As policymakers and practitioners address the nation’s shortage of affordable housing, including housing available for affordable homeownership, they face several headwinds, such as inflationary pressures, mounting climate risks, and the potential for further economic cooling. The lack of housing supply combined with rising interest rates is pushing access to high-quality homeownership even further out of reach for many households, especially households of color. Despite these challenges, nonprofit organizations and community development financial institutions continue to innovate, leveraging new federal policy changes and investments to create new housing that addresses the supply gap, improves resilience to climate risks, and meets the unique homeownership needs of those most often denied the opportunity. 

Please join the Urban Institute and practitioners from across the country to understand the innovative ways they are addressing housing supply and affordability challenges, creating new forms of climate-resilient housing options, and leveraging federal flexibilities to overcome barriers in local contexts.

Why does the word "density" create fear and cause concern in our public conversations about housing?

Building inspectors must regularly make difficult – and sometimes surprising – choices that can significantly impact lower-income homeowners, owner-occupants of small multifamily buildings, and the tenants in those buildings. Requiring expensive repairs to address code violations can impose untenable financial burdens on some owners, many of them older households and/or households of color. But not requiring those repairs may expose owners and tenants to unsafe living conditions. In this talk, Robin Bartram, an assistant professor of sociology at Tulane University will discuss her book, Stacked Decks: Building Inspectors and the Reproduction of Urban Inequality. Drawing on her extensive research into code enforcement in Chicago, Bartram will show that building inspectors often make surprising choices about who to cite (and who not to cite) and discuss how these choices underscore the continuing challenge of persistent inequality.

This event will be online only; please register here to attend.

The US housing market finds itself at a pivotal moment: an acute housing supply shortage of about 4 million units coupled with historic home price appreciation have led to a crisis in affordability. At the same time, policymakers and industry leaders have responded with significant proposals and innovations to overcome these challenges.

Join the Urban Institute and Ivory Innovations for a half-day symposium featuring dialogue with the 2022 winners and top 10 finalists of the Ivory Prize for Housing Affordability. The Ivory Prize, organized by Ivory Innovations, is an annual award recognizing ambitious, feasible, and scalable solutions to housing affordability. Innovators include small- and large-scale companies, nonprofit organizations, and government entities. Their solutions for housing affordability combine elements of construction and design, finance, and policy and regulatory reform that are catalyzing new approaches to drive the housing sector forward.

Date: Friday, March 18, 2022Time: 12:15-1:15 pm ET

Location: Virtual

Speaker(s): Jenny Schuetz, Christian Dorsey

The nation’s growing geographic, economic, and demographic divides are reflected in and exacerbated by inequalities in housing markets, argues Jenny Schuetz in her new book, Fixer-Upper: How to Repair America’s Broken Housing Systems. At this event, Schuetz, a senior fellow at Brookings Metro (and former Meyer Fellow at the Center), will discuss the structural problems within US housing systems that contribute to widely disparate outcomes. In addition, she will offer practical—but politically challenging—policy changes than can help build a more equitable and healthy country by providing stable, decent-quality, affordable housing for all. Christian Dorsey, Vice-Chair of the Arlington (VA) County Board and Chair of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, will draw on his experiences as an elected official to comment on Schuetz’s presentation.

This event will be held on Zoom; registration is required.

Date: Friday, February 18, 2022Time: 2-3pm ET

Location: Virtual

Speaker(s): Jennifer Molinsky

Many Americans who need accessibility features live in homes don’t have them. In this talk, Jennifer Molinsky, project director for the Center’s new Housing an Aging Society Program, will discuss a forthcoming paper, co-authored with Samara Scheckler and Whitney Airgood-Obrycki, that uses data from the American Housing Survey to explore the demographic characteristics of residents who have challenges entering, navigating, and using their homes. She will also discuss the types of housing where residents are more likely to have these difficulties, and policies that could make housing more accessible for the growing number of older Americans (and other people) who would benefit from such improvements.

