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Resident group voices ongoing concerns about Midtown Village
by Bridget Kranz, Wed, 06/19/2019 - 12:00am

The proposal, dubbed Midtown Village, would add 411 residential units to 12 acres of city-owned land spanning Old Highway 8 where the road jogs east toward City Hall. The neighborhood consists of single-family homes to the north and west and commercial land to the south.

Minneapolis officials get an earful about proposed rules on renter screening, security deposits
By Jessica Lee |MinnPost 07/12/2019

Following a series of protests by landlords and rallies by renter-rights groups in Minneapolis, city staff are preparing to release new drafts of ordinances that would change how property owners can screen prospective tenants while also establishing limits for security deposits.

Grim New Report Shows Rent Is Unaffordable In Every State

Laura Paddison, Huffpost, June 18 2019

Plenty of evidence shows how widespread and devastating America’s housing crisis is, but perhaps none quite as starkly as this: There’s not a single state, metropolitan area or county in the U.S. where a full-time worker earning the minimum wage can afford the rent for a modest two-bedroom apartment.

Mobile Homes: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
April 2019

Mobile home living has long been considered a less expensive option for people who cannot afford to own a conventional house; roughly 1 in 18 Americans lives in a mobile home or trailer. The majority of these folks own their trailer but rent the spot where it rests.

In recent years, some of the biggest investors and equity firms have been buying up mobile home parks. Residents are easy pickings as rent and fees skyrocket, held hostage by moving fees in the thousands their only other choice is to walk away from their home and investment.

Opinion: The Crushing Cost Of Rent Should Be 2020’s Big Issue
Mike Koprowski, BuzzFeed Contributor, March 28, 2019, at 10:59 a.m. ET

Since 1960, renters’ incomes have increased by only 5% while rents have risen 61%. Whoever wants to be president should say how they’ll solve this crisis.

Homeless Persons Cannot Be Punished for Sleeping in Absence of Alternatives, 9th Circuit Decision Establishes
Cassidy Waskowicz Acting Director of Development & Communications cwaskowicz@nlchp.org, 04/01/19

Tonight, people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in the west coast states of the Ninth Circuit can sleep more safely, without facing criminal punishment for simply trying to survive on the streets. Today, the Ninth  Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an en banc petition by the city of Boise in Martin v. Boise (formerly Bell v. Boise), leaving in place its September 2018 ruling that homeless persons cannot be punished for sleeping outside on public property in the absence of adequate alternatives.

Evicted before convicted: St. Louis Park police order landlords to force people from their homes
KSTP 5 Eyewitness News Investigates, November 20, 2018 10:26 PM

St. Louis Park city records show from 2013 to 2018, the police department directed landlords to terminate the leases of more than 225 tenants—an average of more than three evictions per month—for violating the city's crime free/drug free ordinance.

Yet, a review of court records show more than 150 of those tenants—two out of every three—were never actually charged with a crime.

Former Renters Settle Class-Action Lawsuit For $650,000
Kirsten Swanson KSTP-TV October 19, 2017 10:39 PM

A class-action lawsuit, alleging housing discrimination by an apartment complex in Richfield, has been settled for $650,000. The complex was formally known as "Crossroads at Penn."

New management renamed the units when it took over in the fall of 2015.The rental units, owned by MSP Crossroads and Soderberg Apartment Specialists, came under fire in 2015 when they announced they would no longer accept federal Section 8 housing vouchers.

With too many homeless and too few shelter beds, city funding policy debated
Randy Furst Star Tribune September 18, 2017 — 6:58am

De Andre Hudson got the bad news on a recent weekday evening when he called the homeless hot line at Simpson United Methodist Church, asking if the city had an open shelter bed.

No luck. Every adult shelter bed in Minneapolis was filled, an advocate who was taking phone calls, told him. It meant another night spent riding the light rail back and forth between Minneapolis and St. Paul. Forty others like Hudson would also be denied.

