Housing Supply
A recession is coming, though we don't know how big it will be or how long it will last. Compared to the Great Recession, the housing market could potentially help, rather than hurt, economic recovery, according to the analysis shared here.
Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University
A proposal for the development of a mass timber high-rise in First Hill is under community review in Seattle. The project, which adjusted plans to add an additional 6 floors, proposes the tallest mass timber building in Seattle.
Capitol Hill Seattle Blog
Does new market rate housing increase the average cost of housing, by inducing demand, or does it help stabilize the housing market by offering new supply? The debate continues in San Francisco.
Curbed San Francisco
A controversial but sweeping housing initiative in New York City, one of Mayor Bill de Blasio's signature initiatives, had a full head of steam before the coronavirus. Now it's facing drastic cuts.
Politico
A study recently published by the District of Columbia offers supporting evidence to a supply-side approach to housing affordability in high-demand markets.
District of Columbia Office of Revenue Analysis
California State Senator has released draft legislation to follow up on the previous SB 50, which in turn followed up on SB 827. The new bill, SB 902, promises a "light touch."
KQED
State legislation would preempt local governments that block the construction of accessory dwelling units, known locally as coach houses, to increase the supply of affordable housing options in the state.
Crain's Chicago Business
Several recent studies add fuel to the fire of whether market-rate housing helps affordability or drives low-income people from their neighborhoods.
The New York Times
The hordes of people moving to Texas every year could soon encounter the same kinds of housing affordability challenges they left behind.
Houston Chronicle
Blog post
Is the existence of vacant apartments an excuse not to build new housing?
The idea of filtering is key to pro-housing-development arguments of the benefits of market-rate housing to the affordability of housing. New research finds that filtering is highly variable depending on location.
Social Science Research Network (SSRN)
The annual report on the rental housing market by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University shows how far and deep the housing affordability crisis has reached.
Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University
Upzoning is gaining popularity among planners and politicians in parts of the country as a tool for affordability. But some opponents of the idea maintain that new density will only make housing affordability worse.
Curbed
Could vacancy taxes solve multiple housing challenges at once?
WBUR
The Land Use subcommittee of the Virginia House of Delegates decided quickly to uphold local control of zoning.
WAMU
Washington State is the latest example of a state that wants to preempt local planning law to make it easier to add housing units to single-family residential properties all over the states.
Sightline Institute
The ambitious "Homes for All" plan would include upzoning as only one tool for addressing the acute housing affordability crisis in the state of Maryland.
CityLab
Much of the debate about housing shortages and rising housing costs focuses on single-family housing as the main culprit. But could it also be part of the solution?
Curbed
The Commonwealth of Virginia will consider a bill that would legalize duplexes in single-family zones throughout the state.
CityLab
Raising density around transit stations to a level already existing in some parts of the city would enable hundreds of thousands of new housing units in and around Boston, according to a thought experiment by the Massachusetts Housing Partnership.
The Boston Globe
