Building places people want AND can afford

It’s the toughest question to answer in urban development, and the Urban Land Institute, a Washington DC real estate development educational nonprofit, brought together a group of practitioners who have invested in solutions, summarized in Urban Land Magazine.

Two key points:

- Mixed-income housing is unanimously the best approach to providing attainable housing.  The most reliable rent-payers in some developments?... those in the lowest income

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‘Bohemian Bargains’

Have you ever wondered in which city downtowns you could actually afford to buy a home in, yet still enjoy some semblance of active urban life and entertainment?  Rich Karlgaard, author of 2004’s Life 2.0: How People Across America Are Transforming Their Lives by Finding the Where of Their Happiness has done some research for you, “Bohemian Bargains are core cities in the 150,000 to 750,000 population range with lively downtowns and a reasonable cost of living.“  My

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A national shift toward cool or affordable places to live

It looks like the American Dream my be redefining itself, or maybe the image of the single-family house with the backyard and white picket fence never really was more than a huge campaign by GM and home builders to sell more of their product to the masses.  It worked, but it’s weakening now.  Coincidence that so are GM and mall developers?

Census studies show that major metropolitan areas are losing population, and since the same

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Taking affordability in housing to new levels

How can one afford own their own home and live in the most desirable neighborhood (ie expensive) without making anywhere near the requisite $100K/year?

Young architect Marianne Cusato is making waves with her Katrina Cottage.

Key statistics:
Size:  308 s.f.
Price:  Less than $30,000.

Granted, this is for housing in Katrina-ravaged neighborhoods, but what’s interesting is that once people experience the home ‘in person’, they found it a lot

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Graphically speaking, how affordable are city centers?

How affordable are central cities?  In a quarterly newsletter by Reconnecting America’s Center for Transit Oriented Development, this is answered statistically.

The map on top shows the areas in Twin Cities, MN that are affordable in the lightest color, when only housing costs are factored in.  The darker areas are less affordable (greater % of income spent on housing), and the darkest areas are least affordable.

The map below shows

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...and the flipside to Richard Florida…

The last two days focused on Richard Florida, so let’s look at seemingly contrasting research.  People like Joel Kotkin, author of the The New Geography, and Jack Schultz, author of BoomTown USA, say more people are migrating to small towns that aren’t nearly as ‘creative’ as the cities on Florida’s list. In fact, Schutz just commented on this yesterday.

Well, they’re kind of all right.  Young people are still moving to creative centers (if you’re

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Where are entrepreneurs migrating to… lately?

They’re moving to where housing prices are low and the quality of life is high.  At least the successful ones are.

Entrepreneur Magazine just rolled out their annual Entrepreneurial Hot Cities rankings, based on the number of companies that started 4 to 14 years ago and have at least five employees today; and that company’s job growth.

Phoenix and Charlotte top the large city rankings. Ok, Phoenix is far from a model in pedestrian-oriented

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So close to being a great neighbor- hood, yet so far

Sweden’s new contemporary urban village for a 1000 people, Bo01, is a model destination in many ways except its lack of affordability.  Unfortunately, that one shortcoming alone has seriously compromised the community’s original vision.

First, the good:

- The streets are walkable, organic in layout, human-scaled and oriented to surprise views, like in historic European city centers, with cafes and restaurants running throughout.
- Cars

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Charlotte a destination for affordability

That is… attainable housing that doesn’t look like subsidized affordable housing.  For example, homes in The Renwick (pictured) are said to be starting in the mid-100Ks.  Seems to be a great example of no-frills chic.

The area’s overall cost of living is 3% below the national average, yet the median home price in Charlotte is $169,400, about 10% below the national average, according to the National Association of Realtors.  What’s surprising is that

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It ain’t so trendy if it’s inexpensive

Hey folks, just got back yesterday from a two-and-a-half week vacation to my home in Hawaii, then my best buddy’s wedding, so I’m a little late on today’s post.  I had the other posts running automatically.

I’ve been eating out quite a bit lately because of this, which makes me appreciate the handful of restaurants that serve up a one-of-a-kind dining environment and entrees less than $7.  Sea in Williamsburg, Brooklyn is one of those places

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Cool and affordable in NYC

Based on yesterday’s post that affordability is more important than anything in NYC, where does one look for homes that won’t cause sticker shock?  Perhaps something like at the Toy Factory Lofts in Brooklyn that started at $270K last year?  Remember, this is NYC we’re talking about, it’s all relative!

Here’s some advice from a NY native and urban expert, Kristin Russell, PP, AICP:

“I think Astoria, Long Island City, and DUMBO are defiantly “hip” and

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In NYC, affordability comes first

I just spent some time studying Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx, and I have to admit it’s a great laboratory for creative, urban living, working and entertainment trends that either reflect or predict what’s happening elsewhere.  So… what’s the buzz in NYC?

Affordability, affordability, affordability.