This event will be held on Zoom; registration is required.

The newly created Brownfield Remediation Program is an exciting investment in Ohio’s future. This program is sure to sharpen the skills and expertise of local leaders. This panel is for those interested in learning about Ohio’s other brownfields funding and financing opportunities, which can complement or enhance the Brownfield Remediation Program. This webinar will provide participants with an overview of Ohio’s current funding programs available at the Ohio Water Development Authority (OWDA), the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA), the Ohio Department of Development (ODOD), and JobsOhio.

The Section 3 program requires that recipients of certain HUD financial assistance, to the greatest extent feasible, provide job training, employment, and contracting opportunities for low- or very-low income residents in connection with projects and activities in their neighborhoods.

The overall objective of this training is to provide participants with the tools and resources necessary to become knowledgeable in this provision and its implementing regulations. 

While the size of the housing shortfall in the U.S. is a matter of debate, the primary reason for the existing housing deficit is years of underbuilding and persistent supply-side challenges for the residential construction sector. The chief economist of the National Association of Home Builders, Robert Dietz, will provide an overview and estimates of the current limiting factors for housing supply. Those issues include building material supply-chain bottlenecks, an ongoing skilled labor shortage, and policy failures. He will also provide an overview of the economy and those factors affecting the housing market.

Join CURA and the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) for this co-hosted event, November 15 at 12:00, to welcome CURA Alumni Robert Dietz on a webinar regarding the challenges that the U.S. is currently facing with the housing market from a construction sector's point of view.

Financial resources and policies that support long-term affordability are integral to ensuring the continued affordability and physical quality of the federally assisted housing stock. What risks threaten the long-term affordability of federally assisted homes and what can Congress do to support preservation efforts? This webinar will review new research examining affordable housing preservation risks and trends in recent years presented in our 2021 Picture of Preservation report. The webinar will conclude with federal policy solutions and resources that can support communitywide preservation efforts. Learning Objectives • Understand trends in affordable housing preservation. • Learn how you can use the Preservation Toolkit to begin affordable housing preservation efforts. • Hear federal policy solutions that can promote the long-term affordability of federally assisted housing. • Identify resources to support communitywide affordable housing preservation.

Columbus Zoning Code Update -

Phase 1 Assessment Presentation Link for October 20

(Columbus – October 13, 2021) – As we work to guide growth and promote equity, the City of Columbus has initiated a review of its Zoning Code. Zoning regulates and influences development through standards that guide how land is used, where residential or commercial buildings may be built, and the density of new developments to be constructed. It can be used to help attract new businesses, encourage the construction of new housing, and protect natural resources.

Looking to the future, it is important that Columbus' Zoning Code be designed to help all neighborhoods thrive.  A third-party Zoning Code Assessment has been conducted, which examines the pitfalls of the existing code and opportunities to make the code more efficient and effective.  The community is invited to view a presentation of the Phase 1 findings and have an opportunity to submit questions.

City of Columbus Zoning Code Update - Phase 1 Assessment Findings

View the live stream presentation on

Option 1: Wednesday, October 20, 2021

3:00 PM Event

Option 2: Wednesday, October 20, 2021

6:00 PM Event

Two sessions are available for scheduling flexibility - the content of each presentation will be the same. If you do not have internet access and would like to view a presentation please contact the email address below for further information. The virtual sessions will also be recorded for later viewing. The Assessment Report will be posted to the city's website prior to the presentation.

Contact us at zoningupdate@columbus.gov with questions.

Please forward this email to others who may be interested.

We hope you join us.

