A dissenting argument claims that the efforts of "affluent urban pioneers" to increase supply in the most desirable urban areas will do more harm than good.
Pete Saunders provides a counterpoint to the "spreading meme that the dominance of single-family zoning districts in major cities is artificially reducing housing supply." (Recent articles, for example, have cited Portland, San Francisco, and Kansas City to make this case.) Saunders's argument uses the example of Chicago, as described in a recent post distinguishing between "Rust Belt Chicago" and "Global Chicago," to make a point about all American cities currently experiencing a housing crunch in their urban cores.
"I don't believe we should be talking about expanding the global core at its margins. We should be talking about expanding development throughout the city," says Saunders. That is, "[if] young urbanists are serious about moving back to the city, maybe they ought to consider more of the city to live in."
"This push for more affordable housing in affluent city neighborhoods, because we like it there, is akin to the push for more suburban housing at the urban outskirts 60 years ago."
"We must be really careful in what we ask for in the development of our cities. Simply requesting relaxed land use regulations so that more units will be built could result in serious unintended consequences….It would not reduce residential and economic segregation, it would increase it, and contribute to one of the most vexing problems of our cities today -- the exploding bifurcation of our cities by race, class and opportunity."
FULL STORY: The Millennial Housing Shortage Fallacy

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

In Urban Planning, AI Prompting Could be the New Design Thinking
Creativity has long been key to great urban design. What if we see AI as our new creative partner?

Cal Fire Chatbot Fails to Answer Basic Questions
An AI chatbot designed to provide information about wildfires can’t answer questions about evacuation orders, among other problems.

What Happens if Trump Kills Section 8?
The Trump admin aims to slash federal rental aid by nearly half and shift distribution to states. Experts warn this could spike homelessness and destabilize communities nationwide.

Sean Duffy Targets Rainbow Crosswalks in Road Safety Efforts
Despite evidence that colorful crosswalks actually improve intersection safety — and the lack of almost any crosswalks at all on the nation’s most dangerous arterial roads — U.S. Transportation Secretary Duffy is calling on states to remove them.
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.
Appalachian Highlands Housing Partners
Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie