Emily Hamilton

3 weeks ago | governing.com | Emily Hamilton

Today, manufactured housing provides unsubsidized housing to about 17 million people nationwide. About half own both their home and the land like other single-family homeowners, but unlike other types of housing, more than a quarter (an estimated 5 million people) own their home but rent their land. This is especially common in metropolitan areas. And Pew’s 2022 survey of manufactured home residents shows that only about half of those who rent their land actually have a land lease.

3 weeks ago | governing.com | Jared Brey |Carl Smith |Donald F. Kettl |Emily Hamilton

On Jan. 5, at about 2:35 in the afternoon, the first severe hailstorm of the season dropped quarter-size hail in Chatham, Miss. According to the federal storm events database, there were no injuries, but it caused $10,000 in property damage. How do we know the storm caused $10,000 in damage? We don’t. That estimate is probably a best guess from someone whose primary job is weather forecasting.

3 weeks ago | governing.com | Emily Hamilton

The abrupt end to Texas' 24-year-old law came hours after the U.S. Department of Justice announced it was suing Texas over its policy of letting undocumented students qualify for lower tuition rates at public universities. Texas quickly asked the court to side with the feds and find that the law was unconstitutional and should be blocked, which U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor did.

3 weeks ago | governing.com | Emily Hamilton

When he resumed in-person classes at Evans High School in the 2021-22 school year, that habit stuck. His attendance was spotty and his classwork often undone. In tenth grade he estimated he missed nearly 60 days of school, or a third of the academic year. He is part of an alarming trend. Absenteeism across Florida skyrocketed beginning with that COVID-19 interlude — and, confounding experts’ predictions and defying educators’ hopes, it hasn’t come back down.

3 weeks ago | governing.com | Emily Hamilton

Unfortunately, not everyone who is inclined to live close to plentiful job opportunities, conveniences and culture — without the need for a daily drive down congested freeways or to water a large yard — gets to do so. A morass of regulations stands in the way. We live in Arlington, Va., across the Potomac River from Washington. Parts of Arlington look like a typical affluent, leafy suburb, but near most of the county’s Metro stations, high-rises are permitted.