When housing costs are high, lower-income residents are not the only ones who end up struggling.
High housing costs do not just affect those people who are priced out of an area, writes Ally Schweitzer. Businesses, local governments, and higher-income residents who can afford to stay all feel the impacts.
Take traffic, for example. "Add more residents to an area, the logic goes, and you put more cars on the road. But there’s evidence that not building housing can make traffic worse," says Schweitzer. When low-income workers have to live further out, they end up on the roads driving to work.
In addition, businesses need workers from a range of income levels. When housing is unaffordable, finding low-wage workers becomes harder for all employers, notes Schweitzer. "And wealthy homeowners in places like Chevy Chase [in Maryland]? They’re affected by housing affordability when their gardeners, nannies and maids can’t afford to live anywhere nearby."
High housing costs burden residents, which means they do not have money to spend at local businesses, adds Schweitzer. "Increasing housing supply — and keeping housing prices in check — 'could result in greater consumption of other goods and services that stimulate growth and employment gains in other sectors, which could have a multiplier effect,' according to the Urban Institute."
FULL STORY: Why The Housing Crisis Is A Problem For Everyone — Even Wealthy Homeowners
Oregon Passes Exemption to Urban Growth Boundary
Cities have a one-time chance to acquire new land for development in a bid to increase housing supply and affordability.
Where Urban Design Is Headed in 2024
A forecast of likely trends in urban design and architecture.
Savannah: A City of Planning Contrasts
From a human-scales, plaza-anchored grid to suburban sprawl, the oldest planned city in the United States has seen wildly different development patterns.
New York Transit Agency Launches Performance Dashboard
The tool increases transparency about the agency’s performance on a variety of metrics.
Washington Tribes Receive Resilience Funding
The 28 grants support projects including relocation efforts as coastal communities face the growing impacts of climate change.
Adaptive Reuse Bills Introduced in California Assembly
The legislation would expand eligibility for economic incentives and let cities loosen regulations to allow for more building conversions.
City of Rochester
Boston Harbor Now
City of Bellevue
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Birmingham, Alabama
City of Laramie, Wyoming
Colorado Department of Local Affairs
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.