Bif Naked review

I Bificus, Bif Naked (Lava/Atlantic):

In this crazy post-feminist climate, “you go, girl” seems to be a philosophy, incantation and battle cry all at once.

Enter Bif Naked, a straight-edge, straight-on pop punker with mucho moxie, a gift for songwriting and a voice that can sear or soothe, depending on her mood.

With kohl-heavy Siouxsie Sioux meets Salome looks, she doesn’t want anyone’s head on a platter – just take her seriously, please.

Easy enough, she’s earned it.

I Bificus is a musical juggernaut that kicks from start to finish and improves with successive plays.

The opener, I Died, takes no prisoners with its tale of devastation at the hands of a lover over lunch.

“I died eating french fries/in the restaurant on the corner,/where you broke my heart” might be ditzy fluff coming from a more lightweight artist, but from Bif the words are gut wrenching and existentialist deep.

She explores the betrayal of infidelity in the frenzied, punk-pulsating Moment of Weakness and in the thunderous Only the Girl in which her vocals grow from vulnerable to snarling.

So much more than a punkette scorned, Bif delivers a joyful if guarded tribute to true love in the undulating Lucky.

Anything is a delightful, detail-rich portrait of first love.

--Heidi Johnson-Wright

Bryan Ferry Review

Bryan Ferry: As Time Goes By

As Time Goes By, Bryan Ferry (Virgin):
There are really two Bryan Ferrys.

The first is the former driving force behind Roxy Music, art-rock band extraordinaire of the ‘70s and early ‘80s.

The other Ferry is the elegant, debonair cabaret singer who’s world is awash in sighs, soulful glances and songs about pitching woo.

As Time Goes By is firmly rooted in his latter alter ego with Ferry delivering 15 standards from the ‘20s and ‘30s in his wonderfully woozy, world-weary style.

And though the arrangements and instrumentation – strings, brass, woodwinds, brushes on the snare – are exquisite, it’s Ferry’s understated yet passionate singing that makes it all work.

He’s light and vibrant on Easy Living and Lover Come Back To Me and deeply romantic on Time On My Hands and Where Or When, deftly avoiding the trap of camp exaggeration which has, at times, plagued his earlier cover albums.

The disc’s piece de resistance is Ferry’s smoky, exotic rendition of I’m In The Mood For Love.

Here Martin Denny tropical lounge music meets the dreamy watercolor world best exemplified by Roxy’s Avalon.

Former bandmates Phil Manzanera and Andy Newmark play on the cut.

--Heidi Johnson-Wright

TAX CREDITS CREATE AFFORDABLE RENTAL HOUSING - 11

TAX CREDITS CREATE AFFORDABLE RENTAL HOUSING

By Steve Wright

Even with success stories such as the Monte Cristo, Peterson still said the supply of affordable housing is not keeping pace with the demand. To increase opportunities and make low income housing more efficient and in-line with Smart Growth principles, he would:

• Make all layers of housing subsidies work seamlessly together.
• Encourage mixed income developments.
• Encourage more urban density and land efficiency.
• Build more affordable housing around public transit.
• Encourage more Green Building practices.
• Create some form of inclusionary zoning that generates housing units.
• Streamline zoning, permitting and other development processes to control spiraling costs.
• Ask For-Profit and Non-Profit to work together more.
• Push for better results from programs and services that work with special needs housing such as those serving disabled, homeless, farm worker and offender re-entry populations.
• Add another layer of subsidy to the Tax Credit program to develop Workforce Housing.

Wright frequently writes about smart growth and sustainable communities. He and his wife live in a restored historic home in the heart of Miami’s Little Havana. Contact him at: stevewright64@yahoo.com

TAX CREDITS CREATE AFFORDABLE RENTAL HOUSING - 10

TAX CREDITS CREATE AFFORDABLE RENTAL HOUSING

By Steve Wright

In the Pacific Northwest, Bob Peterson – Manager of the Tax Credit Division of Washington State Housing Finance Commission -- is particularly proud of the historic Monte Cristo Hotel in Everett, Washington.

