Downzoning and building height restrictions have kept supply well behind demand in New York City, according to this article.

"There are currently about 59,000 New Yorkers staying in homeless shelters and several thousand more sleeping on the streets, figures that fluctuate seasonally," Ben Adler writes for City and State New York. Others would rent but are forced to stay with friends and family because they cannot afford the city's high rates. "Add it all up, and New York City’s homeless rate is the highest it has been since the Great Depression, even as the national economy verges on full employment," Adler writes.
Rents have risen twice as fast as wages in the city since the recession. And competition is fierce at the low end of the rent scale. Besides the problem of scarcity driving the prices of affordable homes, there's simply not enough cheaper housing for all the people who would rent it. "The major increase in homelessness is among people who simply lack a place to live and wind up in a homeless shelter. In May, there were 15,023 families, with 22,538 children, sleeping each night in New York City’s municipal shelters, according to the Coalition for the Homeless," Adler reports.
While New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has done some work to allow for more homes near transit, Midtown New York has imposed new height restrictions. Adler argues that this process of treading water on housing production is exacerbating the New York's homelessness issue.
FULL STORY: Homelessness is a housing problem

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths
Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

In U.S., Urban Gondolas Face Uphill Battle
Cities in Latin America and Europe have embraced aerial transitways — AKA gondolas — as sustainable, convenient urban transport, especially in tricky geographies. American cities have yet to catch up.

Detroit Says Problems With Property Tax Assessments are Fixed. Advocates Disagree.
With higher-valued properties under assessed and lower-valued properties over assessed, advocates say there's still a problem with Detroit's property tax system.

Defunct Pittsburgh Power Plant to Become Residential Tower
A decommissioned steam heat plant will be redeveloped into almost 100 affordable housing units.
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