REAL ESTATE
How mid-century modern architecture took over the world
“It was a period when mid-century architects and designers were able to build on the lessons of the early modernist pioneers while making use of modern engineering, fresh materials and ways of making, while—increasingly—adding layers of texture, patina, color, and form-giving to their work,” Bradbury explains over email. “The result is a period of design that is seductively optimistic, hopeful, and innovative, but is also highly expressive, sculptural, and engaging.”
https://www.fastcompany.com/91173542/how-mid-century-modern-architecture-took-over-the-world
A new report illustrates just how stuck the housing market is
About 25 of every 1,000 homes were sold between January and August. That means 37% fewer homes were sold between January and August this year than during that same period in 2021 — which saw a pandemic-induced burst of home-buying activity — and 31% fewer homes than the same period in 2019.
Zhao said a market where 30 to 40 of every 1,000 homes changed hands would signify a healthier housing landscape. Of course, one of the main reasons that fewer people are buying homes now is that there are fewer homes for sale. Just 32 out of every 1,000 homes were listed for sale in the first eight months of this year, the lowest level since at least 2012, the earliest year that Redfin has listing data available.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/30/economy/housing-market-home-sales-redfin-report/index.html
Asking Rents for New Apartments Drop 6% to Lowest Level Since 2022, as Finished Buildings Soar
Asking rents for newly constructed apartments fell to $1,746 in the second quarter, down 6.2% from a year earlier to the lowest level in more than two years. It was the second consecutive quarter that rents for newly built apartments posted an annual decline and the second-steepest drop in the past five years—trailing only this year’s first quarter, when rents fell 7.5%. That’s according to a Redfin analysis of the U.S. Census Bureau’s data for newly-constructed, unfurnished, unsubsidized, privately financed rental apartments in buildings with five or more units, dating back to the first quarter of 2012. The most recent data available measures apartments that were completed in the first quarter of 2024, and either rented or not rented within three months of then….Monthly asking rents for new apartments hit a peak of $1,889 in the first quarter of 2022, but have trailed off since, as the number of newly constructed apartments shot up. Apartment completions rose 18.7% in the first quarter year over year to reach the highest number in over a decade.
https://www.redfin.com/news/new-construction-rents-Q2/
Cities in the West are booming. But will they actually need a lot more water?
After gathering data for 28 large and medium-size water utilities dependent on the Colorado River, Richter and his team were able to see the more modern trend lines in sharp detail. The results surprised him. It wasn’t just that cities like Denver, Los Angeles, Tucson and Las Vegas were using less. They were doing it while growing rapidly.
https://coloradosun.com/2024/09/29/western-cities-population-growth-water/
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
U.S. Forest Service loses ability to lease land for affordable housing after Congress fails to renew measure in government funding bill
An eleventh-hour vote in the House of Representatives on Wednesday evening produced a stop-gap bill that will keep the government funded through Dec. 20, but it left out a number of Farm Bill programs — including the leasing provision. The House voted 341-82 in favor of the funding bill, with Democrats carrying the majority of the votes while hardline Republicans opposed the measure. With Congress now in a weekslong recess, the Farm Bill is poised to lapse.
https://www.skyhinews.com/news/u-s-forest-service-loses-ability-to-lease-land-for-affordable-housing-after-congress-fails-to-renew-measure-in-government-funding-bill/
Politicians often link crime and homelessness. The reality is more complex
Research on whether crime in encampments spills out into surrounding neighborhoods is limited, partly because property crime often goes unreported. Residents around Chicago’s Gompers Park told NPR they’ve noticed an influx of bicycles at the camp, or seen propane tanks disappear from patios and end up there. According to city data, some types of reported crime have risen in the last year around the park, but overall crime is down. However, it’s difficult to isolate an encampment’s exact effect on crime trends. A 2022 study in Seattle found an increase in the size of encampments did not increase the city’s property crime rates as a whole. Still, crime statistics don’t always match public perception.
https://www.npr.org/2024/09/25/nx-s1-5092588/homeless-encampments-crime
Hurdles for Housing – Still Difficult to Buy a Home
There is little doubt that moving to a new abode has slowed within the US over the last 5 years. Not many years ago the average home was selling approximately once every 7 years. Now, the average sale time is closer to every nine years—as reported by the National Association of Realtors. Of course, there are many factors that impact when one chooses to move, including such issues as being in the military, being a student, job changes, etc.
https://www.markleelevine.com/post/hurdles-for-housing-still-difficult-to-buy-a-home
Affordable Housing Squeezed as Climate Hits Insurance Market
Digging into the widespread insurability problem, the New York Times writes that less attention has been paid to rental housing, “particularly for low and moderate income people.” Many affordable housing providers are now fighting for survival, unable to pass rising insurance costs on to their tenants as market rate apartment developers do.
https://www.theenergymix.com/affordable-housing-squeezed-as-climate-hits-insurance-market/
How Nonprofits Are Using Accessory Dwelling Units as an Affordable Housing Strategy
Given the economic and social benefits of ADUs, nonprofit housing organizations have begun supporting the expansion of this alternative type of housing. In “Nonprofit Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Programs as Affordable Housing Strategies,” a new paper co-published by the Center and NeighborWorks America, I present research I did as a Gramlich Fellow on how nonprofit housing organizations are engaging with ADUs.
https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/how-nonprofits-are-using-accessory-dwelling-units-affordable-housing-strategy
As affordable housing disappears, states scramble to shore up the losses
Colorado, which has some 80,000 LIHTC units, passed a law this year giving local governments the right of first refusal in hopes of preserving 4,400 units set to lose affordability protections in the next six years. The law also requires landlords to give local and state governments a two-year heads-up before expiration. Still, local governments or nonprofits scraping together the funds to buy sizeable apartment buildings is far from a guarantee.
