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Journal

Housing

Housing

The latest ideas, insights and action around incremental housing.

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Is the City the Problem or the Solution?

State preemption can remove obstacles, but it can’t build the local capacity that's required for lasting reform.

Housing
Is the City the Problem or the Solution?
How Would Your Town Welcome 5,000 New Neighbors?

Every town will be asked to grow. Maybe not today, maybe not all at once. But when that moment comes, how will yours go about it?

Housing
How Would Your Town Welcome 5,000 New Neighbors?
2 Ways Edmonton Is Tackling Property Speculation And Neglect

Edmonton is proving that communities don’t have to accept neglect as inevitable. Here’s how it’s turning derelict properties from liabilities into catalysts for renewal.

Housing
2 Ways Edmonton Is Tackling Property Speculation And Neglect
They Shared a Vision for Better Housing. Will Their Cities Listen?

From New Mexico to Connecticut, Strong Towns advocates are turning hometown newspapers into platforms for change—using op-eds to push for housing reform that’s local, practical, and powerful.

Housing
They Shared a Vision for Better Housing. Will Their Cities Listen?
What Happens When Housing Prices Go Down (because they are)?

A reflection on affordability, finance, and the deep contradictions we refuse to face.

Housing
What Happens When Housing Prices Go Down (because they are)?
Small-Scale Housing Wins Big in Bend, Oregon

How do you grow without losing what makes your town special? In Bend, Oregon, Jesse Russell is proving it can start with smaller homes.

Housing
Small-Scale Housing Wins Big in Bend, Oregon
This Canadian City is Ditching Red Tape for Rowhouses

Calgary is cutting delays—not corners—to deliver more housing where it’s needed. And your city should be paying attention.

Housing
This Canadian City is Ditching Red Tape for Rowhouses
Bangor’s Bold Moves on Housing

Bangor, Maine, isn’t holding out for silver bullets. It’s getting to work—clearing the way for more homes in creative, community-minded ways.

Housing
Bangor’s Bold Moves on Housing
Answering the Top 3 Questions About Abundance and the Strong Towns Approach

A couple of weeks ago, Chuck did a Q&A about how the book “Abundance” differs from the Strong Towns approach. There were some good questions, so we’ve consolidated his answers here.

Housing
Answering the Top 3 Questions About Abundance and the Strong Towns Approach
Housing Is Not a Numbers Problem—It’s a Systems Problem

When we recognize the housing crisis as a systems and strategy problem, we realize that there is no shortage of things cities can do right now to address it.

Housing
Housing Is Not a Numbers Problem—It’s a Systems Problem
Answering the Call: How This Church Is Turning Faith Into Affordable Housing

Charlotte, North Carolina, is in the middle of a housing crisis. Churches are stepping up to help.

Housing
Answering the Call: How This Church Is Turning Faith Into Affordable Housing
Texas Housing Bill—Not Perfect, But Progress

Some call it watered down, others call it overreach. But there’s no denying this new Texas bill nudges housing policy in the right direction.

Housing
Texas Housing Bill—Not Perfect, But Progress
Making Room for Mom: Iowa’s Bold Move on Backyard Housing

Iowa’s new ADU law puts power in the hands of homeowners, not just developers—and makes it easier for grandma to stay close to home.

Housing
Making Room for Mom: Iowa’s Bold Move on Backyard Housing
Chicago Banned Its Traditional Affordable Housing—Let’s Fix That

It’s time to make the beloved housing solution that turned Chicago into a bustling, modern city legal again.

Housing
Chicago Banned Its Traditional Affordable Housing—Let’s Fix That
Portland’s Quiet Housing Revolution Is Starting to Pay Off

Portland’s zoning overhaul is producing what every city says it wants: more homes people can actually afford.

Housing
Portland’s Quiet Housing Revolution Is Starting to Pay Off
Fed Up With Red Tape, an Indiana Town Tries a New Housing Strategy

In Lawrence, Indiana, a new housing task force is turning local tools into real solutions to tackle the town’s growing housing crisis head-on.

Housing
Fed Up With Red Tape, an Indiana Town Tries a New Housing Strategy
How To Turn 7 Homes Into 28: The South Street Cottages Project

Reducing minimum lot sizes can unlock the potential for smaller, more affordable homes while meeting the needs of the community. Here’s how one developer got community support and multiplied housing availability.

Housing
How To Turn 7 Homes Into 28: The South Street Cottages Project
The 30-Year Mortgage Was Bad. The 40-Year Mortgage Will Be Even Worse.

The Federal Reserve just cut interest rates. Some people are celebrating the move as making housing more attainable, but it's really just reinforcing the housing trap. Need proof? Look no further than the 40-year mortgage.

Housing
The 30-Year Mortgage Was Bad. The 40-Year Mortgage Will Be Even Worse.
The Housing Market Is a Bubble Full of Fraud, and It’s Going To Pop

The U.S. is in a massive housing bubble fueled by widespread fraud. With banks incentivized to look away and Wall Street and Washington incentivized to keep housing prices artificially high, a bottom-up approach is the only hope for bringing sanity back to the housing market.

Housing
The Housing Market Is a Bubble Full of Fraud, and It’s Going To Pop
How Costco Broke Into a Surprising New Market: Modular Housing

To skip delays and debate, a California Costco added 400,000 square feet of housing to its plans — a move that unlocked a faster approval process.

Housing
How Costco Broke Into a Surprising New Market: Modular Housing
How Modern America Is Optimized for Loneliness, Misery and Poor Health

Rates of loneliness and unhappiness are on the rise in the United States, but our European counterparts don’t seem to have the same problem. Why? Part of the reason is the way our built environment isolates us.

Housing
Streets
How Modern America Is Optimized for Loneliness, Misery and Poor Health
Colorado Banned Most Occupancy Limits. Here Is Why It Matters

Housing
Colorado Banned Most Occupancy Limits. Here Is Why It Matters
Housing Isn’t Meant to Be Affordable

As prices rise, housing affordability has become an increasingly popular topic of discussion across North America. However, in our current system, affordable housing is an oxymoron: Housing is treated as an investment, and good investments constantly increase in price. To escape this paradox, we must change the way we think about housing.

Housing
Housing Isn’t Meant to Be Affordable
How Muskegon, MI, Is Building Hundreds of Homes on Vacant Lots

Like so many places, Muskegon, MI, has a shortage of housing and a surplus of vacant lots. That’s why it’s enacted a program that allows it to redevelop those lots into affordable housing—at a low risk to the city. 

Housing
How Muskegon, MI, Is Building Hundreds of Homes on Vacant Lots