Enacted in 2008, a partial rezone of Manhattan's East Village and Lower East Side failed to deliver on affordable housing projections, falling short by 45 percent.
According to a report by the Cooper Square Committee, Caroline Spivack writes, voluntary inclusionary housing incentives packaged with a 2008 rezone of parts of Manhattan's East Village and Lower East Side "fell short of the city's projections, creating only 55 percent of the below-market-rate apartments estimated."
The report states that while "there is no question that the rezoning has been successful in preventing out of scale development in the 114 block area, but it has been less successful in promoting affordable housing development." Due to "insufficient incentive" for developers, only 190 construction permits for affordable units were filed in the area in the decade since the rezoning.
Meanwhile, despite the 2016 approval of mandatory inclusionary housing policies to accompany rezonings, many East Village residents still "revile the thought of a neighborhood upzoning."
Read the full story: Decade-old East Village rezoning did not deliver on affordable housing projections
NYC Planning Head Defends Growth-Oriented Policies
Acknowledging anti-development sentiments currently simmering at an "all-time high," New York's planning director Marisa Lago defended de Blasio administration policies like mandatory inclusionary housing.
Rezoning Enhances the Changes Already Coming to Manhattan's Northern End
The New York City Council this month approved a rezoning plan for the neighborhood of Inwood, located at the northern tip of Manhattan.
New York City Council Approves Sweeping Zoning Changes
Politico New York reports all the important details on a big day for planning in New York City—as the City Council overwhelmingly approved two controversial zoning changes to help spur the construction of affordable housing.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
In Texas, data centers are swallowing promised parkland
Residents who moved to Taylor, Texas for a rural community now have to contend with three data centers in their backyard.
How a Chicago-sized wind farm beat the odds and powered on
The project spanned five presidential administrations and a standoff with a U.S. military base.
MTA gives itself 30 days to transform pit into basketball court
The site has been under construction since 2022; the city originally estimated it would finish the court in 2024.
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.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority