Construction is slowing as immigration detentions have a chilling effect on the labor market.
Builders in South Texas say they’re having trouble continuing work on housing developments because ICE raids are disrupting the local labor market, reports Berenice Garcia in The Texas Tribune.
According to Garcia, “ICE agents have arrested more than 9,100 people in South Texas — nearly one-fifth of all such arrests in the entire state since Trump took office, according to government data provided by ICE in response to a FOIA request to the Deportation Data Project and analyzed by the Texas Tribune.”
The raids have had a chilling effect on communities and economies around the country. In South Texas, construction has slowed, with developers warning housing costs will likely go up in response. During an Obama-era immigration crackdown, there was a 2 to 3 percent nationwide decrease in construction labor nationwide, with new constructions going up in price by 4.4 percent.
FULL STORY: “Construction can’t continue”: South Texas builders say ICE arrests have upended industry
400 Maine Affordable Homes Unable to Break Ground due to Buy America Rules
Projects that receive certain federal funds are required to source 95% of their materials from the United States.
Housing Starts Hit Two-Year Low
Housing starts and permits are slowing nationwide. The current pace of construction would have been considered a trough in pre-recession economic cycles.
Construction Worker Shortage Blamed for Housing Supply Woes
Zoning and red tape gets a bad wrap in arguments that blame the housing crisis on a lack of housing supply. Another narrative credits a shortage of construction workers on the lack of housing supply in the country.
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