Housing
Housing Advocates Frustrated With Cancelled Forum

Housing Advocates Frustrated With Cancelled Forum

Housing advocates’ push to bring attention to affordability struggles fell short of the Iowa spotlight as the top five polling candidates caused the cancellation of a scheduled affordable housing debate this Friday.  Top-tier candidates Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren,...

Affordable Housing: A Workshop For Municipal Leadership

Affordable Housing: A Workshop For Municipal Leadership

Affordable housing advocates are making a case for municipal support to generally receptive local officials as a projected workforce housing crisis approaches Polk County. A newly released workforce housing study found Polk County will need to add 57,170 new housing...

How Affordable Housing Plans Shape DSM Mayoral Race

How Affordable Housing Plans Shape DSM Mayoral Race

Several mayoral candidates with extensive, but different backgrounds dealing with Des Moines’ rising shortage of affordable housing have proposed varied approaches to solve the issue ahead of Nov. 5 elections. Incumbent Mayor Frank Cownie, who has led the city through...

DSM City Council Looks To Tackle Next Big Housing Issue

DSM City Council Looks To Tackle Next Big Housing Issue

The third and final reading of the new, controversial Des Moines zoning code was approved Wednesday by the Des Moines City Council while a few focus surrounding a potential housing project surfaced Monday at a Council meeting. The code, which sparked debate over...

Report: Higher Wages Needed To Afford Housing In Iowa

Report: Higher Wages Needed To Afford Housing In Iowa

Nearly a fifth of Iowan households do not make enough to live without public assistance, a new Iowa Policy Project report has found, due to factors like rising housing costs. According to the Cost of Living in Iowa report, released last Tuesday, family budget costs...

The 2020 Leader On America’s Underappreciated Crisis

The 2020 Leader On America’s Underappreciated Crisis

Affordable housing has an unofficial figurehead as the national crisis makes its debut as a major issue on the presidential campaign trail this cycle. Julián Castro, the former mayor of San Antonio, Texas, served as the Housing and Urban Development Secretary for the...

Housing Advocates Frustrated With Cancelled Forum

How 2020 Candidates’ Renter Tax Credits Would Work

Cost-burdened Iowans who rent housing may see tax benefits if certain Democratic hopefuls make it to the White House in 2020. Nearly a third of Iowans rent their homes, of which 40% are "cost-burdened" — paying more than 30% of their income on rent, experts say. Among...