What exactly is “by right” development, and how might it not match what’s actually built in your community?

Edward Erfurt, Top StoryEdward ErfurtApril 7, 2023zoning, NIMBY, Homeownership, homeownership, homeowners, local government, Development, development

What a Real Estate Listing Can Tell You About a Strong Town

A real estate listing can be used as a roadmap to the attributes that Strong Towns advocates for: human-scale development, safe places to walk and bike, and responsive local government.

Incremental Housing, Safe & Productive Streets, Top StoryBen AbramsonApril 4, 2023real estate, Incremental Housing, Safe and Productive Streets, Homeownership, homeownership, neighborhood, Neighborhoods, walkability, development pattern

Northside Neighborhood in NC Reduced Property Tax Values by $7 Million

Neighbors in Chapel Hill, NC, mobilized to raise awareness of property tax inequities within their community…and ultimately brought about a $7-million reduction in home assessed values.

#DotheMath, Finance, Sheppard, Top Story, News, Transparent AccountingSeairra SheppardNovember 29, 2022local finance, property tax, Just Accounting for Health, Transparent Local Accounting, homeowners, Homeownership, homeownership, North Carolina, #DoTheMath

Check Your Temperature—You Might Have an Assessment Fever

This new interactive map shows homeowners how their home assessment compares to other properties nearby—and has exposed that many homes of similar value are being overassessed.

Sheppard, Housing, Top Story, Transparent AccountingSeairra SheppardOctober 18, 2022homeowners, Homeownership, homeownership, property tax, Just Accounting for Health, Transparent Local Accounting, mapping, maps, #DoTheMath

A Loophole Allowed Me to Flourish

Many older homeowners face a tough choice: Age in a home that’s too large or inaccessible for them, or give up their property and move somewhere else. Here’s how one resident of Delta, BC, found a third option.

What Will Housing Prices Be a Year From Now?

If one thing’s clear about the housing market, it’s that it’s currently more sensitive to factors outside of your community—outside of your control—than anything within.

Finance, Housing, Marohn, Top Story, Incremental HousingCharles MarohnSeptember 26, 2022housing, housing cost, housing affordability, housing market, Housing, housing policy, housing finance, Incremental Housing, homeowners, Homeownership, homeownership, finance

The Pillaging of Detroit

Stunning new data analysis on the homes lost to tax forfeiture in Detroit shows that, in just a three-year span, $300 million in real estate transferred from homeowners living in Detroit to outside owners.

Finance, Housing, Sheppard, Top Story, Transparent AccountingSeairra SheppardSeptember 20, 2022Detroit, Michigan, property tax, homeowners, Homeownership, homeownership, poverty, Poverty, local government, Transparent Local Accounting, Just Accounting for Health

Mansion Blight: How the Most Expensive Homes Drain Community Wealth

Mansions on large lots, not rundown properties in low-socioeconomic-status neighborhoods, are the real blight on a community’s financial health.

Is Wall Street Actually Taking Over the Housing Market?

Are Wall Street-backed investors the reason you can’t afford a house? The truth is a bit more complicated than that.

Housing, Herriges, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesJuly 27, 2022housing, housing cost, housing crisis, Housing Crisis, housing market, homeowners, Homeownership, homeownership

"Should I Protest My Property Taxes?"

The process for appealing your property taxes can be obscure, even when the appeal is merited (and more often than not, it is). This simple guide will help prepare you for when your property is next assessed.

Love the One You’re With

When you’re not allowed to build the kind of housing you want, sometimes you have to work with what’s already here.

Housing, Sanphillippo, Top StoryJohnny SanphillippoJuly 7, 2022housing, housing affordability, housing cost, housing crisis, Housing, housing market, housing policy, Homeownership, homeownership, home, Wisconsin, Granola Shotgun, zoning, Incremental Housing

Why You Should Care About Property Taxes as a Renter

If you don’t own a home, and don’t have plans to own one anytime soon, you might think property taxes don’t concern you. But, what if we told you that they definitely do?

Finance, Sheppard, Top Story, Transparent AccountingSeairra SheppardJune 28, 2022Just Accounting for Health, tax revenue, tax base, Tax Base, property tax, homeowners, Homeownership, homeownership, rent, renters, finance, local finance, Transparent Local Accounting

An Epidemic of Blight Collides With a Pandemic

In Detroit's 48205 zip code, from 2014 to 2020, the number of vacant homes hardly budged, despite $25M spent demolishing 1,628 vacant homes. When the pandemic hit, vacant homes plummeted. What happened?

Housing, Top StoryAlex AlsupJune 28, 2022housing, housing affordability, homeowners, Homeownership, homeownership, housing crisis, Housing Crisis, housing market, blight, Detroit, housing policy

Corporate Investors Own Nearly Half of This City's Residential Property

What does this case study imply for housing in the U.S., as a whole?

Upzoned, Podcast, Top Story, HousingStrong TownsMay 25, 2022Podcast, podcast, Upzoned, housing, housing crisis, Housing Crisis, housing market, Housing, housing policy, Homeownership, homeownership

Wealth and Buildings

In the realm of urban planning, there’s plenty of discourse out there about housing affordability—but what about household wealth building?

Housing, Suburban Experiment, Urban Design, Planning Profession, Top StoryKevin KlinkenbergMay 23, 2022Kevin Klinkenberg, housing, housing affordability, finance, housing finance, Homeownership, homeownership, urban planning, urbanism, suburbs, suburban experiment, suburbanization

It Isn’t Just Us, the Entire Nation Is Burdened With Property Tax Inequities

Recently, the North Carolina Ad Hoc Appraisals Committee was challenged to face their own biases and fix their broken property tax assessment system. Here’s what happened.

The NIMBYs Made $6.9 Trillion Last Year

We keep looking for villains to blame for the housing affordability crisis—but are we pointing fingers at the wrong culprits?

City Observatory, Housing, Top StoryJoe CortrightApril 20, 2022housing, housing cost, housing affordability, housing crisis, Housing Crisis, housing market, Housing, homeowners, Homeownership, homeownership, race, Race, City Observatory, Joe Cortright

Something Is Clearly Wrong With the Property Tax Appraisal System

Across the country, the property tax system is causing economic hardship for homeowners—and it’s because the system itself is flawed.

Housing, Sheppard, Top Story, Transparent AccountingSeairra SheppardApril 19, 2022Just Accounting for Health, Urban3, tax base, property tax, North Carolina, Vermont, homeowners, Homeownership, homeownership, homelessness, Homelessness

Not Just Bikes: The Only Car-Free Place in Canada (and Why You Can’t Live There)

Just off the coast of Toronto, Canada's largest city, you'll find a group of 15 small car-free islands. But just in case you thought you'd like to live here: you can't.