https://apnews.com/article/low-income-housing-tax-credit-affordable-harris-8f68bcf189c17f910459142ee8a50289
Make Your State’s Housing Affordable Forever With This One Weird Trick
While only Vermont mandates permanent affordability, other states have created long periods of affordability: Most of Oregon’s tax credit-financed properties must be affordable for at least 60 years. California’s affordability period is a minimum of 55 years. In Massachusetts, Montana and Utah, the minimum is 50 years. More than three dozen states, including Vermont, have used their allocation plans to deter a loophole in federal law that allows property owners to convert apartments to market rate units after only 15 years rather than 30. This loophole leads to 10,000 units of affordable housing being lost every year. These extensions aren’t the only way that states are experimenting with their allocation plans to preserve tenant affordability: 32 states require developers to sign a “Right of First Refusal” in exchange for tax credits.
https://nextcity.org/urbanist-news/make-your-states-housing-affordable-forever-with-this-one-weird-trick
REAL ESTATE AND MOBILITY
Amazon’s new return-to-office mandate is starting to backfire
Meanwhile, the new return-to-office mandate from Amazon comes at a time when remote and hybrid job positions are in high demand. According to a recent survey from job recruitment firm Robert Half, 37% of U.S. job seekers are interested in having a fully remote job position, while 60% would prefer a hybrid role. Also, 31% of job seekers said that more work flexibility is a top motivator for their job search.
https://www.thestreet.com/employment/amazon-rto-mandate-backlash
Remote-work options are rapidly disappearing
The days of widespread, fully remote work may be coming to a close. That’s according to a new survey from ResumeBuilder, which found 87% of companies that had been fully remote will return to the office by 2025. The report, which surveyed 764 companies that moved to a fully remote model during the pandemic, found 64% of those companies have already returned to the office. Additionally, 23% plan to implement a return-to-the-office policy by the end of 2025. The survey found only 6% of companies have no plans to require any employees to return to the office.
https://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/news/2024/09/02/fully-remote-work-hybrid-employer-employee-benefit.html (paywall)
MOBILITY
What’s a “Modular Roundabout”? And Why are More DOTs Installing Them?
“It’s not really the price of our product – it’s how much did they save?” Lanik says. “Nebraska just won an award for a project they did using our product. That one was in the $500,000 range, and the total project cost is about $1 million. But a normal roundabout for that size and intersection would have cost them $4-5 million, so they had significant savings. And it only took three weeks to do the whole project.”
https://www.equipmentworld.com/roadbuilding/article/15704498/modular-roundabouts-a-lowercost-quicker-traffic-solution
Can ‘Transit-Oriented Entertainment’ Help End the National Ridership Decline?
Rather than the usual focus on commuters during the hectic workweek, this program targets the public at large during the weekends, which tend to be more flexible for many U.S. residents. Not only are weekends when people seek out novel experiences, it is when they willingly put in time and effort for such experiences such as waiting in long lines for trendy food trucks, battling crowds at concerts or theme parks, or driving to distant hikes.
https://usa.streetsblog.org/2024/10/01/can-transit-oriented-entertaiment-help-end-the-national-ridership-decline
Newsom vetoes bill that would have required speed-limit alert systems in new cars
Newsom said federal law “already regulates vehicle safety standards, and adding California-specific requirements would create a patchwork of regulations that undermines this longstanding federal framework.” He noted that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is currently evaluating speed assistance systems. The governor said “imposing state-level mandates at this time risks disrupting these ongoing federal assessments.”
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-09-28/newsom-vetoes-speed-limit-alert-bill
Governor Newsom Signs Complete Streets Bill
S.B. 960 requires Caltrans to prioritize road improvements for pedestrians, bike riders, and public transit users whenever it performs maintenance or does road work. That can include sidewalks, bike lanes, bus-only lanes, comfortable and accessible public transportation stops, frequent and safe crosswalks, median islands, accessible pedestrian signals, curb extensions, narrower travel lanes, and more. The bill also requires a faster and more transparent decision process for interactions with local jurisdictions who want to make safety changes on state highways that run through their communities.
https://cal.streetsblog.org/2024/09/27/governor-newsom-signs-complete-streets-bill
Denver City Council gives green light to construct the East Colfax Avenue bus rapid transit project
Work on that first segment is projected to stretch into late 2025 and overlap with the start of work on the project’s second segment, which will cover Colfax between Williams and Monroe streets. The project is anticipated to be completed, and RTD is expected to launch revenue-generated bus operations, in 2027, according to a presentation that Stewart gave to the council’s Land Use, Transportation & Infrastructure Committee in August. “We now have construction plans that are signed and sealed and ready to be built,” Stewart said at that committee meeting. When the project is fully operational, buses are expected to come every four minutes and 20 seconds, Stewart said.
https://www.denverpost.com/2024/09/24/denver-city-council-gives-green-light-to-construct-the-east-colfax-avenue-bus-rapid-transit-project/
RTD plans to boot Greyhound buses from Union Station
RTD has informed Greyhound that it will terminate Greyhound’s five-year contract to use Union Station after it expires on Aug. 31 next year, citing rider safety and security concerns. Greyhound officials this week asked RTD to reconsider or to provide “a suitable alternative,” warning that, otherwise, private intercity bus service “not only in metro Denver but the entire Rocky Mountain region” will be at risk, Greyhound spokeswoman Karina Frayter said in an email.
https://businessden.com/2024/09/20/rtd-plans-to-boot-greyhound-buses-from-union-station/