The hotel, which once set vacant and neglected for more than two decades, was converted to affordable housing 15 years ago and is still going strong. One hundred percent of its 68 units are rented to people earning no more than 60 percent of the Area Gross Adjusted Income, the standard LIHTC requirement.

The rehabilitation of an old hotel has a mix of studios, one- and two-bedroom units. Because Washington requires tax credit recipients to maintain affordability for 40 years, the Monte Cristo’s units will be available to low income renters for at least another quarter century.

“Housing needs differ not only from state-to-state but also within counties,” Peterson said. “More flexibility should be given to local communities to `fill’ in their housing gaps using these current resources. It would be nice to have incentive-based programs vs. legislating the development of affordable housing.”

TAX CREDITS CREATE AFFORDABLE RENTAL HOUSING - 9

TAX CREDITS CREATE AFFORDABLE RENTAL HOUSING

By Steve Wright

Egan also promotes a holistic approach to affordable housing, such as those detailed in “Increasing the Availability of Affordable Homes -- A Handbook of High-Impact State and Local Solutions,” prepared by the Center for Housing Policy (CHP).

The publication details how Fairfax County, Virginia recently approved a plan to rezone an area near a mass transit stop to increase density substantially on land formerly occupied by an older, low-density subdivision of 65 homes plus five acres previously used for surface parking.

The new MetroWest development will have about 2,250 condominiums, apartments and townhouses; up to 300,000 square feet of office space; and, up to 190,000 square feet of retail space.

“During negotiations over the proposed MetroWest development, Fairfax County secured a promise from Pulte Homes, the developer, that approximately five percent of the homes would be affordable — almost double the number required under current Fairfax County provisions for developments of this density,” the CHP handbook explains.

NHC’s Egan said higher density zoning with boosted Floor Area Ratios for development can create room for affordable housing on even a pricey piece of land, quipping “God isn’t making anymore land, but he is using FAR.”

TAX CREDITS CREATE AFFORDABLE RENTAL HOUSING - 8

TAX CREDITS CREATE AFFORDABLE RENTAL HOUSING

By Steve Wright

The State of Ohio also now requires projects that receive tax credits -- family, senior, disabled and permanent supportive housing for the homeless – to remain affordable for 30 years. The demand for low income housing remains so high that the state is still only capable of funding about one out of every four applications each year.

To further assist with gap financing, Ohio created a housing trust fund. To generate dollars for the trust fund, the state doubled the fee people pay for recording all official documents with the County Recorders.

Conrad Egan, President and CEO of the National Housing Conference (NHC), praised the federal tax credit program administered by states for its “overall efficiency, economy of delivery and longtime sustainability.”

But he said affordable housing is too much of a “lasagna deal,” with several layers of financing required in addition to tax credits to make an affordable rental project’s numbers work.

Egan said it would be easier for affordable rentals to be created if all the layers of funding were done in one cycle, so developers would not be carrying land costs and hamstringed from breaking ground until several different agencies approve their projects.

“Nothing drives developers crazy like a lack of predictability,” he said.

TAX CREDITS CREATE AFFORDABLE RENTAL HOUSING - 7

TAX CREDITS CREATE AFFORDABLE RENTAL HOUSING

By Steve Wright
While many are trying to make historic tax credits more available for affordable housing preservation, the state of Ohio is among the leaders in setting aside conventional Low-Income Housing Tax Credits for the restoration and preservation of existing units.

Ohio is one of eight states that reserves 25 percent or more of its LIHTC for preservation. To make sure preservation really works on older properties, the state requires extensive rehabilitation work to bring the existing up to modern code, to boost energy efficiency and to upgrade to minimum accessibility standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“We are making a number of efforts to preserve affordable housing,” said Kevin Clark, the Housing Credit Allocation Manager Ohio Housing Finance Agency. “We set aside a quarter of our tax credit allocation for preservation of existing affordable housing -- most for preserving a Section 8 building, or properties financed by HUD, some created with rural development funds and also older tax credit properties, deals that had to be affordable for 15 years but now could go market rate.”