With litigation costs escalating due to increasingly stringent zoning regulations, many family-owned development firms are forced out of the market by bigger firms that can afford to pay attorney's fees.
With increasing incomes, demand in the "luxury" homes sector is always high. According to this article, "Month in, month out...attorneys are engaged in dozens of legal battles with local zoning boards, pushing for permission to build in desirable markets." Homebuilders are fast increasing their market share in the new homes market. Thanks to the high cost of litigating with local zoning boards in "desirable" markets, the bigger, more diversified firms, with deeper pockets, are taking over the small, family-owned firms.
"Land -- and specifically land-use regulation -- has grown too costly for little guys to compete."
"Community barriers to building -- whether expressed as 'sustainable' planning rules or as unvarnished snob zoning -- have a lot to do with pushing up the cost of real estate..."
FULL STORY: Housing bubble, zoning boards
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Canada vs. Kamala: Whose Liberal Housing Platform Comes Out on Top?
As Canada votes for a new Prime Minister, what can America learn from the leading liberal candidate of its neighbor to the north?
The Five Most-Changed American Cities
A ranking of population change, home values, and jobs highlights the nation’s most dynamic and most stagnant regions.
San Diego Adopts First Mobility Master Plan
The plan provides a comprehensive framework for making San Diego’s transportation network more multimodal, accessible, and sustainable.
Housing, Supportive Service Providers Brace for Federal Cuts
Organizations that provide housing assistance are tightening their purse strings and making plans for maintaining operations if federal funding dries up.
Op-Ed: Why an Effective Passenger Rail Network Needs Government Involvement
An outdated rail network that privileges freight won’t be fixed by privatizing Amtrak.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
New York City School Construction Authority
Village of Glen Ellyn
Central Transportation Planning Staff/Boston Region MPO
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions