Some California cities and counties are appealing regional housing allocations, which could have a meaningful impact on how and where development occurs over the next decade.
As Louis Hansen reports, "[m]ore than one-quarter of Bay Area municipalities are rising in a crescendo of complaints against proposed state guidelines for housing development that could reshape the region’s downtowns and neighborhoods," citing concerns including a lack of jobs and inadequate infrastructure like roads, sewers, and transit. "[C]omplaints largely argue that higher development targets are unrealistic and based on faulty assumptions, methods and overlooked data."
In the most recent Regional Housing Needs Allocation process, "[t]he region’s overall goal more than doubled to 441,000 new homes and apartments for the next 8-year cycle beginning in 2023," with "tougher penalties for cities missing their targets."
"The appeals, disputes, fights and policy skirmishes could play a large role in how and where Bay Area cities develop new homes and apartments during the next decade. Amid record-high home prices and rents, economists and planners are urging more development or the region will risk stifling its innovative and booming economy." According to " pro-housing group California YIMBY, "11 of the 18 cities with the highest median household incomes in the region are protesting their housing allotment." The current appeals "could be a preview of which cities plan for dense, new neighborhoods and apartment towers, and which will dig in for long, costly legal battles to protect the status quo."
FULL STORY: Who’s fighting new housing? Look to wealthier Bay Area communities
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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