Beyond Bricks and Sticks

A weekly digest of current trends in housing and community development. The discussion examines topics from infrastructure to community fabric.

Affordable Housing For Artists Coming To South-Side Neighborhood

RECAP: Big Car Collaborative is renovating a handful of homes in the Garfield Park neighborhood with two of them becoming available next month for artists. Co-founder Jim Walker said his organization was able to purchase the properties thanks to financial assistance through the Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Project, which looks for innovative ways to put Indianapolis residents into homes. While artists can purchase the home at an affordable price, they are expected to get involved in the neighborhood. The neighborhood will hold art walks on the block that take place during the first Friday of each month, where businesses at the west end of the neighborhood will all be open. "It's got people who are not only doing art or working with the community they are really trying to be part of making this a great place for everybody," Walker said.http://fox59.com/2017/03/17/affordable-housing-for-artists-coming-to-south-side-neighborhood/

LinkedIn-Zillow Research Finds Places Where Jobs and Affordable Housing Intersect

RECAP: Zillow and LinkedIn combined housing and employment data to analyze a common set of priorities: an affordable rental home and a good job. The two companies used job listings data, salary data, and the percent of workers hired in the past year in three industries: health care, technology, and finance. By analyzing income tax rates and Zillow's median rent data, they were able to find housing markets across the country where those workers can pocket the largest share of their income after paying rent. "High demand and inventory shortages have driven up housing prices in some markets so much that even if you land a great job, the salary might not cover living within commuting distance," said Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Svenja Gudell. "On the other hand, the nation's most affordable housing markets don't always offer plentiful employment opportunities. Housing is the biggest line item in most people's budgets, so we did the math for you and found 'sweet spots' -- places with great job markets and housing markets that will leave you with some cash at the end of the month."
https://www.zillow.com/research/take-home-pay-linkedin-14462/

Why Affordable Housing Is Essential To Our Economy

RECAP: What is the value of affordable housing? It goes beyond simply finding homes for people. Two new reports released by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) explore both why affordable housing is essential to our economy and how the grave lack of it may put many at risk. The report estimates that more than 500,000 jobs were supported through HUD investments in 2015 alone. The “A Place To Call Home” report, released by the Campaign for Housing and Community Development Funding (CHCDF) and the NLIHC, compiles the latest research on how access to affordable housing improves economic mobility, reduces poverty and homelessness, positively impacts health outcomes and strengthens the economy.
https://www.inman.com/2017/03/20/why-affordable-housing-is-essential-to-our-economy/

Senior Housing, Healthcare Partnership Leads to Savings, Lower Readmissions

RECAP: For a time, it seemed that home visits from doctors were a tradition of the past. However, with a growing population of seniors in need of access to affordable care, senior housing communities are experimenting with ways to link to the healthcare system through the Affordable Housing Plus Services Model. Presbyterian Senior Living first implemented the Affordable Housing Plus Services model in June 2011 at Presbyterian Apartments, an affordable senior housing community in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.  Partnered with Pinnacle Health, and funded by Enterprise Community Partners, Presbyterian Apartments linked on-site clinicians from the local hospital with the apartments’ on-site supportive services coordinator to provide weekly medical support to apartment residents. The idea behind the Affordable Housing Plus Services Model is to impact patient engagement by having trusted resources available on-site to match residents with healthcare providers to facilitate proactive healthcare.
http://managedhealthcareexecutive.modernmedicine.com/managed-healthcare-executive/news/senior-housing-healthcare-partnership-leads-savings-lower-readmissions