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 Contact: Tony Celebrezze

Department of Building and Zoning Services

614-645-6769 (direct), ajcelebrezze@columbus.gov

We spend 90% of our time indoors where we are continuously exposed to diverse microbial communities. This talk will highlight three applications where enhanced understanding of the microbes in our indoor space can improve our health. First, relative humidity in the air is sufficient to support microbial growth in carpet and dust, and this can be modeled quantitatively using the time-of-wetness framework. Prevention of mold growth in homes is especially important for underserved communities who may be more likely to reside in poor quality housing and/or have asthma. Second, elevated moisture can support microbial function in dust, including degradation of phthalate esters. Finally, these findings can be applied in a wide variety of environments, including on the International Space Station (ISS) to ensure that astronauts can remain healthy during long-duration space travel.

The Summit on Sustainability is MORPC’s signature environmental conference, bringing hundreds of community leaders together to explore and share sustainable ideas and solutions, and to celebrate individuals and collaborative sustainability efforts with the Green Region Awards.

The Summit will feature keynote speaker Dana Bourland during the morning plenary session.

Dana Bourland is committed to solving our housing and climate crises in ways that advance racial, economic, and environmental justice. Over her career she has worked at the intersection of systems related to health, poverty, and the environment.

Most recently, Dana led the creation of the environment program at The JPB Foundation, which us one of the largest private foundations in the US. Dana is also the author of Gray to Green Communities.

The conference will include breakout sessions that focus on energy, water quality, materials management, active transportation, land-use development, air quality, social equity, economic development, weatherization, and policy.

During the lunch plenary session hear from local speakers that will provide Pecha Kucha style presentations while sharing real-life solutions and self-sustaining practices that will make our communities better today and tomorrow.

Join a panel of guest speakers who are discussing their firm's LGBTQ+ employee resource groups and what it means to be Proud at Work

About this event

Our event will kick off with each presenter sharing a bit about their firm's employee resource groups (ERG) and this will be followed by networking and a virtual happy hour.

Our speakers:

Rajas Karnik - Rajas is an Associate and Project Architect at FXCollaborative. He grew up in Mumbai, India where he also attended school at the Academy of Architecture, then moved to the United States to attend graduate school at Texas A & M University. He currently lives in the Bronx with his boyfriend, Phil, and their dog, Bacio. When asked the question “Why are you proud of Build Out” he replied, “growing up in India I had never thought I would ever come out, but did so after moving to the US. Since I didn’t see many out professionals in the industry, it took a while. Even today I do not see many out leaders and, on the construction site, I believe there is even more pressure to adhere to “norms” this is even more of an issue Through this group I would like to create visibility for out LGBTQ professionals and help create a safe environment for them to celebrate who they are.”

Tracy J Passarella - Tracy is a licensed Superintendent turned Project Manager and a proud employee of Gilbane Building Company. Her love for building started when she’d play hooky from school to stay home and build her newest Lego set. Tracy grew up on Long Island and lived in North Carolina for 5 years before moving to Manhattan to attend film school and to run her Mom’s new bar and restaurant in Gramercy Park aptly named, “Tracy J’s.” During this time, she enrolled in the Construction Project Management program at NYU. Tracy has been married to her soulmate, Lauren, since 2016. They have two cats and two 22-year-old turtles. When asked, “Why are you proud of Build Out?” she replied, “I believe that our careers can be a very lonely place if we are forced to hide who we are. Build Out gives a voice to those who may feel isolated at the workplace or even at home. When I began working with a company that supports the LGBTQIA community, I blossomed in my career because I no longer had the distraction of protecting my identity.”

Jesse Vernon - As a communications manager and equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) leader at Arup, Jesse collaborates across contexts and cultures to help cultivate the firm’s EDI ecosystem, sharing insights and leveraging collective power to shape change. Jesse has led Connect Out, Arup’s LGBTIQ employee resource group, since 2017, working with Arup members to enhance inclusion, meaningful relationships, creative collaboration, and lasting impact.

Rami Abou-Khalil - Rami is a Lebanese-Canadian architect at the New York office of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, with a body of work spanning mixed-use and institutional work.

Matt Hyde - Matt is a Project Manager at Turner Construction Company where he specializes in commercial office fit-outs. He is also the co-creator and lead of Pride Alliance, Turner’s LGBTQ employee resource group. He grew up in Fairfield, CT, and now lives in Chelsea with his boyfriend, Miska. He received his Bachelor’s degree from Cornell and his Master’s from Columbia. An avid runner, he’s looking forward to running his very first NYC Marathon in 2019! When asked the question “Why are you proud of Build Out” he replied, “Build Out allows the LGBTQ community to gain more visibility in the design & construction industry. Through additional awareness, I hope we can make a positive impact for those who identify as LGBTQ and are either new to or hope to join the industry.”

Lok Chan - Lok Chan (she/her) is a designer at Robert A.M. Stern Architects. After graduating from the University of Miami with a Bachelor of Architecture in 2017, Lok has worked on numerous institutional projects at RAMSA including the College Academic Commons at Wake Forest University and the recently completed College of Dentistry at Ohio State University. Lok is a founding member and Chair of RAMSA Q+, an active leader in the firm’s recruiting and Diversity and Inclusion efforts, and a proud lesbian practicing in the field of architecture.

Quinton Turner - Quinton Turner (he, him) is the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Coordinator at Thornton Tomasetti. He has a B.A. in Political Science and History from Vanderbilt University. In January 2020, he founded Spectrum (ENG), an LGBTQIA+ employee network group at their firm.

Pedro Camara - Pedro Câmara is an Associate Principal at Kohn Pedersen Fox, where he has worked since 2017 designing high-rise projects and master plans. Prior to that, he worked at Bernard Tschumi Architects in New York for 3 years and at offices in Switzerland and Brazil. Câmara is a founding member of KPF Pride Group and curates the IncluCity’s lecture series that focuses on issues of inclusivity, accessibility, and community engagement in the design of cities. He collaborates with artists Gerard & Kelly designing exhibitions and installations for performances like Modern Living, an exploration on queer intimacy and domestic space within legacies of modernist architecture. He is also a co-creator of the Brazilian collective @arquiteturabicha, an ongoing research into the intersection between architecture, sexuality and gender identity.

Thomas Schiefer - Thomas Schiefer is a Senior Staff Engineer at Langan with over five years of experience in environmental consulting. Thomas has a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Brown University and a M.S. in Urban Development from the Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany. In January 2021, Thomas co-founded Queer@Langan, an LGBTQIA+ employee resource group at his firm.

The pandemic has created an opportunity for many government agencies and private businesses to try new ideas to address the national shortage of affordable housing. One such welcomed policy opportunity has been a conversion strategy to create more units of deeply affordable housing. While many states and localities have leased space in hotels/motels to provide shelter for people experiencing homelessness during the pandemic, several states are finding opportunities to acquire and convert some of these spaces into permanent housing, using federal, state and local resources.

In this webinar, experts from across of the county will talk about their motel/hotel conversion programs: what it took politically and practically, what policy changes were needed, and what opportunities lie ahead to use additional federal resources for this purpose.

Please join the Ohio Healthy Homes Network for a webinar focusing on lead response after COVID-19. Stay-at home measures needed for the pandemic along with delays in testing and abatement have increased lead exposures in the public.  Our expert panel will provide information on why lead testing and abatement is important from a clinical perspective, how to access lead abatement resources, and why we should complete this work for the betterment of our community. We hope you can join us.

Join us for this webinar to learn about the 2021 Affordable Housing Design Leadership Institute. This year’s theme is Equitable Practice: Designing and Developing Healing Centered Housing.

On this webinar, we will:
-Share about the program curriculum for this newly redesigned, all virtual program
-Walk through the application
-Review the applicant criteria
-Provide an opportunity for Q+A

Join Next City and Living Cities for the second installment of our three-part live webinar event on public procurement, race, and the pandemic. Businesses owned by people of color are the hardest hit by the pandemic and its economic fallout. Commitment to inclusive procurement is an obvious way to ensure that the eventual recovery from COVID-19 includes or starts in the hardest-hit communities.

