Affordable Housing Policies: An Overview

As urban housing markets throughout the United States increasingly exhibit challenges of affordability, federal, state, and local governments have placed renewed emphasis on housing, specifically mixed-income housing, which integrates affordable housing incentives into multifamily development projects. With such incentives, one must wonder what comprises a successful affordable housing policy and how affordable housing can be successfully implemented into a community. This article attempts to answer these questions by detailing the history of affordable housing policies, exploring some of the current affordable housing policies and programs, comparing affordable housing programs from different regions, and discussing some successful affordable housing programs and lessons that can be learned from them.

Baker Program's Inaugural International Trip to Vancouver

[Excerpt] In March 2016, second-year students in the Baker Program in Real Estate embarked on a trip to Vancouver, British Columbia to meet with the people and companies that have played a role in shaping Vancouver into the celebrated international city it is today. Starting with a bold plan begun in the 1980s to connect the city to its waterfront, Vancouver has spent the following decades on a transformation spree that is the envy of urbanists the world over. Throughout a five-day itinerary, students visited the projects and neighborhoods that epitomize this transformation.