(Multifamily buildings would have to set aside 10% of units for people making 50% of Area Median Income) Before breaking for summer vacation, Councilmember Maria Quiñones-Sánchez introduced a last-minute bill that, if enacted, would create an inclusionary housing requirement for new buildings of 10 units or larger. Continue reading

(Home First Development in Portland creates inexpensive housing) Philadelphia has an above-average supply of low-cost housing, but we also have a very high population of people who earn so little money that they can't afford even the most inexpensive housing. Continue reading

Council President Darrell Clarke is a guy who brags about driving to the corner store, so it's no surprise that his vision for the 5th Council District looks a lot more like the suburban sprawl of Phoenix or Atlanta than the rowhouse neighborhoods of Philadelphia. Continue reading

You can't go a day on social media in 2017 without seeing a story or listicle about how Philadelphia is on the upswing. And compared to our own recent history, this is true. There's a lot of good stuff happening, and some amount of self-back patting is appropriate. But as a corrective, everyone should also read Christy Speer Lejune's piece at Philly Mag pouring a big glass of ice water on all the happy talk about Philly's economy.  Continue reading

(Councilman Bill Greenlee | Photo credit: Emma Lee / WHYY) Last Thursday, Council barely passed a resolution calling on Gov. Wolf to drop plans to reinstate the “tech tax” as part of the state’s upcoming budget process. Typically, resolutions are passed without any push-back. But this only slid through at 9-7, despite testimony from local tech leaders describing how the tax would harm Philly's technology economy. Continue reading

(Councilmember Allan Domb) Councilman Allan Domb is a real estate pro, but ever since he was elected to City Council in 2015, he's tended to avoid playing to type and really owning the real estate and zoning issue set.  Continue reading

(500 Walnut under construction | Photo: Jon Geeting) My friend Jake Blumgart is a guy with a pretty unimpeachable set of lefty credentials, so it was a lot of fun to read his unlikely apologia for ultra-luxury housing in PlanPhilly this week.  Continue reading

Back in March, we wondered whether there was going to be a 'Trump Bump' in the 2017 municipal primaries. There had been a ton of buzz around local political engagement brought on by the 2016 Presidential election outcome, but it wasn't yet clear if that was just going to translate into a lot of rallies, or if people were going to be more motivated to vote.  Continue reading

So it turns out the City Commissioners processed a ton of voter registrations really late and lost a bunch more. This is not good or surprising news.  Continue reading

(Multifamily and single-family housing living in harmony in Seattle | Photo: Jon Geeting) Yesterday, President Donald Trump announced he would pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement--the most significant international action taken so far to mitigate the worst effects of climate change.  Continue reading