Connecticut is trying to reform state and local zoning laws to allow diverse and affordable housing production. However, their efforts still rely on the suburban approach — accruing large amounts of debt in anticipation of future growth — so they may be doomed to failure.
Read MoreAs 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.
Read MoreThe U.S. Justice Department is investigating the possibility that the major software company RealPage is facilitating price-fixing among large landlords and management firms.
Read MoreMany housing advocates celebrate large supplies of housing and low rents. However, this is only one stage of a larger boom-and-bust cycle and cannot be maintained. To break out of this cycle and sustainably improve housing accessibility, we need to redirect our focus to incremental development.
Read MoreIn 2017, California passed a law that was supposed to open up new levels of incremental development. But in many cities, zoning codes still make that development near-impossible. The city of Ukiah is working to change that.
Read MoreThe Strong Towns approach to housing has some obvious differences with NIMBYs, but what about the YIMBY movement?
Read MoreA recent tweet from the POTUS saying that we need to “build, build, build” to end the housing crisis might reassure some, but there’s reason to be skeptical about how he’s suggesting we do so.
Read MoreWhat percentage of property in any given jurisdiction in the U.S. is locally owned—and are the implications of those numbers? Here to talk with us about it is Alex Alsup of Regrid, which has made the only complete national parcel map.
Read MoreIf we listen to those concerned about housing affordability, rents are already too high and may only go higher. If we listen to those concerned about housing finance, rents are about to collapse. Can both of these narratives be true?
Read MoreWhen housing is scarce, the affordability and quality of it tend to go down. If we want to solve this, we need more housing supply—but how do we make that happen? (Hint: Not necessarily through large-scale federal programs!)
Read MoreA bill to legalize certain forms of “missing middle” housing statewide in Minnesota appears dead in the legislature. Yet, here are 4 reasons why it’s still not a total loss.
Read MoreEveryone has an entry point on their journey to taking action for their place. For Bernice Radle, it was witnessing the steady depopulation of Buffalo, NY, and seeing a landscape of unused, unloved buildings headed for the wrecking ball.
Read MoreLike 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.
Read MoreCincinnati is currently undergoing a significant planning reformation effort, which involves unveiling what’s being called the Connected Communities plan. Joining us to talk about it is Cincinnati urban planner John Yung.
Read MoreIt's not that cities can’t or shouldn’t learn from each other. But there simply aren’t the kind of drag-and-drop solutions that some pundits (who are either naïve or dishonest) would like to claim.
Read MoreNorfolk, NE, knows that people are the indicator species of a successful place, and it’s doing all it can to make its public spaces friendly to its people.
Read MoreIn 2015, Edmonton, a city of 1 million situated in the Canadian Prairies of Alberta, was the first city in the country to adopt Vision Zero—and they’ve taken that adoption seriously.
Read MoreLocal activists in Selma, NC, started small, but they’ve grown into a coalition of citizens, civic groups, and city leaders striving to improve housing, transportation, and the local economy.
Read MoreWhat does it really mean to say that housing can’t be both affordable and an “investment”?
Read MoreSmall-scale developer Coby Lefkowitz joins us to discuss how finance shapes our cities, why debt is used to develop cities, and and why America's housing financial system privileges large-scale institutional development.
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