Category: Blogs

Paying rent for the homeless is cheaper than putting them in shelters. It sounds wrong, but it isn’t. According to a recent study by the University of California, “managing the problem of homelessness costs far more than ending it.”

For example, the cost of sheltering 15 people for a year and a half in San Diego costs about $3 million. According to an article titled “Room Cheaper Than the Street,” “Putting them up in ocean-view homes with 24-hour concierge service would have cost less.”

I first heard about this idea from Elisha Harag-Blaine, director of the SHIFT Coalition, in Lowell, Massachusetts. They’re trying to reduce the cost of sheltering the homeless by providing help with rent, moving costs, and utility bills. This idea prevents people, and families, from becoming homeless, thus saving the state, and city, millions a year.

Inga Saffron, writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer, wrote two great articles, published this week, on how the candidates for Philadelphia’s upcoming mayoral election don’t include planning among their priorities.

Inga’s says in her first article, “Forum shows urban planning not priority in mayor’s race,” that “This was supposed to be the year in which urban planning took center stage as an issue in Philadelphia politics, along with crime and schools. But if last night’s mayoral forum on urban design was any indication, the subject is still stuck with a bit role in the campaign.” Candidate Chaka Fattah thinks planning is about looks and a niche issue for the elite, saying, “”I’m interested in rebuilding the lives of people and not just the skyline.”

Interestingly, the American Planning Association is holding its annual conference in Philadelphia this weekend. Inga used this as an opportunity to write a commentary piece called, “Changing Skyline | Welcome, welcome, city planners.” In it, she explains how a lack of planning in the past led to what’s called the “privatization of planning” that leads to little resident input, and lack of forward thinking.

Folks in Paris are using the online “community” Second Life to press their local government to develop a new garden for Les Halles in the center of the French capitol. Organizers say there’s not enough public input on the plans for Les Halles, so they’re “urging locals to come up with their own ideas for the area’s gardens and post them in the online world of Second Life.”

The Washington Post ties the, now deflating, housing boom to sham mortgages. “Many experts have concluded that the nation’s real estate boom of recent years was fueled in part by weakened lending standards that sparked excessive demand and drove up prices. Now, some are worried that the looser standards may have permitted a boom of another kind–a big expansion of mortgage fraud.”

Planetizen links to an article today titled “There Goes the ’Hood.” It details how long-term tax abatements for renovated properties–owned mostly by newcomers and the well-off–in Richmond, Virginia lead to pushing out long-time residents tied to high taxes. Sadly, 10 year tax abatements were used in Philadelphia–my home town–to spur growth as well, resulting in lost tax revenue for a city that desperately needs it.

Google Maps added 2.5D building outlines. Check out City Hall in Philadelphia.