Impact fees are linked to rising home costs in University of Chicago study.
Impact fees are one-time fees imposed by municipalities upon builders when houses are first built. Proponents of impact fees claim that they compensate for marginal costs, and that the fees are absorbed by developers. The first part of this paper discusses several of the legal challenges to impact fees and their implementation in the Chicago suburbs. Next, the paper proposes a simplified economic model of a segmented housing market. Primary impact fee data from eight suburban Chicago municipalities are analyzed with multiple listing service data for sales of single family houses between 1995 and 1997. Impact fees were a statistically significant component of housing prices. The paper concludes with a discussion of the fee incidence and equity issues.
Thanks to Chris Steins
Read the full story: Impact Fees Linked to Rising Home Costs
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.
Los Angeles just elected an urban planner as its mayor
Transportation analysts are optimistic that Raman will be more aggressive in addressing transit issues than Bass.
Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge
A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
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
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority