Tag: Housing
Jefferson County About Halfway Through With Houses Listed for Demolition
Docena is next up in Jefferson County’s bid to remove dilapidated houses.
At its committee meeting Tuesday, the Jefferson County Commission moved to the agenda of its Thursday meeting a resolution declaring 29 structures in the unincorporated community off Minor Parkway public nuisances and targeting those structures for demolition.
Those structures are part of Batch 3 of the county’s demolition program. Read more.
Birmingham to Invest in Temporary Housing for Homeless Residents
Taking the first steps in a community-focused plan to combat homelessness, the city of Birmingham has signed on to purchase 50 units of transitional housing for the unsheltered.
The purchase, totaling nearly $1 million, is the first step in a program that will require significant participation from third-party nonprofits and for which details remain fuzzy.
Where the new shelters will be placed, for example, is still up in the air. That will be dependent on the results of a request-for-proposal process, through which local nonprofits can pitch locations and operational plans, including wraparound services they would offer on-site. Read more.
Smart Homes Made Affordable for Birmingham Residents
One way people can reduce their impact on the climate — and save money on utilities — is to be more economical with energy at home. But making energy-efficient upgrades and installing new technology isn’t cheap.
Last May, Bertina Robinson was driving on First Street South in Birmingham and discovered the homes that are part of “Live on 1st,” a new affordable housing development. Now she lives in one.
“This is a smart system house. I can lock my doors from my phone, I unlock my doors from my phone. I can turn my heat on from my phone, I can turn my air on, from my phone,” Robinson said.
“Live on 1st” is a group of three smart, highly energy-efficient modular homes in the Titusville neighborhood. These homes are the first set of such homes built by Navigate Communities in the city. The organization, a subsidiary of the county’s housing authority, is taking a modern approach to affordable housing in a city where nearly 25% of residents live in poverty. Read more.
Gulf States rank at the bottom for climate-adapted housing. Organizers want to change that.
As natural disasters and extreme weather become more frequent in the Gulf South, a new report hopes to be a road map to providing more climate-adapted housing. Read more.
Where Does That Paycheck Go? A Lot of It Goes to Housing, Study Says
Almost half of renters in the Birmingham-Hoover metro area spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs, a state that a recent report from Harvard University classifies as cost-burdened.
More than a quarter, 27.7 percent, spent more than half of their income on housing, according to the State of the Nation’s Housing report from 2017. Those people are considered severely cost-burdened.
The numbers are fairly close to national averages, according to the report. Nationally, 48 percent of renters spend more than 30 percent of their incomes on housing, compared to the Birmingham area’s 45.9 percent, and 26 percent spend more than half. Read more.
