While strict, suburban-style regulations often get a bad rap for the lack of housing in high demand cities, the red tape and other obstacles that delay development could be the worst culprit.
Dan Bertolet examines "one of the most important but overlooked causes of housing shortage: delay."
“Time is money,” goes the saying, and it’s the cardinal truth in the business of building homes. When a city’s regulations stretch the time from blueprint to move-in, the homes end up more expensive. Or they end up never built, because the delay makes them money-losers. In cities already suffering from a shortage of homes, either way, delay sends prices even higher.
Bertolet calls on existing research put a dollar figure to the cost of project approval delays in cities like Austin, San Francisco, and Seattle. In the latter's example, for a 135-unit apartment complex, "a two-month time reduction converts into a savings of $4,000 per unit."
Bertolet's analysis also digs into the issue of uncertainty, which is supposed to be a primary goal planning departments and land use regulations. Among examples of cities attempting to shorten time and increase certainty for development, Bertolet discusses the city of Portland's 2017 "Strategies for Accelerating Development," and the city of Seattle's expected changes to its design review process.
FULL STORY: HOUSING DELAYED IS HOUSING DENIED
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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
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Washington State’s Parking Reform Law Could Unlock ‘Countless’ Acres for New Housing
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Wildlife Rebounds After the Eaton Fire
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LA to Replace Inglewood Light Rail Project With Bus Shuttles
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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.
Central Transportation Planning Staff/Boston Region MPO
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
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