A recent report by the NYC Independent Budget Office found that Mayor Bloomberg’s 10-year plan to build 165,000 units of affordable housing faces serious budget constraints down the road. One major reason for the pinch will be a shortage of tax-exempt bonds, which are allocated to states based on population. While the Democrats typically support more funding for HUD and some form of housing trust fund, there’s been no discussion to speak of about increasing bond volume.
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Jarrett Murphy
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Edwards has proposed creating a “GreenCorps” within AmeriCorps that would work on environmental projects like weatherizing homes and planting vegetation to absorb carbon emissions. Obama backs a similar program. Clinton has proposed a Green Building fund to support state grants and loans for creating more efficient buildings. Biden says he’d support “local updates to building codes” to make them greener. Romney budgeted millions for green building while in the Massachusetts executive mansion.
As Perine points out, building greener doesn’t necessarily require new-fangled construction – especially since it can be difficult to build affordable housing that uses that kind of technology. She wants the candidates to commit to “improving the environment, not through bamboo floors and windmills, but by creating incentives to preserve and increase residential density where infrastructure already exists and discourage sprawl.”
As we look to the Iowa primary and beyond, it's clear there's no shortage of pressing questions for presidential candidates about that most basic need of Americans, and all people: The need for decent and sustainable shelter. But many of the answers have yet to come.