Even now with looming budget deficits, procurement is a tool to mitigate disproportionate losses for workers and the neighborhoods they support. What are some of the biggest lessons learned from decades of work on MWBE procurement programs? What are some of the emerging practices that can make public procurement work better specifically from the perspective of small businesses that have never before had the opportunity to do business with their local government? This webinar series will bring together perspectives from leaders responding to these challenges, using tried-and-true methods as well as new methods.

It is helpful to leverage race-conscious policies and programs to address disparities in government contracting. But not all cities have legal grounds for such policies. In cities and states where race-conscious programs aren’t an option, how can race-neutral policies work to expand city government’s contracting with businesses owned by people of color?

Join us to hear how cities are working to ensure that race-neutral policies benefit businesses owned by people of color. We will hear from officials in Tacoma and Houston, and from the small-business accelerator Interise, for takeaways and advice on how to institute equitable procurement in places where the means to get there cannot include race-conscious policies and programs.

Leading up to 2020 the interest in wellness as a housing amenity was trending upward. The experiences of the past year have only accelerated the demand for healthy features that multifamily housing residents are looking for in apartment living. Housing designs that focus on health, wellness, as well as a desire for a more comfortable living space, are now some of the most sought-after features tenants seek out. This webinar will explore incorporating health and wellness features into the design of your multifamily building and highlight how these features can synergize with sustainable design elements for an efficient and comfortable design.

Featuring Breakthrough Challenge grantee Forterra and their winning idea, Prototyping Modular Cross-Laminated Timber.

Join us for a series of six 90-minute conversations with each of the Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge winners and other leading voices from the housing sector and beyond. Together in dialogue, we’ll delve into the research, policies and practices that inform and drive each of these six innovations in their respective communities and nationwide.

The fifth in our six-part Housing Innovations series, this webinar will feature Breakthrough Challenge grantee Forterra and their winning idea, Prototyping Modular Cross-Laminated Timber.

Do you want to learn more about Building and Zoning? Join the City of Columbus on Thursday February 25 at 5:30 p.m. for our next South Side Roundtable where we will feature a presentation on how to access the Citizen portal, and GIS map and ask questions from Assistant Director Celebrezze. Join us on Thursday, February 25 at 5:30 p.m. at Do you want to learn more about Building and Zoning?

1. Meeting number (access code): 180 172 6082, Meeting password: qeH4hF739uv

2. Join by phone 1-650-479-3207, access code 180 172 6082

Real estate plays a defining role in the American economy, making up over 40% of private assets nationally, while it simultaneously plays a role in our everyday lives as an expression of health, innovation, community, and culture. Real estate is also cyclical, the most recent reset triggered by the subprime mortgage crisis and the Great Recession. As illustrated in recent research, the market is overdue for its next reset, due to five converging and disruptive trends, many of which have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic: persistent segregation by race and income, America’s ongoing demographic transformation, destabilized regional housing markets, the future of work, and disruptions to the retail ecosystem.

Come to the Virtual Table with Green Communities!

You’re invited to join a small group of project teams in the early stages of certifying to the 2020 Green Communities Criteria. Reserve your seat at this virtual Integrative Design roundtable to share the story of your project.

• Enjoy peer-to-peer learning with others approaching Integrative Design and the Project Priorities Survey (PPS)

• Hear from Enterprise Design Leadership Program Director Carrie Niemy about the one most important step to a meaningful PPS and predesign process
  

• Discuss new features of Integrative Design to prepare for submitting your 2020 Prebuild application and a chance to be part of The First 20

When: Tuesday, December 15, 2 p.m. ET

Who: Bring your friends! In the full spirit of Integrative Design, invite all your project team members to the table.

What to bring: Preview the PPS and come ready to share your game plan!

Contact the Green Communities team at certification@enterprisecommunity.org with any questions.

Hazard mitigation seeks to increase the resiliency of communities by designing and deploying long-term solutions that reduce the impact of disasters in the future. Risk reduction projects can break the cycle of disaster damage, reconstruction and repeated damage. In an era where the Nation is facing unprecedented risk from natural hazards, pandemics and economic disruption — it is essential for mitigation to elevate equity and community participation, while also addressing other community needs like public health, municipal funding and housing.

In this session we will introduce the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)’s Guides to Expanding Mitigation, produced to highlight innovative and emerging partnerships for mitigation that can be achieved at the local, state and federal level and can be used to support new programs like BRIC. The guides show how communities can implement hazard mitigation projects and planning by engaging other sectors; supporting FEMA's goal of building a culture of preparedness, as part of the agency's strategic plan and are strategic tools for community risk reduction and mitigation planning.

We will be joined by leadership from FEMA, HUD (Pending) and Enterprise Community Partners to discuss strategic program and funding opportunities to promote equitable and resilient communities across the nation.

Mitigation planning breaks the cycle of disaster damage, reconstruction and repeated damage. Hazard mitigation includes long-term solutions that reduce the impact of disasters in the future. In this session we will introduce a set of guidance, Guides to Expanding Mitigation, that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region 2, which oversees federal emergency management for New York, New Jersey, eight Tribal Nations, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the Territory of the U.S. Virgin Islands developed to promote equity in the process of mitigation planning. The Guides are designed to highlight innovative and emerging partnerships for mitigation that can be achieved at the local, state and federal level. The booklets show how communities can better support hazard mitigation projects and planning by engaging other sectors; supporting FEMA's goal of building a culture of preparedness, as part of the agency's strategic plan and are strategic tools for community risk reduction and mitigation planning.

Harrison "Bill" Smith Legacy Forum and Downtown Commission "Smithy" Awards

Wed, Dec 2, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

The Boat House at Confluence Park

Livestreaming available on our YouTube channel

Tim Moloney, Executive Director, Franklin County Metro Parks

Host, Amy Taylor, COO, Columbus Downtown Development Corporation

Additional panelist to be announced

Sponsored By: Smith & Hale

Livestream Presented By The Emergency Response Fund of The Columbus Foundation, With Support From PNC, The Columbus Dispatch

In-house registration is welcomed! Payment is required by Monday, Nov 30!

This forum is The Harrison “Bill” Smith Legacy Forum and Downtown Commission “Smithy” Awards will be presented.

In the WHO’s Urban Green Spaces, a Brief for Action, it is stated, “Urban green space is a component of “green infrastructure” . It is an important part of public open spaces and common services provided by a city and can serve as a health-promoting setting for all members of the urban community. It is therefore necessary to ensure that public green spaces are easily accessible for all population groups and distributed equitably within the city.” Our panelists will discuss the importance of planning green spaces within Columbus and recent projects that are furthering green spaces within our city.

Featuring Keith Myers, Vice President, Planning, Architecture, and Real Estate, Office of Administration and Planning, The Ohio State University; Tim Moloney, Executive Director, Metro Parks; Sophia Fifner, Community Relations Chief, Columbus Recreation and Parks; and host Amy Taylor, COO, Columbus Downtown Development Corporation.

For this discussion on December 2, limited live audience seating is not available.

You can still join us on YouTube to view and participate in the community conversation during this livestream event. When you register, you can submit questions in advance.

The livestream forum is FREE to view but we encourage you to register to support CMC by purchasing a virtual seat – special donate buttons are available when you register!

As a nonprofit mission-driven organization, CMC is livestreaming  Wednesday forums via YouTube, free of charge so that everyone can access this important information. In the spirit of our mission, we believe that conversation is essential to help our community stay strong and stay connected during the health crisis!

Please continue to register to purchase a virtual seat, submit questions for Q&A, and receive updates about panelists and upcoming forums. 

Watch and participate in the online conversation during Livestreaming Forums at our  YouTube channel at noon.

We ask you to consider making donations to CMC to support this mission, even if you are unable to join us for this particular forum.