We Are In A Housing Trap. Can We Escape?
Housing is an investment. And investment prices must go up. Housing is shelter. When the price of shelter goes up, people experience distress. Housing can’t be both a good investment and broadly affordable—yet we insist on both. This is the housing trap.
News
Community Stories
The era of corner stores and mom-and-pop shops has mostly come to an end, with modern zoning codes strictly segregating commercial and residential areas. But a return to the mixed-use model might be just what we need to empower entrepreneurs and strengthen people's sense of community.
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.
The U.S. Justice Department is investigating the possibility that the major software company RealPage is facilitating price-fixing among large landlords and management firms.
In a frustrating move for road safety advocates, Washington, DC’s, Department of Transportation has canceled its plans to add bike lanes to a major city street. The decision comes after years of delays and despite the approval of all affected advisory commissions.
In 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.
The Strong Towns approach to housing has some obvious differences with NIMBYs, but what about the YIMBY movement?
With interest rates rising, the cost and availability of housing are becoming increasingly popular topics of debate. But most of these discussions fail to challenge the root of the issue: the absurdity of mortgages as an investment vehicle.
When the owners of Lawrence Hall bought the abandoned building, they had a vision of reviving it into a food hall that would support small businesses and help their community thrive. They never imagined that a few parking spots would put their dream on hold for seven years.
Understanding the real costs and long-term liabilities of our infrastructure is essential for the long-term prosperity of our places. Unfortunately, this detail is often overlooked in our decision-making process.
With an average of 39 collisions a day, Winnipeg, Canada, is a dangerous place for drivers and pedestrians alike. Residents have been fighting to change that for over 40 years, but progress is slow.
Since the 1970s, the number of cars on I-70 between Denver and its surrounding resorts have jumped more than 500 percent, resulting in gridlock every weekend during ski season. Can this be fixed?
In our extremely polarized political climate, it may seem impossible to get anything done. But even as federal politicians stay locked in stalemates, American governors are fighting for increased cooperation across party lines.
If offered the choice between paid and free parking, many people would probably choose the latter. But free parking may be creating more problems than it’s worth.
A 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.
What 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.
Announcements
Trending
The Regulars
Search by Tag
- california
- canada
- community
- covid
- end parking mandates and subsidies
- housing
- housing crisis
- incremental development
- Incremental Housing
- infrastructure
- local government
- member week
- minnesota
- neighborhoods
- parking minimums
- pedestrians
- podcast
- safe and productive streets
- safety
- Street Design
- stroad
- strongest town contest
- suburban experiment
- success stories
- texas
- traffic engineering
- transportation
- upzoned
- walkability
- zoning
Many cities in the United States are experiencing a housing crisis, with pressure growing for someone to find a solution. But is an official solution even possible? With dysfunctional institutions and a divided culture, the “solution” might come down to individuals doing what they can in the moment.