“How much?“  It’s the question when it comes to finding a residence in a progressive New York City neighborhood.  The young creatives and

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The little known catch 22 of gentrification

Gentrification: The restoration and upgrading of deteriorated urban property by middle-class or affluent people, often resulting in displacement of lower-income people.

With a dictionary definition like that, what good is there in a bunch of rich people pricing a bunch of poor people out of their neighborhood?  In a place like Harlem where only 10% of all residences are owner-occupied (average in New York City is 30%, nationally it’s 67%), not

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Where are the top women business builders living?

If your city needs job growth, it needs fast-growing businesses.  From 1997 to 2004, women-owned businesses grew twice as fast as all businesses in the U.S.  One in 18 women is a business owner, producing $2.5 trillion in annual sales, employing 20 million people.  What can your city do to attract the most successful of these women?  When Fast Company magazine profiled the top 25 female business builders, they may have helped answer that

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Why can’t urbanites afford to live in their neigborhood of choice?

It’s simple supply and demand - the more desirable a neighborhood becomes, the less affordable it is.  One solution is this - you can afford the home you will want if you choose a neighborhood that’s just a few years away from becoming universally desirable.  Use this guide for starters.

Now, the real question is, why isn’t there a greater supply of cool, urban neighborhoods?  The same reason why mp3 players weren’t very

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Outsourcing IT jobs to… college towns?

Sometimes being economically disadvantaged is an advantage.

The conflict: More and more IT (information technology) jobs are being outsourced overseas because costs are lower, resulting in major job losses locally.

The transition: These IT jobs can be outsourced locally where costs are lower, but the talent isn’t nearly as concentrated in those areas as abroad.

The solution: Kathy White and her company, Rural Source, that links IT needs of major

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Does affordable housing mean less profitability?

Not at all, but we need to make one distinction - there’s a difference between what we perceive affordability and attainability to mean.  Affordability often means government subsidy, as in, affordable housing program.  People are just a bit edgy about living in anything associated with the words ‘government project’ - especially if you look at the results.

The closest you’ll find today of government subsidy is inclusionary zoning, requiring

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Beautiful apartments? Look overseas

This is at least true if you google ‘beautiful apartments’ - four of the top five results at the time of this publishing are in other countries, namely Europe.

Now, since the point made yesterday is that the most effective way to provide affordable housing is via multi-family, it would seem rather inspiring to find the most beautiful multi-family housing in the world.

What makes them beautiful?  It’s important to understand this from the tenant’s point

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Affordable housing - really

First of all, there are people with low incomes, and people with decent incomes who can’t afford homes.  The former deals with government policy/subsidy, the
latter deals with what the private sector produces.

The reality:  If you want to live in a great neighborhood, but can’t afford a 1500 sf home, what to do?  Move somewhere else.  That’s the smallest home you’re going to find in places like Silicon Valley.  If not, move into an ugly garden apartment.

The

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Yes, CoolTown transportation is very affordable

Since the price of shoes today is typically over $100, maybe not (unless you know someone who works at Footlocker like I do).  There’s even CoolTown shoes for walking commuters, which I’ll cover down the road.

For regular readers of the blog or those familiar with the concept, you’re probably more than aware of the walkable theme.  Cars in CoolTowns are often actually more hindrance than help, and when they’re truly needed, ownership can be

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CoolTowns have lots of free entertainment venues

I always held the opinion that the best forms of entertainment were free, and CoolTowns have plenty of it.  Here’s a few reasons why:

1. Plenty of outdoor ‘stages’.  Entertainers need stages, and piazzas, squares, plazas, courtyards and amphitheaters provide these with ready-made audiences.  We simply need more of these natural stages.
2. Indoor stages, aka third places.  Outdoor stages are third places as well, but because they’re not

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How to create affordable office space in a CoolTown

1. Preserve old buildings and walkable neighborhoods (less parking costs).  Outdated, inflated parking requirements is easily the #1 reason why investors ignore cities and town centers.
2. Build office interiors with an open floor plan system (few or no walls, just like the new home trend) and exposed ceilings.  Not only does this reduce costs, but it also creates a greater sense of space and creativity.
3. For entrepreneurs and artists,

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How do ‘starving artists’ live in the most expensive cities?

It is fundamental to understand that cities often prosper because of artists.  Artists can also be more broadly defined as the creative class.  Here’s how they thrive in the midst of city neighborhoods with million dollar homes:

1. Artists look for better-designed homes that are not so big, which means more light, an open floor plan/less compartmentalization and maybe higher ceilings.
2. Artists would trade off expensive front and

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Want a prosperous town fast?

Combine affordability and great design.  Prosperity comes from jobs.  Jobs come from job creators, the most prolific being entrepreneurs.  Entrepreneurs, when they’re cash-strapped before their business ideas hit it big, need affordable housing (lofts, shared living), affordable office space (unfinished, open floor plan), affordable transportation (walkability, mass transit), and affordable entertainment (parks, piazzas, bars, dancing, casual dining).  The trick

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