To Address the Housing Crisis, We Need a Fairer Tax System

Two charts illustrate the massive housing shortage in Buncombe County, NC, and show why we need to get property taxes right.

Housing, Sheppard, Urban3, Top Story, Transparent AccountingSeairra SheppardMay 17, 2022housing, housing crisis, Housing Crisis, housing affordability, Housing, housing cost, tax revenue, Just Accounting for Health, Urban3

4 Key Rules for Getting More Housing Where You Live

One of the easiest ways we can have more housing that more people can afford is to allow that housing to be built in the first place. In other words, we need to readdress our zoning codes.

Housing, Zoning, Top StoryStrong TownsMay 11, 2022housing cost, housing, housing affordability, housing activism, Housing, zoning, Local-Motive Tour, taking action, how to

Herriges Rezoned: A City Shaped by Many Hands

Incrementalism is not an end in itself. Nor is it about a “small-is-beautiful” aesthetic for its own sake. Instead, it’s a practical pathway toward resilient, financially sound places.

Herriges, Housing, Urban Design, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesMay 11, 2022Chaotic but Smart, traditional development pattern, small-scale developers, Charleston, incremental development, incremental, incrementalism, North Carolina, urban design, housing, Housing

Should Airbnbs Be Taxed as Residential or Commercial?

How have we come to the conclusion that most short-term rentals are taxed as “residential,” when many have no residents?

Housing, Sheppard, Urban3, Top Story, Transparent AccountingSeairra SheppardMay 10, 2022Just Accounting for Health, Urban3, airbnb, property tax, tax revenue, homeowners, Homeownership, North Carolina, housing, housing market

Herriges Rezoned: Your City Isn't Changing as Fast as You Think

The belief that we’re going to radically transform our cities from the top down defies reality. Despite widespread anxiety about urban growth and change, the vast majority of places aren’t changing very much at all.

Herriges, Housing, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesMay 4, 2022incremental growth, infill, Infill Development, neighborhood change, housing

Suburban Design is a Tragedy of the Commons

We tend to choose larger homes than we want our neighbors to choose. The result: suburban-style development that doesn't match what people actually want from their communities.

Suburban Experiment, Housing, Top StoryDevon ZuegelMay 3, 2022sprawl, infill, Development, development pattern, development, traditional development pattern, suburbs, suburbanization, suburban experiment, suburban development pattern, housing

Herriges Rezoned: “Why Are Developers Only Building Luxury Housing?”

"Developers in my city are only building luxury housing. They're not building anything that ordinary people can afford." If you’ve said this lately, or heard someone else say it, here are five possible reasons why.

Herriges, Cost of Development, Housing, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesApril 27, 2022housing, housing market, Development, development, affordable housing, gentrification, Gentrification, missing middle

Can We Build Strong Towns from Scratch in the 21st Century?

We love organically grown, incrementally developed cities…but could we replicate their success if we started a new city from scratch?

Upzoned, Podcast, Housing, Top StoryStrong TownsApril 20, 2022Podcast, podcast, Upzoned, housing, Development, development, development pattern, traditional development pattern, cities

The NIMBYs Made $6.9 Trillion Last Year

We keep looking for villains to blame for the housing affordability crisis—but are we pointing fingers at the wrong culprits?

City Observatory, Housing, Top StoryJoe CortrightApril 20, 2022housing, housing cost, housing affordability, housing crisis, Housing Crisis, housing market, Housing, homeowners, Homeownership, homeownership, race, Race, City Observatory, Joe Cortright

Something Is Clearly Wrong With the Property Tax Appraisal System

Across the country, the property tax system is causing economic hardship for homeowners—and it’s because the system itself is flawed.

Housing, Sheppard, Top Story, Transparent AccountingSeairra SheppardApril 19, 2022Just Accounting for Health, Urban3, tax base, property tax, North Carolina, Vermont, homeowners, Homeownership, homeownership, homelessness, Homelessness

High Water Victorians, Roosevelt Corner Shops, and Hipster Legos

This walking tour in Sacramento, CA, reveals much about its past and present challenges with housing.

Housing, Sanphillippo, Top StoryJohnny SanphillippoApril 18, 2022California, housing, Housing, housing affordability, housing market, missing middle, Development, affordable housing, neighborhood, Neighborhoods

Herriges Rezoned: A Suburban Poverty Boomtown - Lehigh Acres, Florida

This suburb is a growing place, but it's not a successful place. It risks becoming an increasingly isolating place full of people who are cut off from the economic mainstream.

Suburban Poverty, Growth Ponzi Scheme, Housing, Transportation, Top Evergreen, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesApril 13, 2022suburbs, Florida, suburban experiment, Ferguson, page highlight, housing

House Hacking: Urbanism at Its Smallest and Most Personal

This catalog is a primer on house hacking, with plenty of real-life examples of how it is done.

CNU, Housing, Incrementalism, Top StoryRobert SteutevilleApril 7, 2022housing, housing affordability, housing cost, housing activism, Housing, small scale developers, small scale development, incremental development, incremental, incrementalism

Why Are Our Parents in Wholly Random Places?

Even if you yourself are able to live in a walkable area, you can’t choose where your loved ones live. And as this author describes, that adds to the difficulties of caring for an ailing parent.

Housing, Walkability, Top StoryDawie CoetzeeApril 6, 2022housing, aging, family, housing cost, housing policy, walkability, single-family, zoning, #PedestrianUnfriendly

Why Are Used Homes So Expensive? (Part 2)

We’ve explored why new housing is so expensive…but why is it often the same case for used housing?

Housing, Top StorySeth ZerenMarch 28, 2022housing, housing cost, housing affordability, housing crisis, Housing Crisis, housing market, Housing, Homeownership, homeownership

We Could Fit Lots of Homes in the Middle of Old Strip Malls

Redeveloping just 10 percent of strip malls could fill a nine-year supply of housing in the Boston region, a new study finds. What could similar efforts elsewhere do?

Housing, Zoning, Top StoryCatie GouldMarch 23, 2022housing, housing crisis, Housing Crisis, sprawl retrofit, suburban retrofit, strip malls, Massachusetts, zoning

Can a Houstonian Approach to Homelessness Work in L.A.?

L.A. is facing an increasing problem with homelessness. Can it learn something from the efforts of another large Sunbelt city?

Upzoned, Podcast, Housing, Top StoryStrong TownsMarch 9, 2022Podcast, podcast, Upzoned, homelessness, Homelessness, Homeownership, Los Angeles, Houston, California, Texas, housing, Housing, housing crisis, Housing Crisis

Would Tax Abatements Spur More ADU Construction in Anchorage?

Like so many other cities, Anchorage needs to encourage more options for housing. But how?

Housing, Zoning, Top StoryMikhail SiskoffMarch 1, 2022accessory dwelling units, housing, housing crisis, Housing Crisis, housing policy, zoning, alaska, anchorage

Annamarie Pluhar: Shared Housing Doesn't Have to Be Scary

It’s time we embraced co-housing as a viable solution for both affordable housing and social isolation.

Podcast, Marohn, ST Podcast, Housing, Top StoryStrong TownsFebruary 28, 2022Podcast, housing, Housing, housing crisis, Housing Crisis, co-housing

The "Lickety Splits": Working Around High Housing Costs in California

Small-scale developer Johnny Sanphillippo shares tales of Californians employing simple, low-cost, high-yield measures to get by amidst the housing crisis.