With just six percent of US land developed, zoning laws should reflect community needs, writes Samuel R. Staley.
When we talk about the sky-rocketing housing prices of the last few years, we usually focus on mortgage rates, investor speculation, and high demand driven by local economic growth. But we often overlook a primary culprit behind rising prices â€" zoning laws.
...Restrictive zoning hits the housing market it two ways: It increases costs by adding to delays in approvals, and it reduces the number of homes built to satisfy demand. Economists Christopher Mayer and Tsueriel Somerville found that adding just three months of delay to the approval process could reduce new housing construction by 45 percent. But zoning and conventional land-use planning has an even more destructive impact. The prevent communities from changing to naturally meet new needs and community concerns."
FULL STORY: Zoning Laws Drive Housing Prices Higher

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.

US Senate Reverses California EV Mandate
The state planned to phase out the sale of gas-powered cars by 2035, a goal some carmakers deemed impossible to meet.

Trump Cuts Decimate Mapping Agency
The National Geodetic Survey maintains and updates critical spatial reference systems used extensively in both the public and private sectors.

Washington Passes First US ‘Shared Streets’ Law
Cities will be allowed to lower speed limits to 10 miles per hour and prioritize pedestrians on certain streets.
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City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
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