February 18, 2021

Wealthier Californians are moving to attractive, high-growth cities such as Boise, Denver, and Nashville to escape their state’s unaffordable housing costs. As a result, home prices and homelessness in these destinations are increasing. Economists warn the housing crisis is now a national problem and say state and local housing policies limiting single-family zoning and encouraging multifamily developments will likely have the most profound impact.

The Morristown Housing Authority will administer a US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)–sponsored rental assistance program (RAD) that will allow it to finance repairs on its 470 units of public housing, without increasing tenants’ rent. For 30 years, the housing authority will pay the town for municipal services, increasing its payments by 2.5 percent each year in lieu of taxes. “Really excited to move forward with the RAD project but I’m even equally excited to bring in hopefully some additional revenue for the town as we do this massive rehabilitation across our massive portfolio,” states Keith Kinard, executive director of the Morristown Housing Authority.

HUD has extended the federal protections of the Fair Housing Act to include sexual orientation and gender identity. The agency will also investigate allegations of discrimination from last year. “There is a hope that housing providers will now know that they cannot get away with blatant discrimination,” states Jake Lilien, an attorney and compliance program manager with the National Community Reinvestment Coalition.

Norfolk, Virginia, is facing a lawsuit after an analysis showed a billion-dollar redevelopment plan that would relocate three public housing communities is furthering segregation. According to the new Virginian-Pilot analysis, voucher holders are likely to end up in neighborhoods with more Black people than the city average, segregated schools and higher poverty. “They’re not going to these places because they have a real choice. They’re going to these places because it’s where they can go,” states Stan Brown, a New York–based attorney involved with the suit.