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Promises, Promises: Job Training, Higher Education, and Government Funding
With the rise of the housing market came a corresponding increase in trades to support it. Real estate agents, landscapers, painters, carpenters, stagers, interior designers…all of these trades...
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11 Percent
It is difficult to get accurate data on the number of empty housing units in the United States. Recent estimates suggest that approximately 18 million, or almost 11%, of homes in the United States are...
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A Return to Old Ways: Big Loans Are Back (Were They Ever Gone?)
Big loans, financial publications inform us, are back. Indeed, they are even bargains; you, too, can pick up a jumbo loan at appealingly low interest, assuming you meet the standards to access the...
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The Ghost Inventory
What happens to a financial recovery when the information you need to recover is kept under wraps? A question with pressing importance in the housing market, where pretty much no one is operating with...
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Universal Design Does Not Mean Ugly Design
One of the most common misconceptions about universal design and accessible design in general is that it is ugly. That the focus is on functionality instead of beauty, and that the necessary...
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Renting: Revolution or More of the Same?
I love my landlords. They’re both fantastic people and I view them as friends in addition to people with whom I have a professional relationship; I bring them baked goods, they bring me tomatoes. I...
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The Redlining That Wouldn’t Die
Redlining, the practice of limiting financial services along geographical (and racial) boundaries, is often thought to be a thing of the past. For one thing, it’s supposed to be illegal: financial...
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Making Green Design Affordable
Green design, and green homes in particular, are the new hotness. Everyone wants a piece and everyone seems eager to talk about how important it is for society to go green in order to save the planet....
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‘Envy Chains’ and Aspirational Real Estate
Living part-time in the Bay Area as I do, I occupy a strange personal, class, and social space. I love the Bay Area deeply and enjoy my time there, but at the same time, I am one of the people...
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High Rents, Eroding Communities
Residents of San Francisco spend an average of 46% of their income on rent, making the City the second most expensive place to live in the nation after Manhattan. Oakland residents clock in at 36%,...
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