It will be seventeen years next month since the Border Low Income Housing Coalition was established and proposed a plan to address the substandard living conditions on the Texas side of the Texas- Mexico border. In preparing for a convening of people concerned with the living conditions today along that border, I got out the […]
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Tag Archives: Low income housing
TDHCA Sunset Recommendation #2: Create a program category for Texans earning between 0 and 110% of SSI.
April 16, 2010 
3 Comments
As previously discussed here at Texas Housers, TDHCA is currently undergoing Sunset Review. We are presenting recommendations for ways to improve TDHCA that have been endorsed by a broad range of stakeholders in TDHCA’s activities. Issue: TDHCA’s activities fail to reach Texans living on fixed income programs Background: TDHCA presently tracks three categories of low […]
Read moreGovernment housing programs can and do help the poorest families in Texas
July 20, 2009 6 Comments
I blogged last week about the need for housing programs to recognize the housing needs of families well below 30 percent of the area median income and suggested a new category of housing need called “below poverty income.” In response I received a question this morning that I thought deserved to be answered here. The […]
Read moreThe case for a new category of housing need — below poverty income
July 15, 2009 3 Comments
I have made myself an annoyance to many in the for-profit housing development industry by my constant insistence that housing funded with public resources be created that is affordable to families with incomes at 30% of the area median family income. Recently, I attended a meeting on the uses of the Texas Housing Trust Fund […]
Read moreOur ten point plan for rehousing low income Hurricane Ike survivors
September 14, 2008 Comments Off
There are many critical housing needs facing Hurricane Ike survivors of all incomes. Our focus is on the area of housing for low-income families. This is our ten point plan to rehouse low income Hurricane Ike survivors. We learned a lot about how low-income families fare in the wake of natural disaster through the Hurricane […]
Read moreTexas should prioritize energy efficiency in low income housing development
September 9, 2008 Comments Off
Utility costs are a large and growing problem for low income families. We need to explore the cost effectiveness of building major energy efficiency technologies and solar in low income housing in Texas. Traditionally in Texas we have built low income housing with a focus on keeping the construction costs down. Super high efficiency appliances […]
Read moreFocusing on the big picture of housing assistance
August 4, 2008 2 Comments
Let’s take a step back and focus on the big picture of housing assistance using this chart I have prepared based on data in a recent HUD research report. Since it is 107 degrees outside today I decided to stay in and read the latest HUD report and chart some of the data to get […]
Read moreVISTAs make good things happen in housing
July 17, 2008 Comments Off
We have a new VISTA volunteer at the Texas Low Income Housing Information Service and I am once again reminded how VISTAs make good things happen for the poor, especially in housing. Ryan is a summer VISTA who was assigned to us through a VISTA program operated by United Cerebral Palsy of Texas. His job […]
Read moreThe voice of consumers is missing in judging subsidized housing
July 6, 2008 Comments Off
Low income tenants are seldom consulted about the quality of housing that the government builds for them. I have long thought this to be a serious flaw in affordable housing. Without the active involvement of consumers how can we expect the housing to be designed to meet their needs? Without asking the tenants, how can […]
Read moreState of the Nation’s Housing – it’s getting worse
June 27, 2008 Comments Off
I know I have been mostly blogging about problems lately. All of this negative housing news can be depressing. I really have been looking hard for some positive news in affordable housing. For example, I did just point out yesterday that Texas might get a housing trust fund increase. That is sure good news. But […]
Read more32 years in low income housing in Texas
May 31, 2008 Comments Off
I started my involvement with low income housing and community development in 1975. As a junior at the University of Texas at Austin majoring in history I signed up for a course and oral history and was assigned to the Clarksville neighborhood, an historic free black settlement in central Austin. When I showed up at […]
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