To fix the housing crisis, cities should focus on "missing middle housing" and multi-family development.

Jake Bullinger, in a piece for In These Times, assesses some of the upzoning programs being implemented by many cities in the American West as they struggle to get a handle on the growing housing affordability crisis.
The "regulatory and economic cocktail" that leads developers to "go big and expensive" and prevents multi-unit development near major job centers, writes Bullinger, has led to huge imbalances in housing availability and cost. "In some areas of California, for instance, new jobs have outnumbered new homes 12 to 1." Restrictive single-family zoning policies, the kind that cities across the country are currently reevaluating, have stifled new housing construction and deepened the crisis by preventing mid- and high-density development in some of the most resource-rich parts of cities.
"In an efficient market, developers would build apartments where land is expensive and rent is high — the developer gets more revenue-generating units per parcel, and renters get the option of smaller, less-expensive housing. But that hasn’t been the case in California: nine of the state’s 12 most expensive cities permitted zero multifamily units between 2013 and 2017." With the need for more housing options growing every day, says Bullinger, "a corner-lot fourplex on every block could go a long way."
FULL STORY: Towns Across the West Face a Housing Crisis. More Sprawl Is Not the Answer.

Rethinking Redlining
For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.

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

California High-Speed Rail's Plan to Right Itself
The railroad's new CEO thinks he can get the project back on track. The stars will need to align this summer.

Transportation Research Centers Lose Key Federal Funding
The federal University Transportation Center program funds critical transportation research and innovation at 35 consortia of colleges and universities.

Savannah Reduces Speed Limits on Almost 100 City Streets
The historic Georgia city is lowering speed limits in an effort to reduce road fatalities.

A Park Reborn: Resilience and Renewal in Fire-Stricken Altadena
Rebuilt in just two months after the devastating Eaton Fire, Loma Alta Park now stands as a symbol of community resilience and renewal, even as some residents hope recovery efforts will continue to support housing stability and long-term equity.
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