Editor's Note: The challenges our cities face are growing, but so is the strength of this movement. Every story we share, every idea we spread, and every tool we build exists because people like you are committed to showing up. Your membership isn’t passive—it’s the momentum that makes change possible.
When I met with a planner from High River, Alberta, one recommendation from the Strong Towns Housing Toolkit stopped her short: issue a housing permit in 24 hours. She tilted her head, reread the line, and asked: What would that even look like?
Today, when a property owner applies for a permit, they don’t enter a process so much as a maze. Multiple departments operate on disconnected timelines. Codes overlap or contradict one another. Risk-averse policies create a culture where staff hesitate to act without layers of sign-off.
We have built cities optimized for expansion and burdened them with processes that fear even modest change. The problem is not a lack of professional expertise. It is a system that has unintentionally made clarity impossible. So what would it mean to design a permitting process that could reliably deliver 24-hour certainty — not through shortcuts, but through structure?
It starts with zoning clarity at the front desk. If someone walks into City Hall and asks, “Can I build a duplex here?” the answer should not require a scavenger hunt through code sections and outdated maps. A housing-ready city ensures its zoning code is legible, its maps are current, and its front-line staff are trained and empowered to give clear, accurate answers on the spot. Clarity begins before an application ever exists.
From there, the city must define what “complete” actually means. Builders shouldn’t have to interpret vague instructions or rely on trial and error. A concise, one-page checklist — paired with examples — makes expectations explicit. Pre-approved or pre-reviewed plan sets, designed for typical lots, reduce guesswork and bring predictability into the system. The goal is not to lower standards, but to make them comprehensible.
Standardization plays an equally important role. Site conditions such as stormwater handling, setbacks, grading, and fire access don’t need to be reinvented with every application. When projects conform to pre-established templates, approval becomes a matter of verification rather than negotiation. Consistency, not discretion, becomes the driver of speed.
Equally critical is clarity about who owns each decision. When responsibility is diffuse, delay becomes inevitable. Speed depends on aligned authority — where zoning, utilities, and inspections each have clearly defined roles and accountability. As one planner put it: “If our own technical staff can’t figure out how to permit a project that fits our rules, then our rules aren’t working.”
That is the real test. Housing should be treated with the same urgency cities apply to potholes or broken water lines. We should be treating it as essential infrastructure, not as a discretionary exception. A 24-hour permit is not a gimmick. It is a measure of whether a city understands its own system well enough to make it function.
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Strong Towns' Housing-Ready Toolkits are the product of hundreds of conversations with the people with boots on the ground trying to supply housing where it's needed most. If you've already interfaced with the toolkits and are ready to connect with experts to figure out your next steps, get in touch with Strong Towns.
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