Bendix Anderson Author Archives

In 2010, Woodlawn, a neighborhood on Chicago’s lakeshore about eight miles south of the downtown Loop and just south of the much more-expensive Hyde Park neighborhood, was blighted by vacant lots and abandoned buildings. It had been hit especially hard by the housing crash. The foreclosure rate in the neighborhood was well-above the average for the city, or even the South Side.

Developers planned to tear down a historic Chicago affordable housing property to build a new, luxury residential tower.

Even on the coldest New England-winter days, there is a steady, long line outside the soup kitchen at Providence, Rhode Island’s Amos House. When it was founded in 1976 in the city’s Upper South neighborhood, where a third of the residents live in poverty, Amos House planned to serve 30-50 meals per day.

In a park-like corner of a former naval base in the San Pedro neighborhood of Los Angeles sits a community that clearly demonstrates how affordable housing can better lives. Blue Butterfly Village, opened in April 2015, reserves its units for veterans experiencing homelessness.

In July, developers plan to close the financing for a $137 million renovation of the Cincinnati Music Hall.

A new healthcare center opened last year on a remote island.

The people who oppose affordable housing projects often seem to speak an entirely different language from those who support the development of safe, new homes for those who cannot afford market rents. Housing advocates hope to start a more productive conversation.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) now rewards energy-efficient properties and affordable housing communities with lower interest rates and other incentives.

Oxford Mills give educators a place where they can live, work and come together as a community. The mixed-use project includes apartments targeted to teachers. It also includes commercial space targeted to nonprofit educational organizations and community space – including a busy café and coffee shop – where educators can meet and share ideas.

In April 2015, Brian Swanton got a message from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Federal officials questioned whether his plan to redevelop public housing in Maricopa County, Ariz., would violate the Fair Housing law by concentrating poverty in a low-income neighborhood.

Sunlight warms the water at the Ohav Shalom Seniors Apartments. A new solar heating system has cut its cost to heat domestic hot water at this high rise by two-thirds.

A new Courtyard Marriott Hotel in Muncie, Indiana offers more than a comfortable room and a good meal. Within its walls, people with disabilities are being trained for careers in hospitality.