The Unintended Consequences of Housing Finance
This paper details how federal housing rules make it very difficult to finance construction or renovation of three-to-four story buildings in many mixed-use, walkable neighborhoods.
READ MORE >January 2016
Regional Plan Association
affordable housing, transit-oriented development
National Study of Bus Rapid Transit Development Outcomes
This first-of-its-kind academic study unveiled by Transportation for America, Smart Growth America, and the National Institute on Transportation and Communities examined existing Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lines and found strong evidence that these systems can bring a range of economic benefits to American cities at a reasonable cost.
READ MORE >January 2016
National Institute for Transportation and Communities
economic opportunity, transportation
San Francisco Bay Area Carbon Footprint Map
This interactive, first-of-its-kind map shows neighborhood-by-neighborhood carbon consumption in the San Francisco Bay Area.
READ MORE >January 2016
UC Berkeley’s CoolClimate Network and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District
climate change, transit-oriented development
An Opportunity Agenda for Renters: The Case for Simultaneous Investments in Residential Mobility and Low-Income Communities
This report reaffirms that initiatives designed to help people living in high-poverty neighborhoods have not been nearly sufficient to meet the growing demand for affordable housing. As a result, there is a great divide between where low-income people can afford to live and where opportunities exist.
READ MORE >December 2015
Center for American Progress
affordable housing, economic opportunity, gentrification and displacement
Preserving Multifamily Workforce and Affordable Housing: New Approaches for Investing in a Vital National Asset
This report profiles leading efforts to preserve multifamily workforce and affordable housing that harness Below-Market Debt Funds, Private Equity Vehicles, and Real Estate Investment Trusts.
READ MORE >December 2015
Urban Land Institute and Neighbor Works America
affordable housing
California Post-RDA Affordable Housing Developer Survey
This comprehensive report gathers the perspectives of affordable housing builders on how they’ve dealt with the loss of California’s Redevelopment Agencies, which provided California’s largest source of dedicated funding for affordable housing.
READ MORE >December 2015
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
affordable housing
Do Strict Land Use Regulations Make Metropolitan Areas More Segregated by Income?
This study by Michael C. Lens and Paavo Monkkonen from the University of California, Los Angeles, Luskin School of Public Affairs identifies the precise ways that stricter land use regulations shape segregation across entire metropolitan areas.
READ MORE >December 2015
Journal of the American Planning Association
gentrification and displacement, social justice
Preserving Multifamily Workforce and Affordable Housing: New Approaches for Investing in a Vital National Asset
This report from showcases 16 ideas that have raised $3 billion for affordable housing around the country.
READ MORE >December 2015
Urban Land Institute and NeighborWorks America
affordable housing
America’s Rental Housing: Expanding Options for Diverse and Growing Demand
This report documents the rising demand for rental housing in the US, particularly among low- and moderate-income renters. The report looks at what the public and private sectors must do to address the critical need to develop more rental housing options.
READ MORE >December 2015
The Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University
affordable housing
Six Foundations for Building Community Resilience
This report describes how communities can approach the full scope of the 21st century’s challenges equitably and sustainably. The report draws on some of the most compelling thinking about resilience from academia, advocacy, and activism. Resilience is the ability of a system (like a community) to absorb disturbance and still retain basic function and structure.
READ MORE >December 2015
Post Carbon Institute
climate change, social justice
A Global High Shift Cycling Scenario: The Potential for Dramatically Increasing Bicycle and E-bike Use in Cities Around the World, with Estimated Energy, CO2, and Cost Impacts
This study finds that bicycles and electric bicycles could help reduce carbon emissions from urban transportation by 11 percent.
READ MORE >November 2015
Institute for Transportation & Development Policy and UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies
climate change, walking and bicycling
Hidden in Plain Sight: Why California’s Economically Challenged Cities Matter
Although California’s unemployment rate has fallen, some cities have prospered and some cities have not. As a result, California has the highest concentration of economically challenged cities in the nation according to this report. This report illustrates why it is important for elected officials and policymakers to work with the leadership in these cities to make the most of resources that can improve their economies and their residents’ quality of life.
READ MORE >November 2015
National Resource Network
economic opportunity
7 Paths to Development That Bring Neighborhoods Wealth, Not Gentrification
This article describes a framework for building community wealth, which includes seven key drivers that work together to create an inclusive, sustainable community economy where all can prosper, especially low-income families, people of color, and those with barriers to employment.
READ MORE >November 2015
Cities Building Community Wealth
community development, economic opportunity, gentrification and displacement
Does Transit-Oriented Development Need the Transit?
This research looks at how the key to less driving in transit-oriented developments may not be the presence of rail, but other factors like higher density, greater walkability, and less parking.
READ MORE >November 2015
Daniel G. Chatman
transit-oriented development, transportation
California Innovation and Meeting the Water Challenge
This report looks at California’s water usage trends and then focuses on innovation in the water industry and how it can shape the future of water management.
READ MORE >November 2015
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water