Utah has generally made room for single-family homes in the past, but the Salt Lake Tribune thinks its time for new plans as the state faces demographic changes and worsening affordability.
The editorial board of The Salt Lake Tribune is making the case for infill development in suburban communities.
The editorial is written to support a campaign announced recently by the Salt Lake Chamber to develop affordable housing around the Wasatch Range region. Tony Semerad provides news coverage of that campaign in a separate article.
Included in the editorial, however, is this pointed response to development opponents who set no growth stances as the rule:
Residents perform an important civic duty when they question new developments. They are one-time decisions with far-reaching effects. But they can’t draw a line in the sand. We will double the population in the Salt Lake Valley in the next 30 years. The valley can’t get bigger, only denser.
FULL STORY: Tribune editorial: To fit everybody, the suburbs have to evolve
Upzoning Modestly Increases Housing Supply and Affordability, Study Says
A new study by researchers at the Urban Institute finds new evidence that upzoning produces housing supply and reduces costs, while downzoning does the opposite.
Op-Ed: Housing Solution Lies Within Urban Growth Boundary
Undoing Oregon’s urban growth boundaries won’t solve the state’s housing crisis, an opinion piece argues. Smart growth lies within existing cities.
Silver Spring Downtown Plan Expanding to Make Room for the Missing Middle
Planners are hoping that by expanding the boundaries of the Silver Spring Downtown Plan in Montgomery County, Maryland, new opportunities for missing middle housing will create new opportunities for housing affordability.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
Baltimore to break ground on $50 million Transit Priority Project
The project will bring faster bus trips, safer streets and better bike connections to Baltimore.
Airbnb launches $250 million 'last-dollar financing' housing accelerator, makes first investment in Austin
The company will put $6.4 million towards affordable housing development in Texas’ capital.
Guerilla urbanists are building DIY bus stop benches in Chicago
A before-and-after of one of the bus stops with a new bench. The new benches are not officially sanctioned or permitted, but the residents who placed them hope they will be the start of a network of DIY benches across the city.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association