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Charlotte’s biggest source of funding for affordable housing projects could soon run dry, as a City Council committee voted Wednesday to move forward with its biggest-ever round of new projects. It’s the latest step in the city’s push to create or preserve 5, 000 affordable housing units over three years, a goal City Council voted to adopt in the wake of the Keith Scott shooting and subsequent unrest last year. City staff said Wednesday that the city is almost halfway to that goal, though the total includes rehabilitated residences and down payment assistance for homebuyers, in addition to brand-new affordable units . The allocations from Charlotte’s Housing Trust Fund that the committee voted to move forward with Wednesday will provide financing for 769 new, income-restricted apartments in five buildings, though the projects also need approval for federal low- income housing tax credits . The aggressive approach to spending could build more apartments faster, but it will leave...

Michelle Labra and her daughter, Daphne, live in an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) in their landlord's backyard. Portland has among the most permissive rules for ADUs in the country. Last year, the city issued building permits for about one a day. Amelia Templeton/OPB hide caption toggle caption Amelia Templeton/OPB Michelle Labra and her daughter, Daphne, live in an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) in their landlord's backyard. Portland has among the most permissive rules for ADUs in the country. Last year, the city issued building permits for about one a day. Amelia Templeton/OPB Earlier this year, Michelle Labra got a notice that the rent on her family's two-bedroom apartment was doubling, from around $620 a month to more than $1,300. She worried she was being priced out of Portland and would have to move to the suburbs. But Labra, her husband and their two children didn't get pushed out of Cully, their North Portland neighborhood . They were able to stay by m...

Damonte Ranch area is a sign of the city's need for housing in Reno, Nev. The recent influx of new workers combined with near-zero residential development during the recession gave birth to a classic supply-and-demand scenario that saw the cost of housing skyrocket in the Biggest Little City. (Andy Barron/The Reno Gazette-Journal via AP) Photo: Andy Barron, AP / The Reno Gazette-Journal" class="landscape" /> residential development during the recession gave birth to a classic supply-and-demand scenario that saw the cost of housing skyrocket in the Biggest Little City. (Andy Barron/The Reno Gazette-Journal via AP) Photo: Andy Barron, AP / The Reno Gazette-Journal" class="landscape" src="src" /> Damonte Ranch area is a sign of the city's need for housing in Reno, Nev. The recent influx of new workers combined with near-zero residential development during the recession gave birth to a classic supply-and-demand scenario that ...

Manhattan skyline view from the roof deck of a Park Slope building ." /> Manhattan skyline view from the roof deck of a Park Slope building . View Full Caption Corcoran Group MANHATTAN— Yes, New York City is way less affordable now than seven years ago. Case in point: An apartment going for $2,000 a month for rent in 2010 would now get $2,657 a month, a report published Wednesday from real estate search engine StreetEasy reveals. Compounding the city’s affordability crisis: rents in the city rose twice as fast as wages, according to the analysis, which compared the StreetEasy Rent Index with wage data from the city’s Department of Labor. While median rents increased 3 .9 percent a year since 2010, wages increased by 1.8 percent over the same period. Those working in the city’s lowest wage jobs were hit hardest. Low- wage earners — those in the bottom 20 percent of the workforce, which represent a little more than 800,000 of the roughly 4.1 million employed New Yorkers ...

On a blue- sky summer day , three 12-year-old kids run into an ancient forest adjoining a housing estate. Two of the children are never seen again. The third is found near the centre of the forest, his back and the palms of his hands pressed against a large oak tree . He has blood inside his shoes and no memory of what happened. Much later, when the boy has grown up and become a detective, he is assigned to investigate the murder of a child close to the spot where his friends disappeared . This is the starting point of In the Woods, the first of six related novels that have won a cultish following for Irish writer Tana French . All six books, together known as the Dublin Murder Squad series , are beautifully written. All are hefty. " Big long bastards ," as French puts it when we meet in a Dublin hotel. And all are addictive. I was given the series for Christmas last year, and spent the next few months – annoyingly interrupted by work and, you know, life – reading one volum...