affordable housing

Key West voters Tuesday approved raising the height limit from 25 to 40 feet of habitable space on a 2.62-acre parcel of city-owned property.

The goal is to provide 104 units of affordable workforce housing.

The land is on Stock Island, the island just east of Key West, but is within the incorporated city limits. The land was formerly used by an Easter Seals therapy center and includes the Lower Keys offices of the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District, which is moving out.

The Florida Keys have been in an affordable housing crisis for years. It’s a simple matter of limited supply and very high demand. Then, in September, Hurricane Irma destroyed or caused major damage to thousands of homes — more than 7 percent of the homes in the Keys were destroyed or suffered major damage.

The new mayors of Miami and Miami Beach received updates Monday on their cities' participation in the 100 Resilient Cities program to address present and future livability challenges in Greater Miami and the Beaches.

Raphael Bostic is not a familiar name.

That is unless you work deep inside the financial industry or operate inside academic circles researching the economy. Bostic is the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. His territory includes South Florida.

He says he worries a lot about economic mobility. He thinks all business owners should be concerned about paying their employees enough to afford a decent quality of life, and he's comfortable with the Fed's approach to slowly raise interest rates.

Equity is a growing focus in South Florida, as communities try to address problems like high housing costs and a car-centered transportation system that excludes some public transit users.

A new organization is hoping to spur even more conversations about how to resolve some of those problems.

It’s called the Miami Urban Future Initiative and its goal is to bring together researchers, business leaders, officials and activists on critical equity issues that accompany South Florida's ongoing growth. 

The Keys already had an affordable housing problem, before Hurricane Irma. Then that storm destroyed thousands of homes and is already driving up rents. So some government agencies in the Keys are looking at going into the landlord business.

The next steps for the $400 million bond issue approved by city of Miami voters on Tuesday include developing criteria for selecting livability projects, officials championing the bond say.

"The city will not be purchasing any bonds until projects are actually not only decided but underway," said Jane Gilbert, Miami's chief resilience officer, adding that "underway" means shovels in the ground.

Early voting is underway in Miami, Miami Beach, Hialeah and Homestead.

Voters in Miami and Miami Beach are deciding the fate of borrowing and booze. Miami wants to borrow hundreds of millions of dollars for the environment and other items. Miami Beach will decide if there should be an earlier last call for alcohol on a stretch of Ocean Drive for outdoor bars.