The News Fix

Affordable housing is hard to find, especially for renters. Nearly half of all households that rent are spending more than 30% of their incomes on rent and utilities each month. As one affordable housing expert put it bluntly, “There is no easy fix.” This country has a shortfall of about 7 million affordable units, and it will take years, if not decades, to shore up the gap between supply and demand. That’s the bad news, but with every problem comes opportunities.

Cities could get into the real estate biz themselves. One solution is for local governments to buy up buildings to keep their rents affordable. Typically, the more housing stock the city owns, the more affordable the market. The city of Berlin, for example, owns 325,000 rental units, about 17% of all apartments in the city. In Singapore, 80% of residents live in apartments built by the government.

Public housing has public relations hurdles to overcome. We don’t have to tell you that U.S. cities aren’t Berlin or Singapore. And the general public may be less inclined to rent from cities when media reports have focused on public housing’s failures and downplayed its successes.  
 
But many U.S. cities see buying up property as a quick way to preserve or grow affordable housing. Indeed, it’s already happening. Dallas County recently bought a 347-unit apartment building. Missoula, Montana, bought a 96-unit apartment complex. And Los Angeles plans to buy at least 10,000 below-market rental units by 2030.

Smart in a Shot

Pickleball – it’s a mashup of tennis and pingpong that’s created a lot of noise lately. Literally. But unlike the airy thud of a fuzzy tennis ball, the thwacky pop of a plastic pickleball is getting on people’s nerves. Click those links to compare for yourself. The Wall Street Journal reports that some homeowners are filing noise violations and fighting to get their neighborhoods’ new pickleball courts removed altogether.
 
Pickleball became increasingly popular during the pandemic, with 4.8 million players in the U.S. in 2021. About 90 pickleball courts are being built every month. But it’s probably not fair to just peg fights against courts as NIMBYism. Noise pollution, especially in cities, is no joke. Urban life has background noise of about 60 decibels on average, which is loud enough to elevate a person’s heart rate and blood pressure. Depending on the type of ball and paddles players use, noise levels on the pickleball court can reach 70 db about 100 feet away, which is as loud as the sound of freeway traffic.

The Numbers

$500

14%

2,500x

This week on the podcast

None of us is as smart as all of us

Tell us what’s making you smarter at smarter@marketplace.org. We'd love to include your recommendation in a future newsletter.

Get your Mercedes G-Wagon subsidized by the government

Heavier SUVs and trucks may come with higher registration fees in D.C., but they also come with a potential tax write-off. Producer Tony Wagner recommends this Gawker article that highlights Section 179 of the IRS tax code, which allows business owners to write off purchases of vehicles over 6,000 pounds as business expenses.

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A lack of faith in unbridled capitalism

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Why Sriracha, coffee and chocolate are getting scarcer

This newsletter was written by Ellen Rolfes.

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