Last year, the city produced the fewest new housing units in a decade.
City leaders in Anchorage continue to debate a zoning reform proposal that could significantly alter local housing stock and improve affordability, but which critics say would strain infrastructure and resources in some parts of the city.
As Alex DeMarban explains in Anchorage Daily News, “The measure would eliminate single-family zoning in Anchorage, excluding Girdwood and Eagle River. Neighborhoods that currently allow only single-family homes would be opened to duplexes, and possibly two houses on single lots that can support it.”
According to DeMarban, just 211 new housing units were built in Anchorage last year, the lowest amount in a decade. “Nolan Klouda, head of the University of Alaska Center for Economic Development, said, based on trends in other cities, a city of Anchorage’s size should be building between 700 and 1,000 new housing units a year.”
The proposal was scaled back last August to limit the areas where denser development can take place.
FULL STORY: Debate intensifies over proposed Anchorage zoning overhaul
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