HOUSING

Iowa lawmakers are gathering Saturday to hear from mobile home residents in the state following this year’s reports of double-digit rent increases by out-of-state landlords. Concerns that the state is not upholding the rights of mobile home communities arose at the end of last legislative session after Utah-based corporation Havenpark Capital Partners purchased four parks…

Several local races across Iowa have demonstrated to advocates that over time, housing issues have the potential to be winning campaign issues. Candidates in Urbandale, Iowa City and Ames won their bids for city council seats on platforms focused on affordable housing needs. The success of the issue on the campaign trail has led some…

Housing has had a moment during the 2020 election cycle, but some are wondering if the nation’s growing need for affordable options can mobilize voters enough to implement policy changes. Advocates say the sheer impact of the housing crisis, growing political will and increasing support for solutions has put real pressure on policymakers and presidential…

Five 2020 Democratic candidates were peppered with questions in Waterloo, Iowa, on Friday, about their agendas for local America and asked how to lessen the disconnect between Washington and cities nationwide. Infrastructure, housing and economic development were highlighted at the Local America Presidential Forum as Pete Buttigieg, Cory Booker, Julián Castro, Amy Klobuchar and Tom…

After Waterloo, Iowa, retiree Rosetta Robinson’s daughter had a baby, the two moved out of the small apartment they shared together, expecting to get a more spacious home within a few months. That was last year, and the women are still living in temporary living conditions — Rosetta with her mother in a one-bedroom apartment…

During a significant few weeks for the nation’s widening affordable housing needs, several federal bill proposals and candidate plans were rolled out to address the crisis. In her role as a California senator, 2020 Democratic candidate Kamala Harris introduced last Thursday legislation for more than $100 billion in infrastructure investments focused on bettering the country’s…

After drawing record crowds during a successful Iowa trip earlier this month, presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez again have joined together to introduce a new version of Green New Deal legislation, focused on public housing. The legislators’ climate-focused, early November trip to the state came before Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez…

Photo: Julian Castro tests out the beds at a supportive housing center before his Liberty and Justice event speech. Away from the rain and a slew of competitors’ supporters last Friday, Democratic presidential candidate Julián Castro toured affordable housing units at downtown Des Moines’ YMCA Supportive Housing Campus. The former San Antonio mayor and U.S.…

This weekend, at presidential candidate events and forums throughout central Iowa, economic injustice against communities of color was a reoccurring theme — including discussion of homeownership disparities between black and brown families and their white neighbors. At an NAACP forum in Des Moines and later at town halls and an office opening in Waterloo, the…

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, Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg and Kamala Harris couldn’t commit to what was supposed to be a candidate…