Apartment Choice

President Trump announced Thursday he will be pulling the plug on yet another advisory council – this one, on infrastructure. The council, which was still being formed, ideally would have advised the president on his highly-hyped $1 trillion infrastructure plan geared towards upgrading the country’s crumbling roads and bridges. The move comes one day after Trump announced he shut down two other job councils, amid a wave of resignations by executives in the wake of the president’s response to the violence in Charlottesville, Va. “Rather than putting pressure of the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both. Thank you all!" he tweeted. News of the infrastructure advisory council falling apart came from a White House official Thursday afternoon . “The President has announced the end of the Manufacturing Council and the Strategy & Policy Forum. In addition, the President's Advisory Council on Infrastructure, which wa...

President Donald Trump is facing more internal defections, as seven members of the National Infrastructure Advisory Council are resigning in protest against his administration. The seven members of the 27-member panel are predominantly Democratic, according to a report by Roll Call. The panel was created by President George W. Bush in 2001 to provide advice to the Secretary of Homeland Security on how to protect America’s information and infrastructure systems. So far, four of the council members who were reported to have resigned have confirmed their resignations to Roll Call: The council members providing that confirmation were [ex Obama administration staffer Cristin] Dorgelo; Christy Goldfuss, a vice president at the Center for American Progress who chaired Obama ’s Council on Environmental Quality; DJ Patil, a political independent who was formerly U.S. chief data scientist under Obama; and Daniel Tangherlini, former administrator of the General Services Administration . “O...

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler promised during his 2016 campaign that he would tackle the city's affordable housing crisis if elected. His second day in office, he took over the housing bureau , putting himself in charge of its big decisions on top of his already ambitious workload. But eight months into his term, the mayor has little to show for it. No groundbreakings. A single deal to bring an affordable apartment complex to Northeast Portland . A key policy position on his staff vacant five months after his housing expert quit . He has yet to tell developers what the city will fund if they work to put roofs over needy Portlanders' heads. Wheeler's insistence on painstaking public involvement and the lack of housing expertise on his staff have hampered progress on what he said was an urgent priority. The mayor has also made no decisions about how the city should spend the largest pool of money ever available to address Portland's affordable housing shortage . Wheeler ...

Opponents have organized against an effort to rein in rent increases in Maine’s largest city. A group calling itself Say No To Rent Control announced its formal opposition Tuesday to Fair Rent Portland ‘s initiative to adopt a rent stabilization ordinance by referendum in November. The announcement sets the stage for a vigorous fall campaign , which comes as longtime residents and low- wage renters worry that a steep rise in rents and the influx of luxury housing is leading to gentrification and a growing affordability gap between incomes and housing costs. The new group is casting the referendum effort as a rent control ordinance that would harm the city’s housing market, although the supporters say the plan meets the definition of modern rent stabilization efforts that have been successful in other states. Among other things, Fair Rent Portland ’s initiative would limit rent increases to the rate of inflation for landlords who own five or more apartments and establish a Rent...

When it comes to getting new apartments built, San Diego is the 11th worst city in the nation, said a national study released Monday . Fifty cities were ranked on specific factors, including local regulations and land available for development, that were determined to be critical to construction by trade groups such as the National Multifamily Housing Council and the National Apartment Association . Honolulu was ranked the most difficult market for building new apartments, and New Orleans was the easiest. Research gathered by Florida-based think tank Hoyt Advisory Services for the trade groups looked at the Wharton Residential Land Use Regulation Index, a survey of regulatory laws, and a method of mapping developable land created by Sumner La Croix of the University of Hawaii. It also used the U.S. Census and other data and market research. In California, San Francisco was deemed the hardest to get new supply built at No. 8. Los Angeles was No. 12, Riverside No. 13, Sacramento ...

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- After more than 48 hours without power, residents in an east Houston apartment complex are getting some relief. Electricians began working at 7 a.m. Monday, trying to restore power to 75 units at the Rollingwood Apartments which have been without power since Saturday afternoon. Eureka property management said people can relocate to another complex across the street which does have power and generators will be brought in on Tuesday. Electricians will also be back Tuesday to fix an underground wire, a problem that was discovered on Monday while fixing an old fuse holder. With a heat advisory outside, it is miserable inside the apartments without power. "We've been in hell, something. Hot, so hot for the kids. We had to stay in hotel for the last two days," Angelica Ruiz said. Her family doesn't have any more money for hotels, so they opened every door and window to try to cool down. They can't cook anything and lost everything in the fridge. ...