.

    The noisy, dusty camp sprang up in July with 20 residents and now numbers 200 people, including several children, growing as this region east of Los Angeles has been hit by the U.S. housing crisis.

    The unraveling of the region known as the Inland Empire reads like a 21st century version of "The Grapes of Wrath," John Steinbeck's novel about families driven from their lands by the Great Depression.

    As more families throw in the towel and head to foreclosure here and across the nation, the social costs of collapse are adding up in the form of higher rates of homelessness, crime and even disease.

    While no current residents claim to be victims of foreclosure, all agree that tent city is a symptom of the wider economic downturn. And it's just a matter of time before foreclosed families end up at tent city, local housing experts say.

    "They don't hit the streets immediately," said activist Jane Mercer. Most families can find transitional housing in a motel or with friends before turning to charity or the streets. "They only hit tent city when they really bottom out."

    Steve, 50, who declined to give his last name, moved to tent city four months ago. He gets social security payments, but cannot work and said rents are too high.

    "House prices are going down, but the rentals are sky-high," said Steve. "If it wasn't for here, I wouldn't have a place to go."

    "Squatting in Vacant Houses"

    Nationally, foreclosures are at an all-time high. Filings are up nearly 100 percent from a year ago, according to the data firm RealtyTrac. Officials say that as many as half a million people could lose their homes as adjustable mortgage rates rise over the next two years.

    California ranks second in the nation for foreclosure filings - one per 88 households last quarter. Within California, San Bernardino county in the Inland Empire is worse - one filing for every 43 households, according to RealtyTrac.

    Maryanne Hernandez bought her dream house in San Bernardino in 2003 and now risks losing it after falling four months behind on mortgage payments.

    "It's not just us. It's all over," said Hernandez, who lives in a neighborhood where most families are struggling to meet payments and many have lost their homes.

    She has noticed an increase in crime since the foreclosures started. Her house was robbed, her kids' bikes were stolen and she worries about what type of message empty houses send.

    The pattern is cropping up in communities across the country, like Cleveland, Ohio, where Mark Wiseman, director of the Cuyahoga County Foreclosure Prevention Program, said there are entire blocks of homes in Cleveland where 60 or 70 percent of houses are boarded up.

    "I don't think there are enough police to go after criminals holed up in those houses, squatting or doing drug deals or whatever," Wiseman said.

    "And it's not just a problem of a neighborhood filled with people squatting in the vacant houses, it's the people left behind, who have to worry about people taking siding off your home or breaking into your house while you're sleeping."

    Health risks are also on the rise. All those empty swimming pools in California's Inland Empire have become breeding grounds for mosquitoes, which can transmit the sometimes deadly West Nile virus, Riverside County officials say.

    "Trickle-Down Effect"

    But it is not just homeowners who are hit by the foreclosure wave. People who rent now find themselves in a tighter, more expensive market as demand rises from families who lost homes, said Jean Beil, senior vice president for programs and services at Catholic Charities USA.

    "Folks who would have been in a house before are now in an apartment and folks that would have been in an apartment, now can't afford it," said Beil. "It has a trickle-down effect."

    For cities, foreclosures can trigger a range of short-term costs, like added policing, inspection and code enforcement. These expenses can be significant, said Lt. Scott Patterson with the San Bernardino Police Department, but the larger concern is that vacant properties lower home values and in the long-run, decrease tax revenues.

    And it all comes at a time when municipalities are ill-equipped to respond. High foreclosure rates and declining home values are sapping property tax revenues, a key source of local funding to tackle such problems.

    Earlier this month, U.S. President George W. Bush rolled out a plan to slow foreclosures by freezing the interest rates on some loans. But for many in these parts, the intervention is too little and too late.

    Ken Sawa, CEO of Catholic Charities in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, said his organization is overwhelmed and ill-equipped to handle the volume of people seeking help.

    "We feel helpless," said Sawa. "Obviously, it's a local problem because it's in our backyard, but the solution is not local."

  -------

---

See AOL's top rated recipes and easy ways to stay in shape for winter.