housing

Owning a Home Is No Goddamn Picnic Either

Hamilton Nolan · 08/05/16 10:20AM

We all know that The Rent is Too Damn High. The affordable housing crisis is largely concerned with renters. In fact, though, homeowners are being screwed by the very same dynamics.

Build Housing Faster, Okay

Hamilton Nolan · 07/18/16 08:50AM

Many areas of America—the areas where lots of people want to live—also have crushing housing shortages. One unorthodox, wild idea seems to be becoming more attractive... build more housing, faster.

New Startup That Sends Dossiers On Your Private Social Media Profiles To Potential Landlords Should Be Illegal

Marina Galperina · 06/09/16 04:46PM

A new startup wants to take a “deep dive” into the private social media activity of prospective tenants—their chats, check-ins, how many times they’ve posted words like “pregnant” or “loan”—and score their “personality” for their potential landlord. Why would anyone let this happen? Because “people will give up their privacy to get something they want,” Steve Thornhill, co-founder of the British startup Score Assured tells The Washington Post.

Hamilton Nolan · 05/19/16 09:50AM

New Census figures show that U.S. urban growth is slowing, “as a bulge of late-20s Americans reaches prime homebuying age and high urban real-estate costs are making suburbs and exurbs more attractive.” Good!!

San Francisco: Build More Housing, Assholes

Hamilton Nolan · 03/09/16 09:50AM

Another week is here, and with it, another story about the affluent, techie-infested caricature that San Francisco has become. Hey, assholes: step one to surviving this trying time is to build more fucking housing.

Has the Luxury Apartment Boom Peaked? 

Hamilton Nolan · 02/29/16 09:20AM

During the furious stock market boom of the past several years, the only apartments you could find anywhere were exclusively glass-walled luxury penthouses, priced at $85 million. It seems, however, that we may be waking up from our cash-induced fancy apartment haze at last.

Hamilton Nolan · 02/26/16 04:20PM

“A majority of New Yorkers who earn more than $100,000 a year feel they’re likely to be priced out of their neighborhood, according to a new poll.”

Study: Building Luxury Housing for Gentrifiers Helps The Poor

Hamilton Nolan · 02/12/16 12:46PM

Creating enough affordable housing is one of the hardest political and economic challenges in the world. (If you think you know an easy answer, you’re wrong!) Here is a new piece of data that could “add to our understanding,” and make everyone mad.

How Zoning Laws Fuel Economic Segregation

Hamilton Nolan · 01/13/16 02:28PM

Zoning laws, governing how we use our land, are often thought of as mundane drudgery, or as opportunities for civic-minded people to help “Keep Our Neighborhood Beautiful.” In fact, they can also be a powerful driver of inequality.