State Preemption
While statewide efforts to loosen zoning restrictions have made news in (mostly) blue states like California and Oregon, (mostly) red states like Florida have been preventing local governments from passing their own housing policies.
Pacific Standard
Factors beyond political chance played into Oregon's recent decision to legalize missing middle housing. One key point: the state was already halfway there.
City Observatory
Legislation that would have preempted local laws, and had the support of major scooter companies, is now a two-year bill.
San Francisco Examiner
Many gardeners in Florida celebrated this week, as Senate Bill 82 went into effect, by planting fruits and vegetables in their yards, legally, whether their city liked it or not.
NPR
A bill that seemed like it could be a casualty of a bitter partisan feud managed to squeak under the wire. With Governor Kate Brown's signature, single-family zoning will be prohibited throughout the state of Oregon.
The Oregonian
Milwaukee wants Wisconsin to overturn its law that prohibits red light cameras throughout the states. New state legislation could help achieve the city's goal.
Urban Milwaukee
Local governments didn't want the Texas State Legislature to approved HB 2439, but now the bill is officially law. Some communities worry that they can no longer control the aesthetics of new development.
NBC DFW
"This particular solution, which has been very controversial in the Legislature, is not very controversial when it comes to the general public."
Los Angeles Times
Local control loses ground to provincial preemption north of the border.
CP 24
The state of Texas decided to preempt local traffic safety laws by banning all red light camera programs.
KVUE
A new law, signed by Governor Kim Reynolds this week, will require extra steps of local officials before they can raise property taxes in the state of Iowa.
Cedar Rapids Gazette
The housing crisis isn't the same in every corner of New York State, but new rent control measures in the state legislature could apply solutions intended for the New York City rental market to the entire state.
The Buffalo News
The great battle between local control and state preemption shifts focus again in California. This time micromobility, electric scooters and the like, are on the front line of the conflict.
CityLab
Washington's House Bill 1923 is one of a number of bills under consideration this year on the West Coast that attempts to leverage the power of the state for the sake of new development.
The Urbanist
Blog post
Last week, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced a plan to replace Toronto's subway expansion plans with a vision of his own. Reactions have been pouring in ever since.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced a new plan for subway expansion in Toronto today.
Toronto Star
University of California, Berkeley researchers have mapped the impact of SB 50, a bill that would allow new density around train stations and bus stops in cities all over the state of California.
Curbed Los Angeles
All of Portland's 3,000 miles of residential streets now have a maximum speed of 20 miles per hour. Similar changes could be coming to more Oregon cities in the future.
The Oregonian
A committee chair changed his mind about the consequences of a bill that would ban red light cameras in the entire state of Texas. The legislator didn't want, to paraphrase, blood on his hands.
The Dallas Morning News
The National League of Cities has a new report surveying local tools for addressing the housing affordability crisis. State partnerships are included.
Governing
