Another way to provide affordable housing?
This is ludicrous. (courtesy of WVIR) Caravati visited Richmond on Wednesday for the third time in two weeks. He's pushing an amendment to the City's Charter that would make developers set aside parts of their projects as low- and moderate-income housing. Caravati says the city…
Amendment to City’s “Affordable Housing” Bill
Very good amendment to the bill I wrote about last week. The [exercise of any powers granted in this section is hereby declared to be a public purpose and public use. city shall not exercise the power of eminent domain pursuant to any power granted…
Albemarle BoS reviewing development process
CvilleTomorow has an excellent post on the Albemarle BoS' review of the Development process. New Supervisor David Slutzky seems to deliver the kind of thoughtful, articulate analysis he showed in the campaign. I will listen to the podcast tomorrow. I've said it before; CvilleTomorrow is…
Eminent Domain coming to Charlottesville?
Update: Maybe much ado about nothing - see Mayor Brown's comment below. Update 1/18/05: The DP reports that the Bill made it through the subcommittee with amendments clarifying that eminent domain will not be used. Thanks to Waldo, the bills are here (Deeds) and here…
Kaine to tackle growth
Enlightening story from the Washington Post this morning. In his first policy address to the General Assembly, the new governor will urge passage of a law that gives local governments the right to halt housing construction if roads are not adequate. Kaine also will acknowledge…
Builder shortage, etc.
A builder shortage? We are hearing from economic developers and employers reporting that they have more jobs than people. The availability of affordable housing to attract manufacturing workers is starting to become an issue. The housing that is being built is too expensive for the…
Not used to NoVa traffic, are you?
In a recent post regarding the dearth of senior housing in our region, I noted a new development coming to Greene County. One might think (as I did) that it would be a beneficial idea for this developer to provide some form of transportation for…
An eye-opening opinion on transportation
Read the first response to this post at The Road To Ruin. If you can, read the whole thing. ... new heavy rail systems appear much less energy-efficient than new bus services, when the energy needed to build roadways and track, the energy needed to…
Smart growth raises housing prices?
Our region ought to learn from other regions' mistakes ... Thanks to the Washington Times: Economists increasingly are concluding that the shortage of affordable housing in Washington and other major U.S. cities on the East and West coasts is a result more of man-made restrictions…
From the “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” department
From the Wall Street Journal today (link good for 7 days): The Sierra Club is well-known for trying to stop big real-estate-development projects. But in a move that could help it gain new allies, the nation's best-known environmental group is starting to go to bat…