Minnesota housing needs high-level attention
Editorial Board, Star Tribune July 28, 2017 - 6:16 PM

From many quarters, evidence is accumulating that the availability and affordability of housing are not sufficient to keep Minnesota thriving. Consider: Housing for lower- and middle-income workers has been in short supply in greater Minnesota for so long that employers and city officials have become regulars at the State Capitol, seeking funds to spur construction of both discounted and market-rate homes.

Dakota County churches respond to homelessness by opening their doors
Nick Ferraro Pioneer Press January 23, 2017

As Minneapolis gentrifies, some of the last neighborhoods for the poor are now getting squeezed
By Adam Belz Star Tribune, 11/28/16 9:08am

A long-term drop in crime, combined with a concentration of high-wage jobs and a renewed preference for urban life among highly educated workers, have made the city's core more desirable.

A new study from the University of Minnesota has put a fine point on the problem, showing that several neighborhoods around downtown Minneapolis are gentrifying. A long-term drop in crime, combined with a concentration of high-wage jobs and a renewed preference for urban life among highly educated workers, have made the city’s core more desirable.

DISPLACEMENT: The Gnawing Injustice at the Heart of the Housing Crises What can we actually do about it?
By Dan Bertolet (@danbertolet) 08/10/16 6:30 am

The root cause of displacement is a shortage of homes, and the only real solution is to build lots more housing of all types, to bolster those efforts with public support for those most vulnerable, and to precisely target preservation efforts in places justified by the protection of cultural communities or the opening of economic opportunities. Seattle and other prospering cities can ensure that working families and people of color can stay in their homes and keep fragile communities together. Displacement does have solutions, in other words. They just may not be what you think.

$22 million makeover planned for Brooklyn Park's affordable housing
By Shannon Prather, Star Tribune, 08/08/16 11:05pm

The ambitious projects include new roofs, siding, windows, parking lots and playgrounds outside, and remodeled kitchens, bathrooms and carpets within. After the work is done, nearly 680 apartments and townhouses will remain affordable either through income restrictions or the Section 8 federal housing program.

How the Other Fifth Lives, New York Times
Thomas B. Edsall, APRIL 27, 2016

With homelessness on the rise, Dakota County searches for solutions.
By Emma Nelson, Star Tribune April 23, 2016 — 6:14pm

Hennepin County puts money into effort to preserve 'naturally occurring' affordable housing
By Peter Callaghan, MINNPOST, 06/15/16,

High housing costs are making life impossible for low-income families
By Laura Clawson,The Daily Kos, Saturday Apr 02, 2016

Affordable housing project at University and Victoria moves forward
By Frederick Melo Pioneer Press, April 13, 2016

Construction of affordable apartments will rise in Twin Cities
But number is still far short of metro-area demand, analysis says.
By Jim Buchta Star Tribune February 1, 2016 — 9:08pm

Washing Post Editorial on the mortgage interest deduction, citing the National Low Income Housing Coalition's new report on the rarity of mortgages over $500,000 (just 5% of all mortgages nationwide) (see: http://nlihc.org/research/rare-occurrence), and supporting both lowering the portion of a mortgage eligible for tax relief down to $500K from $1 million and changing the deduction to a 15% tax credit.
November 29, 2015

Dakota County team will help renters with troubled backgrounds find homes
Jessie Van Berkel Star Tribune September 24, 2015

What is the status of affordable housing in the Twin Cities? Read these...

Twin Cities suburbs need more affordable housing, Met Council report says.

Demolition paves way for Dorothy Day expansion

Met Council: More residents in poverty in suburbs than in urban core

U.S. HUD secretary finds successes and questions in north Minneapolis tour

Twin Cities low-cost housing is drying up - especially in suburbs

Minnesota Housing Partnership Press Release on Rental Housing in the Twin Cities

Out of Reach Report- National Low Income Housing

Local agencies are scrambling to help elders who lack safety net
Star Tribune Jessie Van Berkel

Twin Cities low-cost housing is drying up - especially in suburbs
Bob Shaw Pioneer Press