The argument that increased supply of urban housing will lower prices is rapidly being disproved by successive waves of gentrification throughout American cities. Stephen Smith offers a considered analysis of the economics behind this dynamic.
For the original, and often poor residents of newly gentrifying neighborhoods, the market remedy of increasingly supply doesn't make anything cheaper. Rather, they find themselves pushed out by the increased cost of housing, and amenities.
Smith believes that price increases respond to new amenities along an S-curve. "The first 100-unit rental building with the neighborhood's first high-quality grocery story is a huge boon, but the hundredth glass tower with the neighborhood's fifth bank won't even be noticed. It's at this point that the price-lowering effect of dumping new units on the market will outweigh the price-raising effect of the new amenities – in other words, prices will start to fall."
The problem is that once a neighborhood has all its amenities, new housing construction is ground to a halt by a NIMBY shield and any remaining original homeowners who are unlikely to allow their home values to fall.
Read the full story: Does Urban Growth Have To Mean Gentrification
‘Emergent City’ Documentary Highlights Rare Anti-Gentrification Victory
The film charts the saga of a Brooklyn site called Industry City.
Bitter Irony Behind Brooklyn’s Sweet Domino Sugar Sign
A new feature on the Brooklyn waterfront is a reminder that Domino Sugar has made several unsavory appearances in the history of Puerto Rican communities.
How Broken Planning and Development Processes Hobble the Potential of Neighborhoods
A stinging critique of the public review process in New York City.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.
Judges permit Denver to divert 77,000 acre feet from the Colorado River for reservoir expansion
Overuse and climate change have caused the Colorado River’s water levels to plummet.
NYC DOT wants faster, more permanent street upgrades
The city is examining ways to build more concrete infrastructure without getting entangled in 'decades-long' projects.
'Something we’ve never seen before:' rising utility rates could strain city finances nationwide
Data centers, climate change and other factors have caused utility rates in the United States to increase by 38% since 2020.
Trump to overrule local leaders, lease millions of acres of America’s Pacific Island territories’ seafloors to mining companies
International law says that the Indigenous people of America’s territories have a right to prior and informed consent regarding projects that impact their countries.
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.
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
KFH Group Inc.
Greater Baltimore Committee
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello