HOUSING ADVOCATES PUSHING FOR NEW APPROACH TO BUILDING.Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer While economists debate the existence of a real estate bubble This article is about the general phenomenon of housing bubbles. For housing bubbles in various countries, see below. A real estate bubble or property bubble (or housing bubble , developers, housing advocates and some politicians are pushing for major changes in the way Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, plans and builds homes. In economic symposiums and housing summits, academic studies and advocacy reports, experts are pushing for more home construction and denser cities. Build more housing, and the price will come down. Build taller buildings, then you can fit more homes in existing communities. Some say existing communities are too resistant to new homes and apartment buildings, a ``not in my backyard'' attitude that kills new for-sale and rental housing projects. In Fontana, a San Bernardino San Bernardino, city, United States San Bernardino (săn bûr'nədē`nō), city (1990 pop. 164,164), seat of San Bernardino co., S Calif., at the foot of the San Bernardino Mts.; inc. 1854. County community mushrooming with new home developments, city leaders touted plans for three luxury apartment complexes, saying they would provide housing for young teachers and police officers unable to afford a new home. But after neighboring homeowners complained that renters would bring crime and overcrowding overcrowding overcrowding of animal accommodation. Many countries now publish codes of practice which define what the appropriate volumetric allowances should be for each species of animal when they are housed indoors. Breaches of these codes is overcrowding. and drive down their property values, two of the projects have been canceled and replaced with plans to build for-sale condos or small homes, which will likely be less affordable than the apartments. ``People who are here and have it, they want to pull up the drawbridge drawbridge: see bridge. and not let anybody else in. We need to find a way to become more tolerant as a community,'' said Robert J. Norris, executive vice president of Century Housing, which provides loans for low- and moderate-income projects. Local governments also are getting involved, creating public funds See Fund, 3. See also: Public to spur private housing projects - though some question whether government should be subsidizing the private sector. Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. has created an affordable housing trust fund, and city leaders are considering asking voters to approve a bond that would underwrite new housing construction for poor and middle-class families. Long Beach is considering tapping hotel taxes and developer fees to create a similar fund to provide low- and moderate-income families with mortgage assistance, and to help developers build below-market-rate houses. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion