[Daario]

I don't know if this bill has been discussed, but I wonder what you're thoughts are on it.

Philly Proposal Looks Ahead to Less Affordable Future

Philadelphia celebrated its 10th straight year of population gains in 2016, according to census data. But compared to other big U.S. cities, Philly’s 21st-century rebound has been modest, and taken as a whole, the city has a long way to go before it confronts the affordability crises plaguing places like San Francisco and New York.

Still, downtown Philadelphia has been transformed over the last decade or so. New hotels and apartment towers dot the skyline, and real estate prices have skyrocketed in the rowhouse neighborhoods that surround Center City. Some local officials now feel like the time is right to start locking in a measure of affordability before housing gets completely out of reach for average earners.

In June, City Councilwoman Maria Quiñones-Sánchez introduced a bill that would put a mandatory inclusionary zoning policy on the books. Under the policy, developers building residential projects of 10 units or more would be required to set aside 10 percent of units at rents or purchase prices below market rate. In the urban core, where the overwhelming majority of development has occurred in recent years, the set-aside units would be for renters earning up to 50 percent of area median income (AMI) or buyers earning up to 80 percent of AMI. (Philadelphia metro’s household AMI is currently $83,200.) Outside Center City, where most of the neighborhoods in Quiñones-Sánchez’s district lie, the income thresholds would be even lower: up to 30 percent of AMI for renters or 50 percent for buyers.

Read more here:https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/aff...ning-plan-2017